A web directory is just what it sounds like: a directory that is found on the World Wide Web, that directs you to various web sites. Unlike a search engine, which displays results based on key words and phrases, a web directory groups information into categories by topic. Perhaps the best known web directory is the Yahoo Directory.
Directories organize info that can be accessed in a process known as “drilling down”-you go from the most general (for example, “travel”) to increasingly specific subcategories (for example, “United States,” “amusement parks”). You might drill down from “Reference” to “Phone Numbers” to “Businesses” to get to a listing of various online yellow pages.
A web directory directs you to links to web sites that may contain the information you seek. Insiders refer to directories as either general or niche. Niche directories attempt to collect as much information as possible within specific research areas, for example, a web directory of career advice, or a web directory of safe toys for children.
A web directory can take different forms, according to how...