Getting a site listed on the first few entries of a
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) search has created a boondoggle for some consultants -- and a black hole for many businesses.
Advertising themselves as search engine optimization (SEO) specialists, some “experts” claim to know Tricks of the Trade, or secret ways to make one’s Web page more Google friendly. Sadly, many of these techniques are more trick than trade.
Some SEO consultants simply make educated guesses about what works and what doesn’t. Techniques that work become part of the company’s marketing materials; the ones that don’t are ignored.
In some cases, unscrupulous SEOs try to fudge results. Keywords and hyperlinks drive up Web page ratings. On occasion, SEOs fill pages with keywords (even putting white lettering on white text, so the search engine spider sees it but the user does not). Some embed hyperlinks that lead to nowhere or sometimes circle back on themselves.
Google is aware of these problems and is constantly changing its algorithm to try and address them, while improving user results. Because of the alterations, ABC Company may show up on the first three Search pages one day, and the next day, it may be banished to the hinterlands. ABC Company does not really know why that is the case, and the reality is that Google probably doesn’t, either.
Indeed, while the search vendor publishes extensive documentation on ways to make Web pages more “Google friendly,” its actual algorithm remains a closely guarded secret.
We do know this much: Google has a small army of intelligent, well paid individuals whose job is to create order out of the daily chaos that is the Internet. The company’s algorithm takes into account a number of arbitrary metrics, such as how many times a certain word is used or how many hyperlinks may be on a page, to determine which page best fits what Google thinks the user is looking for.
The problem is, the formulas Google uses in its algorithm are one firm’s view of how to classify and categorize Web content. Debating whether Google’s or another search vendor’s tactics are best is much like judging a beauty contest, with the winning traits found in the eye of the beholder.
What’s more, defining search engine criteria has become exceedingly complex as users have gotten more sophisticated, and one can question the efficiency of the exercise.
Indeed, search engine rankings are similar to the stock trading programs that intelligent, Ivy League-educated traders once spent hours, days, weeks, months, and years developing. While they deployed complex mathematical formulas to determine when traders should buy and sell stocks, after awhile the formulas became gobbledygook, mumbo jumbo that once made sense but as time went by, became virtually meaningless.
The same scenario is playing out with search criteria. There are now more than 1 trillion items on the Web. Does anyone really think that any formula can categorize such a vast amount of information in an orderly fashion?
Those willing to spend the time to sift through 50 pages of links will sometimes find the link they were looking for on page 50. Most of us don’t do that, so we automatically assume that the rankings work fine, when in fact, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
What we really have is an endless game of a dog chasing its tail. A company tries something that helps it gain a high page rating. It works (or maybe it doesn’t, so the company tries something else until it finally seems to have some success). Google makes a change, the rating plummets, and the company is back trying something else.
What to do? Rather than get caught up in the hocus pocus of trying to drive up Google ratings, companies should follow simple Website design basics: Make sure a URL mimics the company’s name, design easy-to-follow Web pages, update content regularly, and follow Google page design templates.
And don’t get too confident if your page ranking is high, or worried if it drops suddenly. This may change with the next release of Google’s algorithm.
— Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer who has been dissecting technology and business issues for two decades.
I agree. It is time that Google and other search companies take into the account of social networking and recommendation system agorithms.
I think they are probably working on using Facebook API and Tweeter to see who recommend what or who follow who. My professor, Prof. Jeff Sonstein at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology), started to work on a similar idea last quarter. I also know that Stanford University has been working on a perdiction recommendation system which I would be surprise if Google does not take advantage of it. The good thing about the internet is there are so many smart peple working on it. The question could simply just be who could collaborate all these smart theories and make it work. Another question is, if somehow there could be a super fast computer that could connect not just Google but also Bing, Yahoo, & ect. Then, combine the data and compare the results; finally, select the top one, would that work? This seems like a crazy idea that would not even get passed the idea of these companies working together. Anway, this is just a thought.
I completely agree, while there are SEOs trying to trick Google, most of them I would think are doing the right thing. There are a lot of issues normal websites have, invisible to users but that search engines take into account and that only SEOs know about.
And the last two paragraphs of the article nailed it, basically just do a good job at designing the website and you'll be ok.
SE rankings & SEO has become one of those few enigmatic areas of internet where it is difficult to judge effectiveness, ROI etc. This is both good or bad depending on where you are in the eco system. Other areas that need clarity, consistency & common understanding are domain name arbitrage, QoS of bandwidth, contention ratio, etc.
It seems the best way forward is the good old word of mouth that sustains Hollywood plastic surgeons. There's nothing like a direct referral and/or other user testimonials to convince a doubting Thomas CIO or CEO.
By the time a group could be formed to define SEO duties and best practices, the entire search market will have moved on.
Good SEO is a service that helps both consumers and business. Consumers find what they need easier. Businesses get their products/services found. This is good. Good SEO does nothing more than make information easy to find.
Yes, there is absolutely a dark side to SEO, where people use unscrupulous tactics, and to be honest, many of these techniques were first employed by porn sites and the like. But as it's been pointed out, Google is constantly on guard for these techniques...that's why keyword spamming or linking from non-credible sites does not boost a site's SEO--it can damage it. It does not behoove Google to have spam or irrelevant content ranking highly in its results pages.
The first step is having good content and a clear functional design is the first best-practice, as you've noted Paul. As bwelford said, having a clear architecture and a site map will then take you a long way. From there, Google recently lifted the lid on SEO a bit. Check out their SEO Starter Guide. You don't always need a specialist, but SEO specialists do provide an extremely useful service for sites in competitive markets and environments. That said, there are plenty of 'SEO Gurus' on Twitter with astronomical Alexa rankings and no clue what it is that their talking about.
