| Question - What's better - a search
engine or a subject directory? |
| |
| Answer - There is no hard and fast answer to that
question. A lot depends on the personal preferences of the user. Some
people like directories because the user can control the search pattern,
varying the path through the descriptors if another descriptor looks
promising. Directories allow users to browse and to be more vague
or general in their search term. Search engines leave the searching
pattern to the computer program and can be used to find more specific
resources.
A weakness of directories is that you must depend on the descriptors
provided by the company. If these are not specific enough for you,
then your search may be unsuccessful. As a result, directories can
be good for finding general information, but not too successful
in locating specifics. Also, the number of resources that you can
find in a directory is generally far less than through a search
engine.
A weakness of the search engines is the very extensive amount of
hits that they can produce. A general search term could produce
thousands of hits - far too many to be of much value. Knowing how
to conduct searches is a skill and there is a learning curve. The
next several FAQs provide information on how to develop search skills. |
| |
| Question - What's an Internet subject
directory? |
| |
| Answer - Subject directories organize Internet
sites by subject, allowing users to choose a subject of interest and
then browse the list of resources in that category. Users conduct
their searches by selecting a series of progressively more narrow
search terms from a number of lists of descriptors provided in the
directory. In this fashion, users "tunnel" their way through
progressively more specific layers of descriptors until they reach
a list of resources which meet all of the descriptors they had chosen.
For example, if you were using the Yahoo subject directory to find
math lesson plans, you would start at the top level of the directory
where there are approximately 15 general categories, including "arts
and humanities", "government" and "education."
Selecting "education" would lead to a list of about 35
descriptors, including "higher education", "magazines",
and "teaching." Selecting "teaching" would lead
to another page of resources all about teaching - including "English",
"K-12", and "Math." This last choice would reveal
a number of actual resources for the math teacher.
It's important to understand that a subject directory will not
have links to every piece of information on the Internet. Since
they are built by humans (rather than by computer programs), they
are much smaller than search engine databases. Moreover, every directory
is different and their value will depend on how widely the company
searches for information, their method of categorizing the resources,
how well information is kept current, etc. |
| |
| Question - How can I find the best
Keyword Marketing Phrase for my website? |
| |
| Answer - Think about the most general word to describe
your online business.
For example, if you were a printing agency, then your general word
would be "Print" or "Printing." If you sold
different kinds of candles and soaps, you would want to search under
"Candle" and "Soap" to find which item is the
most popular on the internet to decided which keyword is best to
use sell your website with.
Once you have decided on the correct keyword that best describes
your site you must search for the best Keyword Marketing Phrase
for your website. This can be done by using Overture’s Search
Term Suggestion Tool. It will give you the most used Keyword Marketing
Phrases that are associated with the specific keyword you felt best
described your website. |
More Webmaster FAQ - Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page
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