It should be no surprise that search engines get a majority of the traffic on the Internet. According to Media Metrix, over the past three months, five out of the nine "true" search engines ranked consistently in the top ten visited web domains.

What does this information suggest to you? To us, it suggests that being properly listed and easily retrievable in all of the search engines is imperative to your marketing success.

This is a description of the differences between the major search tools; and a look at how companies are using the Web.

SEARCH ENGINES - WHAT'S IN A NAME? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The term search engine is often incorrectly used interchangeably to describe every device that allows you to locate information on the Internet. Just as all brown sodas are not truly Coke's and all copying machines are not truly Xerox's, all searching devices are not truly search engines. In reality, nearly all query sites can be placed into a few generic categories: search engines, directories, yellow pages, metacrawlers, free links pages and what's new announcement sites. Disregard the titles for a moment, because the real difference that we will concentrate on is in how listings are compiled.

SEARCH ENGINES: Search engines create their listings automatically. A true search engine gathers its database by accepting a web address or URL. The engine then sends an electronic scout -- AKA webcrawlers, spiders, or robots - to roam the Internet in search for the respective URL. Upon locating it, the scout begins storing links to and information about each page they visit into their index. The scout returns to the site on a regular basis to look for changes. This is what is commonly referred to as a "spider-based" search.

When you begin a search by typing in a keyword, the respective search engine will return results from its index based upon the greatest similarity between your word and the scout's findings. Most search engines return this relationship rating in a percentage, or relevancy ranking, beside each result for a given search. As a business owner, you want to return a greater percentage because you will appear "near the top" of the search return list, improving your odds of being chosen by the user and getting traffic to your site.

Getting listed at the top of every search engine simultaneously is virtually impossible. While scouts from each search engine use the same methods to gather information from your site, they differ radically in search indexing and search software. This is why different search engines return different results when searching with the identical keyword. Among the most popular things that these electronic parasites search for are your page's HTML codes -- preferably the META tag, title tag and comment tags information -- and full text of every page at your site. According to The WWW Robot Page, scouts normally start with a historical list of links, such as server lists, and lists of the most popular or best sites, and follow the links on these pages to find more links to add to the database. Without a doubt, this makes most engines biased toward more popular sites.

Along the same lines, search engines favor more recent submissions. Those sites that practice rigorous site maintenance rituals by keeping their site fresh and live, will either resubmit their URL or be visited more often by the scout. To successfully market your web site you need to run an on-going campaign, just as you would for a product or service. Keeping the scouts busy at your site improves you odds of remaining near the top of the index for your keywords.

Sometimes it can take a while for new pages or changes to be added to the index. Thus, a web page may have been "spidered" but not yet "indexed." Until it is indexed -- added to the index -- it is not available to those searching with the search engine. Some factors that distinguish the actual indexing time are the size of the search engine database, technological advantages, frequency of update, employee base and level of impartiality.

WHAT'S THE BUZZ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you noticed that the face of the search tool has been changing lately? Their mission traditionally has been to help people pinpoint sources of interest. Today these sites run the gamut by offering email, horoscopes, personalized news, shopping, chat rooms and stock quotes. With site traffic nearing 50 million page views per day, large directories are attempting to use their resources more efficiently by keeping users at their site, thus capitalizing on their presence by offering the services that visitors use most.

As directories alter their formula - enhancing and expanding their services to keep more traffic - businesses should be certain to be affiliate themselves through proper directory submissions. The potential for search tools to grow into full service, online convenience stops is amazing. For this reason, being positioned properly in their database is essential to the future success of your online marketing plan.

DIRECTORIES - YOUR HIERARCHICAL DATABASE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Understanding the differences between search engines and directories is essential to your online marketing strategy.

The most obvious way that directories distinguish themselves is through the amount of information that they accept during the submission process. In fact, submission forms are considerably longer for directories, allowing your personalized descriptions, company name, keywords, contact information and more to be entered, along with your URL and email address, into a category of your choosing. In essence, directories are full of these categorical submissions(listings), which they turn into a hierarchy. To be located properly, you should list your site in the most appropriate category at the directory. For those who feel that their site's topic is not recognized by existing categories, most directories also provide a space to add a new one.

Another major difference between search engines and directories is that directories do not utilize scouts - i.e. robots, spiders, etc. - to gather web site information for their database. All directories rely on humans for their listings. For this reason, your URL will not appear at any directory unless it has been manually submitted. Likewise, humans review sites that are submitted to directories, causing a longer delay for your site to be indexed in their database.

Some things to consider when listing your site with a directory:

* Since each directory has a unique categorization scheme and particular rules, you must treat each directory individually.
* Relevancy in directories is based upon your keywords and the words that are found in the description that is initially submitted. Don't try to fool directories with repeated keywords or words that are inappropriate for your service or product. Chances are that you will be caught, rendering your submission useless.
* Spend the extra time to submit to the appropriate category - the one that will ensure that your targeted customer will respond to. Find out where your competitors are located and compare this with where you think you should be categorized. Choose specific categories, rather than general ones. It will pay off in the long run.
* Categories do not represent the same meanings in every directory. View a few of the listings to get a feel for who your categorical neighbors might be.
* Don't choose a category just because it has fewer listings, expecting to provide yourself with greater visibility. Similarly, don't choose a category simply because it is popular. Remember to think like your customer would think if they wanted to find your business or service.
* Take advantage of the directory by suggesting a new category for your site. It cannot hurt to ask for a new category, but realistically, new categories are added sparingly.

Finally, you will find a few directories, which edit submissions for appropriateness and categorization before they are added to the database. If you follow their guidelines when submitting your web site information, you will probably be listed without a problem.
 
Additional Search Engines and Indexes

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