Search Engines are nothing more than databases that store information about web sites. When a searcher enters a specific query or keyword, data is returned using a point system or algorithm, all based on a complicated mathematical formula. The problem is no formula can identify quality; it can only pinpoint specific items like title tags, meta tags, keyword density ,etc. Each of these items is given a value and the results are delivered based on those values.

It did not take long for people to realize that to be listed in the top 10 of the search engine results all that was necessary was to figure out the algorithms of the various search engines. A new industry - Search Engine Optimization or SEO - was born, seemingly over night. Now the actual algorithms are a closely guarded trade secret, but enterprising SEOs are able to come close enough to be successful at dominating the results. When "clicks" can be converted to "paid clicks" from the engines' own ads, top results become very lucrative and competitive. This creates an environment that could be better for the the end user.

So now the focus is not providing valuable, quality information on a web site, but to create pages that will rank high in the results which translates into more visitors. More visitors mean more clicks on ads and more money for the web site owner and often the search engine too. To be fair, many good quality web sites make it to the top, but many more are there solely because the web masters are good at playing this search engine game. Therefore, finding relevant information from a major engine can be difficult and often impossible without wading through made just for pay-per-click ad sites.

The Problem with Directories

Directories work differently than search engines in the way they index, or include, data and in determining relevance and placement. Directories use human reviews, or editors, to look at a site and determine the quality and relevance as opposed to using a program. At least the good ones do.

There are two obvious problems with this system - time and self-serving motivations.

Yahoo! is the most popular directory on the net, and as such they are inundated with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of submissions overwhelming their staff. This means the vast majority of web sites never get a chance to be seen on Yahoo! simply because no one had time to really look at it. A quick glance, under pressure to review more faster and a decision is made as to the quality of the site.

Other alternatives have had some success using hundreds of contract editors like About.com. About.com calls their editors "Guides," and they work differently than Yahoo! editors in that they write original content, manage a blog, develop their own directories and oversee a forum on their particular topic. While this does appear to solve the time issue, it highlights the second problem with directories - self-serving motivations. Your dream being judged by others.

Any human-reviewed directory relies solely on the judgment of the person who has been give the powers of editor. Now the quality and relevance of any web site is in the hands of a person who knows nothing about the web master, their business, or their purpose other than what they see in a few minutes or maybe even seconds of looking at the web site. While most editors have some criteria that they are supposed to follow. that criteria can be very broad and vague. Basically, the chances of getting traffic from this directory falls into the hands of someone else who may even be a direct competitor.

The final outcome of this process is that when a person searches for a keyword, the results returned are only the results that the editor considers relevant. These results may or may not be what the searcher views as relevant. While human-reviewed directories do a far better job of giving the public relevant answers to search queries, they far too often do little for the web site owner and limit the options available to the public.

SearchKing's Answer to These Problems

SearchKing's answer is simple - to find people who have an interest in a specific topic and supply them with everything they need to build a Community ABOUT that topic.

SearchKing believes if a person is looking for accounting software, they are much more likely to find what they are looking for at a directory built by a person with a passion for the topic than by going to a major engine and digging for what they want. Add to this a chat room, a forum, personalized e-mail, a classified ad section, etc., and the result is a very powerful tool built around, and for accounting.

Take this concept, multiply it by hundreds, even thousands, of topics and end result is one great little search-portal service.