Tag Archives: search engines

Have You Ever Asked a Question on Aardvark?

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First what is an aardvark anyway? Here is a quick dictionary definition:

aard·vark (ärd‘-värk´), n. A burrowing mammal, Orycteropus afer, of southern Africa, having a stocky, hairy body, large ears, a long tubular snout, and powerful digging claws. [Obsolete Afrikaans, “earth-pig” : aarde, earth, from Dutch, from Middle Dutch aerde + vark, pig, from Middle Dutch varken.]

Now to the point of this post. Aardvark is a search engine.  I suppose it was named after the animal because this search engine lets ask a question and it “diggs” for the answers. It was developed by former workers at Google. And believe it or not Google just brought it! You can read all about the site right here. But come right back I have a few more things to share.

Now, I joined the site. You can also connect with your Facebook or Google profile.  They request that you provide 3 areas of expertise. How cool. I also asked a question about the value of a Eisenhower Proof coin, since I love coins these days.

I am supposed to get  an answer right away. Now, that seems really amazing so I am going to switch over to my email to see if someone has actually answered. Hold on a minute….

There is a note saying that they are looking for someone to provide the answer. Meantime there is real time posting of answers to questions and the specific areas. Wow, this is pretty cool. So, hop on over. This site will also give you great blog food!

Now don’t go to Aardvark.com that is an interesting site in Africa but not the search engine.  This search engine is found on Vark.com

Directories vs Search Engines for Your Blog

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Remember that old commercial “Is it live or is it Memorex?” Well that’s what comes to mind when looking at the difference between submitting your site to a search engine vs directory.

Here is my current assessment and I welcome anyone to add to this or make corrections.

 

Search Engines

1. Search engines use computer programs called Robots,spiders and worms to automatically go from page to page through the web, reading content, and adding it to their databases. This speeds up the process of getting your site indexed.
2. You usually only have to tell a Search Engine the URL (address) of your site and it takes care of the rest.
3. The “spiders, robots or worms” search in different ways – and different parts of the Internet. The same search with different engines will yield different results.
4. Some index words in the title, URL, introductory paragraphs, or full-text of all documents on a web site or blog. Some use a combination of these words and phrases, all of which are entered into the search engine’s database.

About.com has a super, I mean super comprehensive listing of search engines. Click Here


Search engines also LOVE blogs. Imagnine a tank full of hungry fish. As soon as new food comes they go for it. Your blog site entries are fresh food for the search engines. Whereas, static web pages, that change very little and often, cause little stir with the search engines.

Directories

1. Directories are run by humans, live people, who review web sites and categorize them within their directories.

2. The staff consists of webmasters,directory staff and or volunteers. Sometimes staff are subject experts; sometimes not.

3. Review of you site require significant human effort to develop and maintain. Hence, it may take longer for your site to be indexed.

4. Some charge and some do not. For example, Yahoo charges a non-refundable fee of $299 if you site does not have adult content. If it is adult content it is $600. However, the payment of the fee does not assure you acceptance. But if accepted it gives you great placement.

Check out , Libarians Index, DMOZ, Medweb and Yahoo’s Directory

Yahoo and DMOZ are the two biggest directories on the web, but other important directories include local directories for your state, town, chamber of commerce, etc.

Hope this helps to make it clearer for many folks who want to know.