Working with Directories
It's a not-so-well-kept secret that the best approach for getting into the search engine listings is to enter through a back door by working
with the two most important structured directories: the Open Directory Project (ODP) and the Yahoo! Directory.
Understanding Taxonomies
A directory differs from the index used by a search engine because a directory uses a structured way to categorize sites, sometimes called
a taxonomy. In addition, sites are included in a particular category in the ODP and Yahoo! directories only after they have been reviewed
by human editors. You can search within directories (just as you can search in a web index, such as the one compiled by Google). But it's
common to use a directory, following its taxonomy by drilling down through subjects to find what you want. For example, suppose you
wanted to find resources related to alternative photo processes, such as creating daguerreotypes (a nineteenth-century print technology).
You can think of the index of the Web compiled by search engines such as Google as being like the
index to a nonfiction book. In contrast, a taxonomic directory is much more like the table of contents to
the book: it is organized according to the structure of the book, and you can drill down by part, chapter
(within the part), heading (within the chapter), and subtopic to find the information you need.
Becoming Popular
Sometimes it seems like all of life has the same themes as high school: what's important is being popular. A significant measure of
popularity on the Web is how many inbound linkslinks from other sites to your siteyou have.
Inbound links are an important component of Google's PageRank system, which is a way to order the
sites returned from a search.
Obtaining inbound links is not rocket science, but it is labor-intensive and does require some thought. The best way to get another site to
link to your site is to ask for it, as obvious as that may seem.
Link farmssites that exist for the sole purpose of providing inbound links to better a page's search
rankingwill not help your site become more popular and may in fact damage your standing with Google
and other search engines.
It makes sense for sites to link to your site when they have similar or related contentalways assuming the webmaster in charge of the site
linking to you likes your content. This is a reasonable thing for the webmaster in charge of the other site to do because it adds value for the
other site's visitors. (If your site is not adding value, you might want to rethink its premise.)
Working with Directories
