Rev up your search engine

-- Industrial Distribution, 4/1/2001

Other articles from this Distribution Technology Report:
Draw your e-business roadmap
Profile: Business savvy at Updike Supply
Viewpoint: Capitalizing on exceptions


By Brian Milligan, Contributing Editor

Industrial distributors can get a lot more mileage out of the Internet if they learn to make good use of the right search engines.

Through these, they can quickly find information about competitors, supplier stock levels, and pricing in virtually unlimited market areas. Constant practice and familiarity with these search engines will make a big difference in more efficient searches.

“The bottom line is people need to go to a search engine, get to know it really well, and use it constantly over and over again,” says Akarin Weatherford, chief technology officer for Indian River Consulting Group. “They need to get to know its little quirks. But they can give you basic help, and get an easy flow of information.”

Tips for using a search engine
Crawlers and directories
Familiarity is key
Make search engines work for you

Using the Internet

Some analysts say industrial distribution centers are taking a slow approach to using the Internet. Part of the reason for this is the technological challenge. Until recently, computers simply haven’t played as important a role in the industry.

"The distribution industry as a whole has always been lagging behind technology-wise,” says Weatherford.

Others are simply not familiar with the different ways the Internet can be used to their advantage. Many distributors simply build a home page, let it sit there, and hope customers will find it.

And some industrial distributor employees who do have access to computers find themselves unimpressed by the Internet. They describe it slow and cumbersome. Gary Denish, vice president of Great Lakes Tool Supply Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, says his operation has personal computers in a room adjacent to his office. He could use these to get on the World Wide Web, go to familiar supplier Web sites and check their stock levels for various goods.

But Denish says he does not often make the attempt. The reason: “It’s just not fast enough. It just takes time to switch screens and transfer to another page,” Denish says. "I can pick up the phone and call a manufacturer, and in 35 seconds I can be talking to a customer service rep and get the answer on stocks,” he says.

Tips for using a search engine

1. Avoid using a general search engine like Yahoo. Go to something that will provide an advanced search, like Google or Alta Vista.
2. Recognize search engines that use key word modifiers, and then conduct searches using words that would best relate to what you are looking for.
3. Practice using the search engine, and learn to understand its quirks.
4. Make search engines work for you by placing key words about your business high on your Web page. Use words that are not being used by your competitors.

But consultants say Denish and other industrial distributors could cover wider ground and get needed information faster if they surfed the Web with the array of Internet search engines now available, using them to pull down product information, for example, and learn about competitors.

The first step, analysts say, is understanding that search engines are readily accessible by a common PC. “Everyone can get to search engines,” says Weatherford. “You don’t need the latest and greatest browsers.”

The second step is learning how to use them properly. “If you don’t understand how to use the tool, you won’t be able to mine the data that you want,” says Weatherford.

Crawlers and directories

There are two two types of search engines: a “crawler”and a Web directory. A crawler, also called a “spider,” automatically goes out on the Web and pulls out site descriptions and URL data from any and all Web sites it can get to on the Internet. The crawler retrieves this information and then places it in a giant catalog.

This catalog of Web sites is what you look at when you place key words in the text box and click the “search” button.

A Web directory maintains a searchable catalog like a crawler, but does not automatically retrieve information for this catalog. Instead, a Web directory relies on Webmasters to manually submit their site to the catalog and they usually only allow you to submit it once. The difference is this: A crawler will attempt to retrieve every single page that a Web site offers, while a Web directory will only accept the one submitted main page of that site. So if you are looking for granular information, like any competitors’ pricing on fasteners, it’s better to use a crawler, while a Web directory should be used for finding general information, like all fastener distributors in the U.S.

Different search engines use different approaches to pulling down Web site information. Some rank their directory listings based on how many times others went to visit those particular sites. Others use key word modifiers in their search, and this is where industrial distributors can have an edge.

Key words are important to making a site turn up quickly on a directory. The Web surfer can quickly zero in on what he or she is looking for by using these words in the search.

“A lot of sites have key word modifiers,” says Weatherford. “When you go to a site, you put in three key words, like ‘industrial.’ Distribution is next, then MRO. If you do a search on that, you get a bunch of information based on those key words.”

Specifics count at this stage of the game. The wrong words typed into the search engine will yield an inappropriate search and directory listing.
“It’s like going to a car dealership and saying you want a vehicle,” he says. “But what make? Color? Model? You need to be more specific. Those are the things to think about in your search.”

To be effective, Weatherford says Web surfers here need to think carefully about what they are looking for, and then come up with three or four specific words that they can type into the engine.

“If you are looking for products or prices, put in industry key words, catalog, prices,” says Weatherford. “The more specific the words you enter in, the narrower the search,” says Weatherford.

Familiarity is key

Weatherford says industrial distributors can make their Web surfing lives easier by becoming familiar with industry specific directories and learning how to navigate them to find the data they need. Distributors should be very picky when they approach search engines. Most distributors will find that a general directory like Yahoo won’t necessarily help a searcher find the information they want.

When looking for a search engine, he says, a distributor’s best bet is to use Google, Alta Vista or Direct Hit. Industry listings for these are constantly being updated: The crawlers that they own are constantly bringing URLs to their catalogs.

“It searches the Web,” says Weatherford. “It’s going out and doing it constantly, 24 hours a day, forever. Every time it finds something, it takes that information and shoots it back to Alta Vista, and Alta Vista puts it in its catalog.”

Searches on industry-specific directories like manufacturing.net, which has around 60,000 listiings, or MRO-explorer.com, which has about 15,000 listings, will yield even more fruitful results. Distributors can use their advanced search engines to find sites that represent the vertical market they are in.