The directories each have their own guidelines and house style, and the closer that your submission follows these guidelines and house style, the closer the description written by the editor will match the one you supply. Ideally, you will have supplied a description that fits these parameters perfectly, and your own description will be used in full, unchanged.
There are two different types of directory - those that charge a fee, and those that don't. With one notable exception, the major directories that charge a fee, charge for the review of your site only, and that charge offers no guarantee that your site will be included in their database of results (the editor has to decide whether or not your site meets all the criteria for inclusion.
Looksmart.com, on the other hand, charges a smaller fee for review, and then a cost per click model thereafter, whereby all traffic generated by your listing, whether through Looksmart itself or through one of its partners (which include major portals such as MSN.com, and AltaVista.com) incurs a charge.
Those directories that do not charge for inclusion also offer no guarantee of inclusion, and in the case of the largest "free" directory, The Open Directory Project, volunteers run the directory, and so inclusion within the database is sometimes a little erratic - you might be included within a fortnight, or not for six months or more.
However, the principles of matching house styles and guidelines for submission remain broadly similar.
This article was first published on 05 June 2002 and does not necessarily match current events or the current opinions and views of bigmouthmedia ltd.
