Google knows best

We can see that Google has begun a pardigm shift from simply being a search engine that seeks to return relevant content to their searcher-user, to a sort of gatekeeper-ranker. Dare we say “censor?” Of course. How could you NOT say that Google is censoring the content that the searcher sees? Of course, they would probably prefer to call it something like Advanced Algorithm Filtering Service. Be that as it may, when you search for something and Google returns not only relevant content, but only the relevant content they want you to see, that is the dictionary definition of censorship.

The purpose of this post is not really to badger Google about being a big bad censor, but rather trying to clarify the question, “What is Google?” They are no longer a search engine, but are now a rating service as well. That’s really good news for those of you who can’t decide for yourselves, or don’t want to be bothered. Type in some search words, get some content returned to you that Google wants you to see. Choose from among the choices that Google presents to you. No problem.

To be continued.

Playing favorites

If you are a search engine, and your goal is to return the most relevant content to your users, what do you do when many, many equally good websites are returned? You might say the only fair thing to do is rotate those top, equally good and equally relevant websites. That would be fair. What Google chose to do, however, was to extend their criteria—lengthen their list of things they feel make one site “better” than another similar site, more relevant, somehow, than another similar site.

Now, the searcher doesn’t really care, or think about, all this rating foolishness. If they are presented with a dozen or so sites that seem to meet their search criteria, they are happy. They choose one of the very good and relevant sites that Google presents to them, and visit a few of those sites. Fine. But they seldom visit number 312 or number 869, which might have really been the best sites for them to visit.

So Google’s list of virtuous things webmasters ought to be doing got longer. And one of the things they came up with was links. That’s right, links. Google reasoned that if many other websites linked to this one website, it must really be good. It must be better than websites who had fewer links to their sites. It must be incredibly better than websites who had no links coming in to them at all.

Why?

Why would that be true?

Why would the most popular websites necessarily be “better” or “more relevant” to the searcher’s question than less popular websites?

To be continued.

What is Google’s purpose?

Without looking up their official bio, my memory tells me that Google began as one of the early attempts to index the web. The purpose of indexing the web is the same as the purpose for indexing anything else: to point the user toward content they want to look at. That’s why libraries have card catalogs and that’s why big textbooks have those tiny word pages in the back.

The indexing function, or cataloging function, of the internet is considerably more sophisticated today, and is performed by something called a search engine rather than an indexer.The desired result is still to try to take the user to the place he wants to go, or give him the information he wants to see, just do a better job of it.

With so many new websites springing up, traditional indexing really wasn’t feasible for very long. Hence the development of search engines. (Both Google and Yahoo still offer traditional “directories” to the web, though. and If you have the time and patience to drill down through their hierarchy, have at it.)

The trouble is, along with more sophisticated methods came the opportunity to additionally try to tell people what Google thought was “good” content and what they thought was poorer or “less apropos” content. This was under the guise of “providing users with the most relevant content” rather than just providing a list of possibilities and letting the user decide what he wanted to investigate further. Kind of like a librarian recommending a particular book instead of simply pointing you to the section of the library where books on that subject might be found.

More to follow.

Secret lives of successful bloggers

Is there a big secret?

There must be. There has to be. There is. You have suspected this for a long time now, but let’s finally get it out in the open:

“There is more to blogging than just writing a lot of stuff and setting up your blog to suit the search engines.”

There. I said it. I feel better already.

As always, you can find the clues to the “secret” things that successful bloggers do by simply reading their blogs on a regular basis. Perhaps you have had a sneaking suspicion all along that these people were doing something you weren’t doing. You were right. If you don’t have tons of traffic, you were right: they ARE doing something you aren’t doing. Or at least you are not doing it as well as they are.

Some things are hard to explain, hard to define. On the one hand, you have what I call the “mechanics” of running a blog: things like good and interesting and helpful writing; good monetization techniques; advertising; commenting on other people’s blogs, and so forth. On the surface it seems like you are doing every single thing that the “big boys and girls” are doing on their blogs. That must not be true.

Like I said, it’s hard to put this intangible thing into words. But at the heart of the matter is the fact that the really successfull bloggers have found a way, somehow, to CONNECT with their readers. They are on the same wavelength, the same side of the street. They have discovered what their readers are looking for, and they give it to them.

For the next few posts, let’s explore that “secret” in more detail.

It's all about information

Above all else, the internet is about information. Finding information, selling information, sharing information. Make sure that some aspect of this basic fact is included in each of your blog posts.

Providing some sort of information “niche” is a great way to attract return visitors as well as first-timers. Look around the web: you will see sites that give sports scores, weather forecasts, schedules for this or that event, or just plain gossip about a particular niche topic.

The point is, if you keep hacking away at your particular niche area of interest long enough, you will begin to rank with the search engines on that subject. That’s good from a new visitor standpoint. Then, make sure your content is interesting and entertaining (or useful, if you are trying to provide a specific service) and that will help you bring them back again and again. Always be trying to build that base of “core” site visitors that form your “regular readership.”

Search the web to get ideas on what other people are doing. Find out what successful blogs are doing, even if they are not exactly in your area of interest or expertise. Don’t steal from them—simply incorporate their general ideas into your website. Variations on themes is a big part of what makes the world go ‘round.

The internet is huge. The search engines are easy to use. If you run out of ideas to try, or run out of writing ideas for your blog, then shame on you!

The ultimate librarian

In ancient days of long ago, if you wanted to find out about something, you went to your local library and asked the librarian for help with your learning project. She or he would then point you in the direction you needed to go in order to quickly find the learning reference materials that would help you in your project.

Think of a search engine as the ultimate friendly librarian. A search engine is more than that, of course, but for the time being it is helpful to use the librarian metaphor.

When a person turns on the computer and connects to the internet, he is interested in one of three things. He wants to learn, he wants to shop, or he wants to be entertained. Your job as a proud website owner (internet store entrepreneur) is to provide all three of these things. You need to teach, you need to entertain, and, of course, you want to sell something along the way.

In order to begin his travels on the internet, the user will type in an address in his browser (or he will click on a button which types in an address for him.) If the address he types in is Walmart.com, or any other merchant's address, you as an internet store owner are out of luck. But if he types in the address of a search engine instead of a direct website address or one of his favorites, you still have a fighting chance. That is to say, the search engine might recommend your website to him.

Fat chance, you say. Fat chance indeed. But the truth is, there are truly several things you can do that might influence the gatekeeper librarian. Doing these things is what is known as Search Engine Optimization. SEO. For starters, it wouldn't hurt you to study up a little bit about how search engines work, how they rank websites, what they are looking for. Armed with that information, you can begin to rearrange and remodel your website accordingly. There will be more written about this later, of course.

Before we talk about how search engines work and how to optimize your website's profile with them, you should begin at once to do things which change your website from just a selling place to a delightful place which educates and entertains as well. Why restrict yourself to just selling? I do understand why you have a website--to sell things and therefore make money. But first you have to get the customer to walk into your store, right? In order to do that, you have to catch his--and the search engines'--interest. More to come.

Repeat after me: "Content is king. Content is king. Content is king..."