A Handful of Web Directories Used by Search Engines as Signal of Trust
Everybody is familiar with browsing the net with search engines these days, as they allow us to discover things rather quickly. This is fundamental, but search engine results aren’t filtered by actual people, instead it’s done by an algorithm. So why would that be significant? Well, imagine you’re searching for a restaurant in Edinburgh for example. You would enter these keywords into Bing (for example), then a list of results would be presented. How can one know if these results are reliable if they’ve never been vetted by people? Here’s the solution: search engines employ human-administered website directories as a rudamentary filter.
Directories still play a part online, and the most discriminating directories are necessarily human edited. A human may realise that (e.g.) : “hmm, that restaurant has a particular rating for cleanliness and having certain standards, that’s a really secure signal”. A renowned online directory receives a number of entries on a daily basis. An administrator will look into these submissions, and if the editor is content that the level of the entry is of a set standard, it is included in to the internet directory. This is why Google still loves online directories. Both dmoz.org and the Yahoo! directory are interrogated by search engines as filters to observe the trustworthiness of a website - whether it’s included in dmoz.org / Yahoo! directory or not, as they’re human-edited and have stern rules-for-entry.
So do not understate the importance of website directories just because almost everyone uses search engines to find things. A directory with demanding guidelines can act as a great yardstick as to how authentic a website is. If you own a website, try and get your website added in a niche directory, like a furniture directory, a clothing directory, or a health and beauty directory.
While humanity is needing to act upon signs of trust, the internet will invariably need people to issue their stamp of approval, and so directories will invariably play a role.
