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The term “human powered” mainly refers to directories, i.e. online catalogs which categorize websites into thematic sections. Yahoo!, along with the regular Web search, offers one of the most complete catalogs on the Web.

When you submit a site to a directory, it is queued for editorial review. Usually, when you submit, you are allowed to choose the category your site will be placed under, and the desired description and title for your site, which will show up in a related category. However, the actual presence of your site is subject to the editor’s decision when he or she browses your site.

Directories DO NOT accept automated submissions and have special methods to protect themselves from auto-submission software. You should always submit manually to a directory.

What the directories are useless for?

With the directories, there’s no concept of “ranking”, because once you’ve been included into the index, your site is ranked within the appropriate category by an independent factor, for instance, alphabetically or according to the Google PageRank.

Thus, the concept of “optimization” has no bearing when applied to directories like DMOZ or Yahoo.

In terms of traffic, these directories are also of little value. The percentage of Web surfers that would prefer browsing categories in a directory over a regular search is quite small; few people tend to dive into the depth of the branchy vertical hierarchy of categories. Thus, on its own your category listing won’t bring much traffic.

What the directories are useful for?

Since the directories are compiled by humans and are for humans (unlike  search engine listings which are compiled by robots for humans), the relevancy of directory results is very high. Search engines know that – almost all search engine spiders start their regular crawl at a directory like DMOZ or Yahoo. If you are listed there, the search engines will find you during their next crawl, even without your submission.

Additionally, directories themselves have high PageRank values (as a rule). When you are listed in a directory, the directory is linking to your site. This link is considered high-quality and is very good for your overall link popularity, which is an influential factor when it comes to ranking. For  search engines that are able to analyze the context of your link (such as Google), your directory listing will be important because your link is supplemented by a relevant description.

This course describes two major search services that mainly function as directories and which are extremely valuable for ranking improvement: Yahoo! and DMOZ.

Подобни статии:

1. Search Engines’ Submission Rules and Guidelines ...
2. Submitting to Search Engines ...
3. Lesson (17): Building the Right Site Architecture ...
4. Lesson (20): Creating a Search Engine Friendly Sitemap ...
5. Step 3: Optimizing Site Structure ...