While there are some sophisticated users out there who may input the URL, most users are likely to perform a search in a search engine or route through a directory. Users that are sophisticated enough to search using a URL will be sufficiently savvy to know that they shouldn't give up if they don't get the result they want that way, so will end up using a search engine / directory anyway.
It's important that URLs are meaningful as far as possible, however metadata and indexing is much more key to helping users get to the parts of the site that you want them to reach.
Sarah Agarwal
Environment Agency
0117 915 6251
>>> Jump Ruth <[log in to unmask]> 09/20/01 09:57am >>>
I'm about to be drawn into a bicker with one of our academic departments on
the subject of URLs and whether or not users can find them. I have
technical and political reasons for not wanting to give him the URL he's
asking for, but he's of the opinion that no-one will find his site, at it's
current address.
My gut feeling is that anyone looking for his pages, nowadays, without
knowing where they are, would use a search engine, either our own, or an
external one. In which case, the address of his pages doesn't matter very
much. Does anyone have any evidence to support/discount my feeling on this?
Or am I making assumptions based my own habits, which are not
representative?
Ruth
Ruth A Jump
CWIS Team
Computing and Information Services
Liverpool John Moores University
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