The most popular web directories.

Directories provide information on websites within structured categories, allowing users to search for key terms or browse through the subject hierarchy.

The difference to search engines is that directories are compiled by humans, so that all websites submitted to them need to provide more information than just a URL. The chances of getting listed on the big directories are becoming harder as the sheer quantity of websites overpowers the editorial capabilities of these search tools.

The top web directories are:

Yahoo remains the undisputed 'king of the search directories' on the web and, together with Google, receives twice as much traffic as the next largest search tool. As a result, it is one of the most essential sites to get listed on, but also one of the hardest. Launched at the end of 1994, Yahoo was one of the first search tools and now employs a large team of editors in the US and in its regional countries.

During 2001-02, business sites could only get listed by paying a review fee, with the US site leading the way and other regional Yahoo's tending to follow the model. More recently Yahoo has also started to include sponsored results from Overture and another significant development came at the end of 2002 when Yahoo began to use search results from Google within their main search listings - raising questions about the benefits of paying to submit a site to the main directory as well.

This is a unique directory model that uses a wide network of volunteer editors. ODP (or DMOZ) was acquired by Netscape soon after its launch in 1998 and the directory is made available on an open license arrangement to provide supplementary listings to many search sites, including Lycos, AltaVista, HotBot and AOL Search.

A listing on this directory can take a long time to achieve, depending on the popularity of a section, the availability of a subject editor and the backlog of submissions. More recently this problem has become worse as the importance of an ODP listing for rankings within Google has increased the volume of submissions to the site, which in turn has put more pressure on the dwindling number of editors.

This service launched in 1996 and, as well as being a directory in its own right, LookSmart also supplies directory listings for many major websites, including AltaVista and MSN Search. This service now only accepts paid submissions to its US or UK directory.

Ask Jeeves combines a human-compiled collection of answers to set questions, supplemented by a meta-search across a number of various search engines. Its full-text question searches are popular with general web users although the results can sometimes widely miss the mark!

Find out how your website can achieve a top placement on these web directories by contacting the web search workshop for more information, or to request your FREE site assessment.

Return to Materials introduction
The top search engines
How the top search tools work together
Options for paid search listings
UK search engines and directories
Partnerships between UK search engines and directories
European search engines and directories
The future of web search tools