Directories and Your SEO Campaign
Web Directory vs. Search Engine
First, a quick refresher on the difference between directories and search engines. Directories differ from standard search engines in that a search engine will query a database of indexed websites before it produces results, and a directory is a database of websites that has been arranged by subject or category. Most directories have search functionality but the websites are still listed in specific categories.
As far as inclusion of your web site, typically a search engine will find your site on its own, whereas with a directory you have to submit your site for inclusion. Sometimes the process of getting into a search engine's index results from their crawler finding your site listed in a directory.
Do People Search By Directories Anymore?
Should we worry about making sure our sites are listed in directories? Do people still use directories or go straight to a search engine such as Google to find what they are looking for? To answer this question, I went to my server logs, which track all activity on my sites. As I expected, the majority of traffic coming to my web sites was from search engines, but to my surprise I did see some directory referrals as well. They were not in great numbers, but all the same they were still there.
Therefore I would say directory inclusion, at least in the free directories, is important because they may send you some traffic. It may not be in great quantities but with the ever-increasing competition on the web, I'll take traffic from wherever I can get it. Besides, if it is free, why not take a few moments to submit your site?
The Disappearance of Free Directories
Free directories are becoming scarcer all the time. Most are now requiring some kind of fee for inclusion; whether that is a one-time fee or some kind of recurring fee. We have to ask ourselves then if it is worthwhile to pay these fees or should we just forget about paid directories altogether?
For the little bit of traffic they may bring you I would say no. However, there are additional benefits a good directory can provide. The first benefit would be to brand new sites that are trying to gain inclusion into the indices of the top search engines and the second is that they will contribute to your site's overall link popularity score.
Source: http://seotoday.com/browse.php/category/articles/id/503/index.php
First, a quick refresher on the difference between directories and search engines. Directories differ from standard search engines in that a search engine will query a database of indexed websites before it produces results, and a directory is a database of websites that has been arranged by subject or category. Most directories have search functionality but the websites are still listed in specific categories.
As far as inclusion of your web site, typically a search engine will find your site on its own, whereas with a directory you have to submit your site for inclusion. Sometimes the process of getting into a search engine's index results from their crawler finding your site listed in a directory.
Do People Search By Directories Anymore?
Should we worry about making sure our sites are listed in directories? Do people still use directories or go straight to a search engine such as Google to find what they are looking for? To answer this question, I went to my server logs, which track all activity on my sites. As I expected, the majority of traffic coming to my web sites was from search engines, but to my surprise I did see some directory referrals as well. They were not in great numbers, but all the same they were still there.
Therefore I would say directory inclusion, at least in the free directories, is important because they may send you some traffic. It may not be in great quantities but with the ever-increasing competition on the web, I'll take traffic from wherever I can get it. Besides, if it is free, why not take a few moments to submit your site?
The Disappearance of Free Directories
Free directories are becoming scarcer all the time. Most are now requiring some kind of fee for inclusion; whether that is a one-time fee or some kind of recurring fee. We have to ask ourselves then if it is worthwhile to pay these fees or should we just forget about paid directories altogether?
For the little bit of traffic they may bring you I would say no. However, there are additional benefits a good directory can provide. The first benefit would be to brand new sites that are trying to gain inclusion into the indices of the top search engines and the second is that they will contribute to your site's overall link popularity score.
Source: http://seotoday.com/browse.php/category/articles/id/503/index.php
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home