Suppose for a moment that we could control these things. Suppose I
could find a way to get my site to show up on the top of Google for the
phrase "web design" or "web development." Would this be a good thing?
I'd like to make a couple arguments that it would not be a good thing.
And then, based on these arguments, describe how the inability to get
particular homepages top ranking for general phrases actually creates
other kinds of opportunities - opportunities we're blinded to when we've
set SEM expectations on SEO efforts. True SEO opportunities can
actually do more good for your search engine strategy than the perceived
good of getting top ranking on a general phrase.
We all tend to think our sites are relevant to our general business categories. But in reality they usually aren't. For search engines to be useful tools they must strive to be impartial. For example, when a searcher types in a general phrase like web design, my site should not show up. While we are in fact a web design company, the phrase "web design" does not imply that the searcher is looking for us. They might be a web design firm themselves, or they might be looking to become a web designer. Because "web design" is such a general phrase it should bring up the most general information about the topic of web design. As it is, the phrase "web design" appropriately returns lots of sites that teach principles and techniques of web design. If I could control or manipulate their results to get my site in that list it would only mean that the search engine is doing a bad job. And if I could do it, so could others. In the end search engines would be terrible and nobody would use them.
This relevancy reality is true for your clients too. While they might make some pretty darn good widgets, they are probably not the end all, be all, source of information on widgets in the world. The world is a big place and has lots of information in it. I'm always amazed at what detailed knowledge can be discovered about subjects that seem obscure. Consider light bulbs. Do a search on that phrase and you can find out how light bulbs work, collectors of antique light bulbs, the history of its invention, the energy usage of light bulbs, and what appears to be a light bulb fan club site. There are a lot of companies that make and sell light bulbs, but the subject of light bulbs is vast and search engines don't assume, just because I type in "light bulb" that my intent is to buy one.
The more general a phrase, the less appropriate it is for your site to show up in the results. It's the way it should be and we shouldn't try to change it.
A major principle in search engine optimization is to always honor the intent of the searcher. Search engines have a hard enough time trying to glean what a searcher is looking for when they drop a general phrase on them. In our December newsletter (Number One in Google? Not for long...) we talked about the rise of personalized search results that take into consideration an individual's preferences in determining relevance. This capability is still in its infancy so for now search engines have to make educated guesses about what to return when users type in vague terms like "vacation" and "light bulb" and "web design." Without more detail they have to return overarching sites on the subjects in view. As a result, the more general the phrase the more general the result, and thus the less likely any of the links will display what the searcher is looking for. So if by some miracle - or more likely some serious flaw - my site were to come up under the term "web design," it would be very unlikely that the visitor's intent to discover something about the general subject of web design would be fulfilled by my site. Consequently I might get a whole lot more traffic, but it would not fulfill the searchers intent and they would quickly click away. What good would that be? I'd trade a hundred clicks from Google that only went to one page and immediately left for one click that read a lot of my content and ultimately made contact with us. Wouldn't you?
ajmalseotips.blogspot.com
Argument one: If We Had Our Druthers Search Engines Wouldn't Work
We all tend to think our sites are relevant to our general business categories. But in reality they usually aren't. For search engines to be useful tools they must strive to be impartial. For example, when a searcher types in a general phrase like web design, my site should not show up. While we are in fact a web design company, the phrase "web design" does not imply that the searcher is looking for us. They might be a web design firm themselves, or they might be looking to become a web designer. Because "web design" is such a general phrase it should bring up the most general information about the topic of web design. As it is, the phrase "web design" appropriately returns lots of sites that teach principles and techniques of web design. If I could control or manipulate their results to get my site in that list it would only mean that the search engine is doing a bad job. And if I could do it, so could others. In the end search engines would be terrible and nobody would use them.
This relevancy reality is true for your clients too. While they might make some pretty darn good widgets, they are probably not the end all, be all, source of information on widgets in the world. The world is a big place and has lots of information in it. I'm always amazed at what detailed knowledge can be discovered about subjects that seem obscure. Consider light bulbs. Do a search on that phrase and you can find out how light bulbs work, collectors of antique light bulbs, the history of its invention, the energy usage of light bulbs, and what appears to be a light bulb fan club site. There are a lot of companies that make and sell light bulbs, but the subject of light bulbs is vast and search engines don't assume, just because I type in "light bulb" that my intent is to buy one.
The more general a phrase, the less appropriate it is for your site to show up in the results. It's the way it should be and we shouldn't try to change it.
Argument two: If We Had Our Druthers We'd Have a Lot of Irrelevant Traffic
A major principle in search engine optimization is to always honor the intent of the searcher. Search engines have a hard enough time trying to glean what a searcher is looking for when they drop a general phrase on them. In our December newsletter (Number One in Google? Not for long...) we talked about the rise of personalized search results that take into consideration an individual's preferences in determining relevance. This capability is still in its infancy so for now search engines have to make educated guesses about what to return when users type in vague terms like "vacation" and "light bulb" and "web design." Without more detail they have to return overarching sites on the subjects in view. As a result, the more general the phrase the more general the result, and thus the less likely any of the links will display what the searcher is looking for. So if by some miracle - or more likely some serious flaw - my site were to come up under the term "web design," it would be very unlikely that the visitor's intent to discover something about the general subject of web design would be fulfilled by my site. Consequently I might get a whole lot more traffic, but it would not fulfill the searchers intent and they would quickly click away. What good would that be? I'd trade a hundred clicks from Google that only went to one page and immediately left for one click that read a lot of my content and ultimately made contact with us. Wouldn't you?
ajmalseotips.blogspot.com
0 Comments