Indexing Makes the Difference

Good indexing is the difference between a directory which will be used and one which will languish on the shelf, or is not accessed on-line. There are several ways to index, with the option you choose very much dependent upon the needs of your audience.

The traditional method is to select major product or service categories to cross-reference the individual members by, however, there are numerous other ways. Here are a few suggestions for you:

1. By Product or Service
2. By Region, State/Province, or Territory
3. By Industry or Function
4. By Brand Names Manufactured or Sold
5. By Sales Representatives/Distributors
6. By Committee Participation

When indexing where there is a major listing the reader needs to be referred to, use page numbers, together with an organization name. Most directories only use the organization name, which means the reader has to search the publication again to find the listing. At the same time, remember that the Internet, and more specifically, your web-site, is another place where you can locate your directory for visitors to your site, providing added value to them. You can also use hot links within indexes so that readers can jump back and forth.

Wherever possible, computerize the page numbering through the indexing capabilities of programs such as Corel Ventura Publisher, or by entering the pages into a data base after the listing section has been created, but before the indices have been made. For on-line directories, cross-referencing can be handled by linking one item to another on the site. This provides for dynamic lookup and offers ways of delivering added value to a basic index, and in the case of members who might want to advertise to visitors to an association site, may be a way to deliver added revenue for a site if there are associated fees charged for such a service. In this way, links can not only be internal to pages on the site, but may also be external, driving traffic from your site to a member's site.

Besides actual lists, we have found icons used with the main listing to be very helpful for indexing. This is especially true when there are only a few items to index. Corporate logos can also be an option which are used to enhance a listing, and may also be an item which is charged for.

As well, you can set up hot links to send a reader directly to the listee's web site, or to their e-mail address. And, if you are into making money with your directory, you can charge to have these hot-links added to a listee's directory. With the information in a data base, you can send your whole web-site directory programming to an output file ready for the Net, without the need of formatting and embedding HTML codes manually.