UK search engines and directories
If you're looking specifically for UK information, many of the top US search tools now offer regional versions of their services, allowing restricted searching within a country's websites.
Search engines
The UK is currently covered by AltaVista, Google, HotBot, Lycos, MSN, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves, plus the 'pay-per-click' tool, Overture.
Genuine search engines developed in the UK are few and far between. They are often mostly run by software companies as a showpiece of their technology, yet struggle in the face of the big US search engines, both in terms of brand name, accuracy and size of index. A few useful search engines are:
- Mirago - the best UK search engine, it offers an impressive database and a range of search functions and results features, including the option of listing results by word density or link popularity, measured either by links to a site, or leaving it.
- UK Index - a development by a UK software company, this site was relaunched at the end of 2001 and, although small, generates some good results.
Directories
Most of the 'home-grown' search tools that only cover UK websites tend to be compiled directories and these vary in their depth and quality of information. The list of good UK sites is dwindling, with the demise of the long-established UK Directory in July 2002 and the changes at UK Plus, but some notable directory sites are:
- Splut - this directory accepts free listings with the added option for websites to boost their position within a category by paying for placement.
- Kingdom Search - a new directory launched in 2000, it presents results from UK sites in a clean, easy-to-use format.
- Red Hot Chilli - this directory first appeared in 2003 and combines a search engine using results from InfoSpace / Overture plus individually reviewed sites in the growing directory section.
- UK Plus - part of Associated Newspapers and Media, this was a small, hand-picked directory of UK sites that supplemented MSN Search in the UK. However, it closed this in July 2002 and now just provides the directory listings from Looksmart UK.
For more information about UK search tools, the Search Engine Spy website is a useful resource.
Finally, one issue often overlooked by UK websites is the use of a .co.uk domain name as several key search engines will only list sites using this domain within UK-specific searches. Therefore if you are targeting the UK market it will be important to not just restrict your website to a .com domain name, but have a .co.uk site available for indexing as well.
To find out how your website can achieve a top ranking on these UK search engines by contact us for more information or to request a FREE website assessment.
