Using A Web Directory
Author: Tony Adams

A web directory is just what it sounds like: a directory that
is found on the World Wide Web, that directs you to various web
sites. Unlike a search engine, which displays results based on
key words and phrases, a web directory groups information into
categories by topic. Perhaps the best known web directory is
the Yahoo Directory.

Directories organize info that can be accessed in a process
known as "drilling down"-you go from the most general (for
example, "travel") to increasingly specific subcategories (for
example, "United States," "amusement parks"). You might drill
down from "Reference" to "Phone Numbers" to "Businesses" to get
to a listing of various online yellow pages.

A web directory directs you to links to web sites that may
contain the information you seek. Insiders refer to directories
as either general or niche. Niche directories attempt to collect
as much information as possible within specific research areas,
for example, a web directory of career advice, or a web
directory of safe toys for children.

A web directory can take different forms, according to how the
information is gathered. Some directories accept paid
submissions. Information is there because people pay to be
listed. Sometimes listings are free but the positions are paid
for. Understanding the structure of how a web directory
collects and presents its information lets you now how much you
can trust the information it contains.

Directories can be a part of many an online business's search
engine optimization strategy. The more diverse the links
pointing to a specific web site are, the greater the chance for
better traffic, and the higher the possibility of ranking in
search engine algorithms. Paying to be listed in more than one
directory, or to be found quickly through premium positions in
a directory, can result in improved traffic to the listed web
site.


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