Search Engine information Net Action Web Marketing

About Search Engines and Directories

Search Engines
Search engines are databases of web pages which have been indexed (listed) by automatic tools which crawl the web looking for new pages to index. These tools are called spiders, crawlers or robots. In theory, any web page will be found, providing it has at least one link to it from other page. But the process can be speeded up by submitting your site to be indexed. If you change your web pages, crawler-based search engines eventually find these changes, and that can affect how you are listed. Page titles, page text and inbound links all play a role in ranking.

Directories
Directories are lists of sites which have been reviewed and catalogued into a hierarchical structure by human editors. The only way to have a site reviewed for inclusion in a directory is to submit the site to them. Quality sites with good content are more likely to get listed than poor sites. Things that are useful for improving a listing with a search engine have nothing to do with improving a listing in a directory.

Paid Inclusion Programmes
Some engines (eg Yahoo) have programmes that guarantee to add the pages you submit quickly. The downside to some of these paid inclusion programmes is that you may be charged every time someone clicks on your listing (some don't charge this way). If you run out of money in your account, potentially, your listing may be dropped. Paid inclusion does not usually guarantee better ranking..

Paid Placement Programmes
Some engines charge according to how you want your site to rank for a particular search phrase. You bid for a search term and position and then pay everytime a user 'click through' to your site - sometimes called a "pay-per-click" (PPC) or a "cost-per-click" (CPC) search engine. The two main paid placement programmes are Yahoo Sponsored Search and Google Adwords. Major second tier PPC players include Espotting.com, Findwhat.com and Kanoodle.com.

These programmes may be worthwhile if your site is not ranking in the generic search engine results as you would like. This form of search engine advertising means that you can be guaranteed to appear in the top results for the terms you are interested in within a day or less. Given this, paid listings are an option that should be explored by site owners who wish to quickly build visibility. They may also be a long-term advertising option for some. They will work best if you manage them closely on a regular basis.

The search engine and directory situation changes almost daily. The information here is up to date as of May 2007. Tomorrow it could be different... Following is information and links to some of the major search engines and directories.

Major Search Engines

Google
Still the most important of the crawler based search engines due to its popularity with those searching the web. Provides comprehensive coverage of the web along with great relevancy of results. The best way to get listed with Google is to build links to your web site which can also help boost result rankings. Good use of keywords & phrases in your page text also very important for rankings.

Google also operates its own paid placement advertising programme, 'Google Adwords'. This cost-per-click programme places ads on Google as well as Google's partners. Similarly, Google is also a provider of unpaid editorial results to some other search engines.

Yahoo
Closely following Google in popularity & importance due to its size and relevancy of results. Yahoo now uses its own crawler based listings for its main results. Offers various paid placement and pay per click options. Like Google, Yahoo's paid advertising links appear on other sites also.

MSN - Live Search
An important crawler-based search engine used by many people in the US. Uses Microsoft's "Live Search" engine. Has paid listings in results.

Ask.com
Previously called Ask Jeeves, uses crawler-based technology to provide results to its users. Has sponsored listings on the site also

AlltheWeb/Fast
Previously owned by a company called FAST but now owned by Yahoo which provides its search results. Has paid inclusion programmes.

AOL
Default search engine for many AOL customers in the USA.

HotBot
One of the oldest search engines, HotBot currently provides easy access to two major crawler-based search engines, MSN and Ask.

AltaVista
One of the longest surviving engines but less important than it used to be. Now owned by Yahoo and uses Yahoo's crawler results.

Lycos
One of the oldest search engines on the web but no longer crawls for its own listings. Currently uses Ask results.

Netscape
Owned by AOL Time Warner, Netscape uses Google for its main listings as well as some of its own content.

Overture
The pioneer of paid placement programmes, Overture is now owned by Yahoo and the site redirects to Yahoo.

Excite
Used to be a major player but now a minor one. Uses results fron Ask, Yahoo, Google and others.

Major Directories

Yahoo Directory
The oldest web directory but has dropped in importance now that Yahoo uses crawler based listings for its main results. Directory listings may still appear in the results.
Looksmart
One of the oldest human-compiled directories of web sites. Less important now and mostly uses paid results.
Open Directory
Uses volunteer editors so time to get listed and categorisation can be very erratic. Still an important place to be listed as its results are widely used by other engines & search sites including Google Directory.

New Zealand / Australian Engines and Directories

YahooMSN NZ
Very important because it is the default search engine for Xtra customers. Previously was XtraMSN and changed to YahooMSN in 2007.
Yahoo7 Australia
Regional version of Yahoo using crawler based listings for main results now. Paid listings only for directory but less important now.
Search NZ
Well used local search engine for NZ sites only. Uses 'fuzzy logic' for results so keywords in page text is important.
NZ Search
Search NZ's web directory. Same as SearchNZ with different layout.
Access NZ
Directory of New Zealand and some overseas sites.
NZS
New Zealand search engine and directory
NZ Pages
New Zealand web directory
Link NZ
NZ engine which crawls NZ sites only.
Great New Zealand Tourism Directory
Important New Zealand Travel and Tourism directory
Destination NZ Tourism Directory
New Zealand Travel and Tourism directory with thousand of links