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The difference between search engines and web directories

Here’s the deal. They are similar but different in some ways, and that is where the problem arises. What is the basic difference between web directories and search engines?

First, let’s define the following jargons. Search engines normally use a program commonly known as spiders, produced through a special algorithm of webmasters. These spiders crawl the many websites looking for updates or new content. If such programs find anything relevant or any new information, these crawled pages will be “indexed” and become part of the search engine’s database, thus being displayed as search results.

Even if you don’t submit your site to these search engines, they will likely index your site anyway. However, it will be more effective if you settle for effective link building, as it is through links that spiders find their way to your web page.

Web directories, on the other hand, use categories, like the ones you see in the yellow pages. They are usually managed by humans, who act as reviewers or editors. Therefore, its inclusion will depend on the criteria set by these directories.

There are two types of web directories, paid and free. Either way, they won’t find you if you don’t submit your site to them. This is because they do not have “crawlers” or spiders unlike those search engines. Your appearance in the search results will depend on some factors, such as your category, your page rank, title or popularity, among others.

However, there are instances where a particular site can function as both a search engine and a web directory. Take, for example, the famous Google. Primarily, it’s a search engine, with its own Googlebot, the spider. However, it also has its own web directory, just like Google Directory. This directory is considered a “spin-off” of DMOZ, an open projects directory. Another will be its famous counterpart, which is Yahoo!. Initially this site was a web directory until it grew huge and switched to a search engine.

How are these data necessary? Very, especially in webmasters. You simply base your judgment on its definition. Your ultimate goal is to be visited by these spiders so that they continually index you in search engines. So you need to develop a very efficient linking strategy for that. On the other hand, you also have to take advantage of web directories. Most of them are free, so you don’t have to worry about any costs. They’re also great for backlinks, so you’ll have a better chance of being discovered by search engine spiders.