SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible

IN THIS CHAPTER

What Are Directories? ......................................................................................................

Geo-targeting and other strategies

Using submission tools

V

ery often search engines and search directoriesare all piled into the

same category. After all, you type in a search term and click a but-

ton and the results for that search are returned to you, right? That’s

right. It’s just that the data collected by directories and search engines, and

the way those search results are returned, is very different. In fact, the fun-

damental differences between directories and search engines lie in how they

collect data, the search results, and how those search results are ranked.

Yahoo! is one of the most well-known search directories on the Internet. It

was one of the first names in search, and it still remains one of the stronger

players in the search market. But there are dozens of other directories avail-

able on the Internet, and, like search engines, these search directories can be

very specialized, so that entries cover a single topic or a related group of top-

ics. Search directories can also be implemented within an organization, so that

you can list and find all the important documentation your company owns.

The advantage of these highly targeted search directories is not traffic volume

like what you would receive from a search engine or a general search directory;

what’s important here is the quality of traffic you receive. Specific search direc-

tories attract specific users who are searching for specific items. This means

that their chances of reaching a goal conversion on your site (assuming your

site is targeted correctly) are much higher than those of visitors who come

from search engines.

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Adding Your Site

to Directories

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