Case Study: Mysterious Google Search [Fave]

CASE STUDYThe Mystery of a Simple Google Query @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 1

<english accent>Hey Dan! The other day I accidentlytyped “fave” instead of “facebook”and got this weird result. You shouldwrite a post about it!.</english accent> @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 2

OK[SUCKER] @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 3

The Results. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 4

Wait. What!?Did [fave] just return some weird facebook page? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 5

@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 6

Yup…@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 7

Let’s Dive In!!! @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 8

First - Think in questions: Why Does What Should What Could This Rank? Rank Instead? Rank? How Can I What’s SearchIs This Unique learn from Volume forTo Facebook? this? “fave”? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 9

ORGANIZE INTO THREE PARTS1. Is this worth researching?2. WHY do things rank like that for “fave”?3. What can we learn from this? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 10

Part 1 - Does It Matter?•Volume•Intent•Competition @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 11

Search Volume for [fave] 12,100 EXACT MATCHUnited States Searches per Month!! @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 12

Why do I say United States?! @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 13

THIS.Fave means Beans in Italian. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 14

Nothing else substantial for “fave” @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 15

Intent. What are all the reasons someone would search for [fave]?• Is it a REAL word?• Is it a brand name?• Is it a word in another language?• Is it a misspelling? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 16

Misspellings happen for three reasons. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 17

Common Misspelling culprit #1• Thought it was correct (stupidity) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 18

Common Misspelling culprit #2• Know its incorrect but just lets spell correct get it (lazy) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 19

Common Misspelling culprit #3 • Finger slipped (user error) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 20

Proving MisspellingsMore mobile searches for “fave” = fingers slipping. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 21

Yup.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 22

[Aside] You may have noticed I found some other weird search terms… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 23

faceno@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 24

daxevooj(all consonants one letter to left) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 25

Yiut(instead of youtube) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 26

Ok… back to work…  @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 27

Google Suggest - spell corrects “fave” @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 28

Google suggests [facebook] from [fave] even in Italian @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 29

More Proving Spelling Errors:[Fave] vs. [Facebook] Historic SearchVolume @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 30

I’m confident there’s no othercompelling reasons people would search for [fave]. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 32

Part 1 - Does It Matter? Volume IntentIs there Competition? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 33

2,770,000 pages indexed from facebook with the word “fave”@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 34

42,000 pages with “fave” in title and URL!!@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 35

“Competition” seems pretty high… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 36

High Search Volume + SingularIntent + High CompetitionJustifies Part TWO… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 37

Part 2 - WHY DoThings Rank The WayThey Do? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 38

SEOmoz SERP Analysis Tool http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-best-kept-secret-in-the-seomoz- toolset @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 39

The Anomaly. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 40

Look Deeper. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 41

-->Export to CSV @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 42

Remove identical metrics… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 43

Could four Google plus shares make it rank highest?? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 45

Let’s find out. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 46

I asked for plus 1’s of the page which was ranked 2nd All I needed was 5 @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 48

Got 7, Nice. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 49

And… 36+ hours later? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 50

No change. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 51

Arrrrggg…@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 52

DON’T. GIVE. UP.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 53

Something is causing it to rank higher. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 54

We can all learn a lesson from this guy. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 55

Keep. Looking. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 56

“facr” is behaving. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 57

Facebook does not rank the same page for “fave”.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 58

Still nothing for “fave the band”.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 59

Still nothing!!! @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 60

Finally!!@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 61

Nothing special about the page its self. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 62

So, let’s recap.The Fave page doesn’t rank well within Facebook. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 63

It doesn’t have an exceptional amount of activity (likes, discussion, content) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 64

I feel ya.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 65

Even BING is ranking this page!!! @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 66

Then, I remembered something… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 67

The 2nd result is a Canadian Magazine. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 68

Does Google.com favor US pages? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 69

Does Google.ca rank things differently? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 70

Nope.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 71

Same results in Google.ca @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 72

But…@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 73

For some reason my SEOquake SERP overlay started working… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 74

Look closely… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 75

ONE LINK@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 76

I click the #1… and… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 77

SEMrush Link Data @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 78

ONE link from nj.com domain. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 79

Page is indexed @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 82

Link is followed @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 83

That ONE link is enough to push it to #1 @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 84

Thus:•Slightly better on page optimization – URL and Title Tag•Being on the Facebook domain•Having at least one external link•Being a band (closest thing to an “entity” for “fave”) @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 86

#1 Ranking@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 87

Part 3 – What can weLEARN from this? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 88

1. Set Up Clean URLs on your facebook page @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 89

Its called a “username” in facebook Log in to business page and go to “edit info” @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 90

Remember:Update existing Facebook link URLs @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 91

2. Obtain links to your facebook profile page. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 92

Do you want this? #FAIL @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 93

Or this? #WIN @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 94

Is Zappos just lucky? @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 95

Nope.@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 96

Linking Domains to Facebook Pagefacebook.com/zappos - 213facebook.com/endless - 4 @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 97

3. Obtain links to other social profiles @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 98

4. Be Relentlessly Persistent @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 99

I have yet to find an unsolvable ranking/indexation anomaly. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 100

Keep a wide variety of SEO tools @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 101

Don’t be paranoid. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 102

Check your data. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 103

I don’t even usually USE thatSEOquake SERP overlay (but should!). @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 104

Didn’t even know SEMrush had link data. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 105

5. When it really counts, don’t depend on just one source of link data. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 106

Use this search if you have to… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 107

Sometimes it takes only ONE LINK @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 108

Contact Us Me @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 109

@HOUSEonFOX Saving Lives @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 110

@dan_shureSaving Websites @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 111

Wait Don’t Go! @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 112

Actually, this is more fitting… @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 113

A BONUS TIP @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 114

With this kind of search volume @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 115

Start a business with the word “Fave” @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 116

You could be rich like this guy. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 117

@dan_shure @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 118

http://www.distilled.net	1775
http://www.inhergentlejaws.com	17
http://tweets.distilled.net	16
http://www.newsblur.com	9
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	8
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	4
http://feeds.distilled.co.uk	3
http://tweets.willcritchlow.com	3
http://www.twylah.com	2
http://127.0.0.1	2
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com	1
http://a0.twimg.com	1
http://www.jatinmahindra.com	1

Case Study: Mysterious Google Search [Fave]

by Dan Shure on Jan 22, 2012

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

13 Embeds 1,842

Statistics

Case Study: Mysterious Google Search [Fave] — Presentation Transcript