Search engine and directories are to domain names what the yellow pages are to businesses' phone numbers. A search engine tells people who you are, what you do and where you are located. Directories are databases of Web sites that are listed by category. Yahoo , for example, is primarily a directory. AltaVista is a search engine and a directory.
Search engines use algorithms and other factors to index Web sites.
A number of search engines are becoming both directories and search engines. To be successful in directories, you or your Web consultant, must choose the proper categories for your Web sites. To be successful in search engines, you must optimize your sites for each search engine s algorithms. Each search engine uses different algorithms and weights to rank sites Due to the difference in search engine algorithms, a site may rank in the top 5 in one search engine and 40th in another search engine. To further complicate the process, search engines continually change their ranking schemes.