How search engines and directories can help your site

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• HTML,
• Search Engines,
• Meta Tags,
• Web Directories

Staff Builder.com

Published: 20 Jan 2004 14:45 GMT

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The fastest and easiest way to start getting your site attention is to register it with the major search engines and Web directories.

Search engines use automated software (known as robots or spiders) to follow Web hyperlinks, harvesting information about sites as they go. When someone submits a query to a search engine, the engine returns a list of sites, ranking them on their relevance to the keywords used in the search. How search engines assess your site and determine the relevance of the words is difficult to predict, as it often depends on how the specific engine works. Some engines, such as Excite, use artificial intelligence to recognise concepts that frequently appear together. If you search for "animal health," for instance, Excite also returns sites devoted to "veterinary medicine". Other search engines, such as WebCrawler, first list more popular sites -- those its database shows are more frequently linked.

Web directories have the modest task of being the yellow pages for the World Wide Web. Unlike search engines, which can find an unregistered site if other sites link to it, directories list your site only after you submit certain pieces of information: the title, the URL, a description, a few keywords and sometimes a contact email address. (Although it's not necessary, it's also a good idea to register your site with search engines to ensure that your site comes up in queries.) Typically, a directory's reviewers decide whether a site meets their standards and where the site should be placed in the directory's hierarchy of categories.

There's no way to guarantee that your site will come up on top in a search or stand out in a directory (though it helps if your subject matter is obscure and uses a unique vocabulary). But try these tricks to make sure your site pops up in as many searches as possible.

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