A Look at Human-edited Web Directories and Google
Everybody is familiar with using search engines nowadays, since they allow us to discover things so speedily. This is crucial, however search engine results aren’t moderated by people, but by an algorithm. Why is that remarkable? Imagine you’re searching for a pub in Halifax for example. One would enter these keywords into Yahoo! (for example), then a list of results would be presented. How can one know if these results are trusted if they’ve never been filtered by people? Here’s the answer: search engines employ human-edited website directories as a rudamentary filter.
Directories still play a part on the web, and the cleanest directories are unavoidably edited by people. A person may discover that (for instance) : “hmm, that hotel has been awarded a michelin star, that’s a very good sign”. A reputable website directory receives many submissions on a daily basis. An administrator will look into these entries, and if the editor is happy that the level of the entry is good enough, it is added to the website directory. And this is why search engines still love website directories. Both dmoz.org and the Yahoo! directory are utilized by search engines as filters to find out the veracity of a website - whether it’s listed in dmoz.org / Yahoo! directory or not, as they’re human-edited and have stringent guidelines.
Thus do not understate the importance of internet directories now that almost everyone uses search engines to find things. A human-edited directory can be an essential yardstick as to how authentic a website is. If you are a website owner, try and get your site listed in a niche directory, like a construction directory, a self-catering directory, or a yoga directory.
