Posted by arlene

Included among the larger grouping of search sites are three types: search engines, directories, and portals. They all compile information about Web sites and make that information searchable by users. How they do it differs.

But in all cases, when a user conducts a search, the results that are returned appear in a list. The list is usually ranked by relevancy, with the sites that are the most relevant to the terms of interest to the user at the top of the list. The compiled information exists in a database, where it is stored in no particular order. (Seeming order is “imposed” when a user searches the database and the results appear in a list based on … dare we say it? … relevancy) Note that in at least one case (Google, at www.google.com), the ranking is based on the popularity of the sites listed. The most popular sites are at the top of the list. But for the most part relevancy rules the roost.

Your goal is to create a situation that puts your site at the top of the list whenever a user searches for a site on a topic like yours. To do so, you must take into account how relevancy works. You must also attend to your site’s popularity, both because that factor is taken into account by Google (and to some degree by various other search sites) and because it’s just plain smart. Making your site popular is a matter of making it good and of marketing it well. Here we are going to focus on the issue of relevancy.

The trick here is that relevancy is kind of, well … relative. You see, relevancy is generally calculated by some simple means — like counting how many times the word or phrase that you searched appears in a given Web page, its URL, its title, and so on. This method of calculating relevancy is both a weakness of the whole search business and something that you can capitalize on. You can make this bug into a feature by including specific tags or repeated word patterns in your page so that a specific search site can catalog your site correctly and give it a truly relevant relevancy ranking.

Now search engines work

A search engine, in the context of this discussion, is a gigantic, automatically built catalog of Web pages. AltaVista is an example of a search engine. So is Google. Typically, a search engine includes a robot, spider, or crawler (software that noses around the Web, investigating sites and sometimes following their links). (Tip: When your directory structure is clean, following the link paths is easier for the crawler.) It also includes a database, into which the crawler dumps the URLs and any other related data it picks up from the sites it visits. Then there’s the search engine software itself, which is what actually allows users to search the database.

Crawlers take an interest in a given site because its URL was submitted to the search site or because the crawler encountered the site on its own. Crawlers sometimes make return visits to scope out changes, but whether that happens and how often vary from search engine to search engine, so you want to have your house in order the first time the crawler shows up.

Now directories work

A directory is a categorized listing of Web sites that are chosen by living, caring human beings who (presumably) keep it intelligently organized and who sometimes add extra value (like site reviews) to the mix. Yahoo!, for example, is a directory. You can submit your site for consideration, but if the folks working at the directory don’t think it’s terrific or in some way exemplary, it won’t be listed. Employees of the directory also sometimes surf around the Web trolling for suitable sites to include. Ask Jeeves is a directory that also provides a “natural language” search engine for searching the directory. A natural language search engine is one that lets you type plain sentences in as your search phrase rather than keywords.

How portals work

A portal site provides a doorway to other sites, kind of like an extensive index page, along with feature content and other services (such as free e-mail, discussion groups, and tools such as travel booking or stock quotes). MSN.com is a general interest portal, but portals are often theme- or subject-oriented (listing, say, law sites, as FindLaw.com does, or education, as HungryMinds.com does), or focused on a specific demographic (iVillage.com focuses on information of interest to women). Portals often publish syndicated or licensed content from other sites; they then cite the source, which can be as good as getting a listing with the portal.

The distinctions among search engines, directories, and portals sometimes blur. Some search engines, for example, include browsable categorizations; many directories offer services such as free e-mail, stock quotes, and the like. And as time goes on, they are all likely to shape and reshape their offerings based on what users want, what imagination inspires, and what can be done with new technologies.

For cutting edge information and updates on the workings of search engines, directories, and portals, see Search Engine Watch (www .searchenginewatch.com). Its e-mail newsletter distributes news about search engines and is a must-have for serious Web site promoters.

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