SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible

Chapter 14. Adding Your Site to Directories

IN THIS CHAPTER

• What are directories?

• Geo-targeting and other strategies

• Using submission tools

Very often search engines and search directories are all piled into the same category. After all, you type in a search term and click a button 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 fundamental 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 available 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 topics. 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 directories attract specific users who are searching for specific items. ...