Everybody is familiar with browsing the web with search engines these days, as they allow us to discover things rather speedily. This is wonderful, however search engine results aren’t moderated by humans, but by an algorithm. Why is that remarkable? Imagine you are searching for a hotel in Glasgow as an example. One would type this keyphrase into Yahoo! (for example), then a list of search results would be presented. How can one know if these results are reliable if they’ve never been filtered by people? Here’s the solution: search engines use human-edited online directories as a rudamentary filter.

Directories still play a part on the internet, and the greatest directories are inevitably human edited. A human may discover that (e.g.) : “hmm, that restaurant has a michelin star, that’s a rather encouraging signal”. A good online directory receives a number of submissions daily. An official will investigate these submissions, and if the editor is happy that the level of the entry is of a set standard, 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 looked up by search engines as filters to observe the trustworthiness of a website - whether it’s listed in dmoz.org / Yahoo! directory or not, since they are edited by humans and have strict guidelines.

Therefore do not minimise the significance of internet directories just because most individuals use search engines to discover websites. A human-edited directory can act as an essential measuring device as to how trustworthy a website is. If you own a website, also look to get your website included in a niche directory, like a DIY directory, a bed and breakfast directory, or a pub directory.