But valid SEO strategies should be used by any website that wants to raise its visibility to its audience. Not following established SEO services is actually a disservice to your audience.
One issue is there is no independent authority regulating the marketplace. Google pretty much does what it wants and companies try to reverse engineering to figure out what it is doing. With stock brokers and online trading, the government can step in and become involved when trading technology starts to go amiss. With search, it is unclear where to go to try and get more sanity and openness involved in the process. Perhaps a user based consortium should be formed, and it could try to push for more openness, standardization, and accoutability. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I want to say you are really spot on!! It seems we are now seeing textbook SEO diminishing at an alrming rate and it seems the search engine optimizer are now running out of tricks due to the changing dynamics of search. As a result, it should not surprise us that some search engine optimize have resorted to learning a few tricks from seasoned hackers as this article is suggesting: "
" "Yeah, let's secretly break into servers, leverage cross-site scripting vulnerabilities to improve our rankings'" rather than do SEO the traditional way".
bwelford, thanks for reminding us not to throw the baby out with the bathwater here. I was ready to do so, until you pointed out specifically why a "real" SEO can benefit enterprise customers. I suppose the way to tell real from fake involves the time-tested methods of checking references and qualifications.
But it's helpful also to know what to ask about when enlisting a consultant, and the information in this blog and its responses give some great basics.
What a position to be in, Tech_ed! I have to hand it to you for getting out and getting on with your career, not getting stuck or intimidated into staying. And thank you for pointing out still more tricks of a shady trade.
It's true that you can use unscrupulous methods to gain temporary advantages with the search engines. The spam team at Google is constantly on the watch for the latest tricks and tries to devise changes to the algorithms that will root out such web pages that do not follow their guidelines. However the 'slice' of the population of web pages that is involved in these manoeuvres is a very minor fraction.
For most web pages, breaking the guidelines is not the issue. What is the greater challenge is to make sure that you are not inadvertently putting blinders in the way of the spiders. Or perhaps the site architecture is deficient in making it difficult for the spiders to get to the valuable web pages. Quite simple mistakes can lead to these spider blockages. Other mistakes can be more difficult to spot. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about avoiding these traps.
The difference in ranking in the top three on the keyword search engine report page versus being at number 10 can be a three-fold increase in traffic or more. Responsible SEO is very worthwhile and that is why there is so much attention to it. A well optimized web page may see more than 2/3 of the traffic coming from Google searches. That is not something to be ignored.
Internet Evolution RSS Updates Want to stay up to date on the topics covered in this article? Use the links below to subscribe to our topical RSS feeds:
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
A confluence of factors is moving the Internet from text-based to video-centered communications. With broadband connections becoming more common and PCs becoming more powerful, companies are now using rich multimedia to interact with customers.
“Smaller, faster, more powerful” has been the IT industry’s mantra. Recently, this phenomenon also has been evident in the cellphone market, where users now carry powerful, compact devices from place to place.
Web 2.0 has been great for the development of online communities. But its benefits come with a downside: Hackers are using the interactivity of social sites to spread their malware.
Daily, billions of individuals across the world wake up, boot up, and sign on to the Internet. What started as a simple exchange of test data among computers in a UCLA lab on September 2, 1969, has morphed into one of the world’s most significant technical achievements.
One of the Internet’s most venerable firms has opted for a buyout: BBN Technologies , which played an important role in development of Arpanet, the precursor to today’s Internet, has been gobbled up by Raytheon Co. , so its future is now up in the air.
Smarter Collaboration: How to Thrive in a Challenging Business Environment Market conditions are changing faster than ever, and organizations need to improve their agility and adaptability in order to provide better service and improve processes. The ability to work with customers, business partners, and employees as effectively as possible - while at the same time holding down costs - is a key to success. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
Techies are going crazy over the possibility that Google might design and sell its own Android phone. Some writers say it's a very big deal. Reiter questions whether it will happen and, if it does, whether it even matters.
Google Chrome isn't pretty like other OS GUIs, but it's the first OS ever designed from the Internet inward to the desktop instead of the other way around. Crochet a nice border for a Chrome OS window if you like, as long as you realize the world of the cloud will change our conception of desktop computing forever.
YouTube launches 'YouTube Direct' to give 'citizen' journalism a better platform and in so doing may just ensure that 'quality' journalism soon becomes a thing of the past.
Google flexed its collaboration muscles at the Enterprise 2.0 conference with a much talked-about Wave demo, but is the cool real-time application too big a leap for ordinary work tasks?
Cloud computing is being dampened by the lack of local application support for offline use. Google's partnership with open-source should encourage it to build tight integration between Google Docs and OpenOffice, and thus boost the cloud and counter Microsoft at the same time.
Evidence shows that you can tweet too much. Sites and services like Twitter and Facebook are a good place to reach your audience, but think quality over quantity.
As enterprises leap into the Web 2.0 world of blogging, commenting, and social networking, just 'being there' won't deliver ROI. You may want a 'Web Evangelist' to systematically harvest the feedback in order to polish your product or service.
Some thoughts on new tools that use the cloud for synchronization rather than storage, and how they might signal a shift in strategy for at least one software giant.
Research shows that the youth of today like Facebook – but not blogging or Twitter. Does that mean Facebook has won, or just that it's not yet out of favor? Will all the services we see today fade into Ovaltine-or-Wheaties status in just a few years?
What kinds of companies are doing the most innovation in the data center? Turns out it's midtier enterprises that are taking the "Just Right" approach.
Ray Kurzweil's Blio and Apple's iPad tablet will make it easier than ever to have books "read" to us, says Dr. Kim, who believes that talking tablets will become interwoven into our consciousness as we "merge" with the increasingly elegant machines we hold in our hands.
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Email This
TWEET THIS
