An Introduction to “Search-Friendliness”Doug CookFounder, Able Grape

OverviewDebunk a few search “myths”What is “search-friendliness”?The Long Tail and what it means“Search 101”How search engines workImplications for how you build your siteAnalyticsAble Grape demoQ&A

Debunking some mythsTwo fictitious examplesHumblevino.com:1000 visits/daySpamovin.com:10000 visits/dayWhich site is more successful?

Myth #1: More Traffic is BetterNeed more information than just trafficHumblevino.com35% meaningful interactionsSpamovin.com2% meaningful interactionsHumblevino is more successfulMore (350 vs 200) users engaged each daySpamovin is potentially tarnishing their brand

Ideal OptimizationConnect with all the people who are interested in what you have to say, and nobody elseMaximizes meaningful interactionsI prefer the term “search-friendliness”“SEO” often has connotations of spamminessSimilar analogy can be made for Twitter, Facebook, etc.

THE “LONG TAIL” and why you should care“I hope this talk is not too long a tale…”

The “Long Tail” of SearchNumber of Times SearchedSpecific Searches

The “Long Tail” of Search“Rare” searches= most of the area“Popular Searches”< 25% of areaNumber of Times SearchedSpecific Searches

The “Long Tail” of SearchRobert Mondavi CabernetRobert Mondavi(18% of total)2004 Robert Mondavi Cabernet2004 Robert Mondavi CabernetReserveNumber of Times Searched2004 Robert Mondavi CabernetReserve Tasting NotesSpecific Searches

The “Long Tail” of SearchPut another way, searchers are infinitely creativeEven for the exact same concept, many different searches2005 Hugel Riesling‘05 Hugel RieslingDomaineHugel Alsace Riesling 2005DomaineHugel et Fils AOC Alsace Riesling 2005

Myth #2Myth: “People will come to my homepage and browse around to find what they want”Some people will, most won’tMondavi example: only 18% to homepageMost people find information by very specific searchesExpect these to take them directly to pertinent infoImplication: your site should have this info in a “search-friendly” format

Myth #3Myth: “I have to rank highly for some popular query to get lots of traffic”Don’t try to be #1 for “cabernet”Too much competitionNot that much trafficOnly 7.5% of all queries mentioning cabernet!It is not the traffic you want (see Myth #1)Won’t result in a “meaningful interaction” unless you truly have the best general page about Cabernet on the webPut yourself in the shoes of the searcher

The Long Tail: ImplicationsMake sure you have lots of specific content on your siteWineriesAll wines, specific vintages, past and present, with detailed informationBlogsPost often!Must be accessible to search enginesMust be organized so “infinitely creative” searchers can find it

Search ENGINE 101“A little knowledge can be dangerous…”

How a Search Engine Finds ContentCrawler (robot, spider) fetches pages from the webParses (picks apart) page, extracts the linksGoes to new pages found among links, and fetches them(Lather, rinse, repeat).

ImplicationsCrawler must find a link to your pageDynamic technologies (Flash, Javascript) problematicContent generated in response to user input (navigation by search/option menus) problematicSitemaps (XML or HTML) can mitigateCrawler must be able to fetch/parse the pageFlash: difficult/impossible to parseAge verification: is a crawler old enough to drink?Sites depending upon registration: badSites depending upon cookie from home page: badCrawler doesn’t visit the homepage first! Blogging platforms OK, winery sites often problematic

How a Search Engine SearchesSearch Engines are not very smart!Looks for all the search terms at least once in the combined:Document bodyTitleInbound link textDocument URL

Not all Text is EqualTitle and inbound link text are seen as most likely description of what page is “about”Thus weighted more heavily by search engineLinks are very valuableQuantity is of some interestText of links is very important

Example Blog post: mrwinehead.comA Great Wine I TastedLast night I tasted the 2007 Hugel Gewürztraminer and it was good.Click hereto read a wine review of the ‘07.Hugel’sGewürz is not bad. Mr Wine Headreviews the 2007.Hypothetical “long tail” searches:2007 Hugel Gewürztraminer: will show up somewhere, not rank highly2007 Hugel et Fils Alsace Gewürtztraminer: nope(But for “click here” this page will be the billionth result!)

Better Version: mrwinehead.comTasted: 2007 Hugel GewürztraminerLast night I tasted the ’07 Gewürz from DomaineHugel in Alsace, and boy, was it good.Check out a wine review of the 2007 Hügel Gewürztraminer.Hugel’sGewürz is not bad. Mr. Wine Head reviews the ’07.Hypothetical “long tail” searches:2007 Hugel Gewürztraminer: yep2007 DomaineHugel Alsace Gewürtztraminer: yep

Alternative Version: mrwinehead.comBloggers like creative titles. You might use an internal link to be the “full, descriptive” title, giving you more flexibility with the title. Experiment, but measure your results!HugelGewürzRocks AgainLast night I tasted the ’07 Gewürztraminer from DomaineHugel in Alsace, and boy, was it good.Internal Link:Check out a wine review of the 2007 Hügel Gewürztraminer.Hugel’sGewürz is not bad. Mr. Wine Head reviews the ’07.Hypothetical “long tail” searches:2007 Hugel Gewürztraminer: yep2007 DomaineHugel Alsace Gewürtztraminer: yep

So what does this mean for you?Choose your title carefully: should be complete yet concise description of topicMissing words = missed opportunity for “tail searches”But long titles have less weight, can bring irrelevant trafficWhen linking to others, choose your link text as you would a title for the page

Encourage links to your pages!Tools to ease sharing/linking (e.g. sharethis)Use social media to get visits, some visitors may link backTwitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon, Digg, TechnoratiEssential: have something unique and interesting to say

AnalyticsIf you want to make something better, you must measure it

AnalyticsHow do you know your changes are working?Where do you get inspiration for other changes to make?Track your trafficWhere is it from?If from a search engine, what searches are they using?What pages are users visiting?

How do users respond to your site?Bounce rateIf you double your traffic, and halve your “connect rate”…Time on siteWhere do your users go after the landing page?Optimizing is about learning from your users and evolving your site.NB: Google tracks these things too!Sites with high bounce rates may rank lower

Analytics PlatformsBlogging platforms often include basic analyticsGoogle Analytics – free, much more sophisticated.Awstats – requires access to server logsNumber of commercial packages (Omniture, etc)

Experiment!Don’t be afraid to try things, as long as you measure the resultsA/B tests can be very usefulSurprising things can matterFonts, colors…

SummaryProduce unique, useful, interesting content!Understand the implications of the long tailMake sure your pages are findable/fetchable by search enginesMake sure your content, especially titles/anchors, are well-chosenMeasure your results and tune