February 18, 2008

Meta Tags As Persuasive Content

Search engines change their algorithms from time to time. We hear that this meta tag or that is 'in vogue' now. Recently we've been told that description tags are pretty much useless, as far as SEO goes. Search engines don't pay too much attention to them. However in SEO PR, descriptions are worth their weight in gold..

Getting qualified traffic to your site is a two-step dance. Showing up on page one in the search engines is only the first part of the equation. After all, it's people who are doing the searching. and it's the people you want to come to your website.

Eye tracking studies show us how important it is to be listed at the top of a search results page. Indeed, the first goal is to be seen. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that just being listed at number one or two for a search term will automatically make people click your listing and visit your site. Oh, that it were that simple!

People read the 'headlines' and the 'blurb' on the search results page before they decide which link to click. That 'headline' is your title tag. The 'blurb' is most often the description tag. So while meta tags might not be of great value in your SEO efforts anymore, they are vital pieces of persuasive content. In fact, they could well be the very first touch point with a prospective customer. They could be the deciding factor as to whether this person ever visits your site and gets to know your company.

Here is an example:

My daughter-in-law is pregnant with her first child - and my first grandchild. I am a Baby Boomer, an aging hippie with strong green and organic leanings. I have read about the connection between toxic household cleaners and childhood developmental problems. I go to the Net hoping to find information about natural, non-toxic cleansers..

This is what I get on Google when I search non toxic household cleaners

1. Make your own non toxic household cleaners Household cleaners on the market today are harmful to your health, potentially deadly to children if ingested, expensive, and pollute ground water.

Well, that one hits all my go buttons. When I was a mom, this would have been perfect for me. However, I now own two businesses and work 15 hours a day. I am definitely not going to make my own. And neither is my daughter in law. So I move on to the next link

# 2 and 3 are also make your own. Finally at #5 I see Seventh Generation, the nation's leading brand of non toxic household cleaners. Kitchen and bathroom cleaners made without harsh chemicals. AHA!

I was training the marketing and PR staff of a large public company last week and we looked up their search listings. When we compared their 'headlines' and 'blurbs' to the other listings on the page, it was quite clear why a searcher might choose another link rather than theirs.

They were not aware that they could control what appears on the search engine results page.

And when I said you are leaving one of the most important pieces of persuasive copy to your IT department they were horrified.

You don't have to learn to code, but you do have to make friends with IT or your webmaster. And you need to learn enough about the SEO process to get the best possible content on the search results pages.

Posted by at 7:03 AM | Permalink

September 25, 2006

Google Displaying Really Long Site Descriptions?

Philipp Lenssen spotted a screen capture of Google displaying a really long and extended description within the search results page for a search on [blogspot.com autoregistration]. I personally do not see the nine or so line description myself. Matt Cutts of Google commented saying he was also not able to "recreate those snippets," so maybe a temporary Google bug, spyware, or a fake?

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:40 PM | Permalink

May 22, 2006

MSN Allows Webmasters To Opt Out Of ODP Titles

Huge props to MSN Search for enabling Webmasters to tell MSN not to display a site's ODP directory title in the MSN Search results. Basically, some times when a site is listed in MSN Search results, they use the ODP (dmoz.org) directory listing's data, specifically the title and description from the ODP database. Now, MSN allows Webmasters to specify if that data should be used or not.

How do you implement it?

Place one of these tags with the other meta tags on your page.

Keep in mind, it may take a few weeks for MSN to notice this tag in your pages.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 2:14 PM | Permalink

April 24, 2006

Google Web Site Categories Explored

Social Patterns writes a detailed explanation of what he feels determines a site's Google Web categories. What I define as a Web category are the "quick links" (yahoo calls them) you find under results such as this one. The Web categories attempt to break down the site's main structure, with links to the main areas of the site under the main search result listing. The questions are; what determines which sites deserve these links? Which types of keywords trigger the results? And how does Google determine what to add as a web category link?

Social Patterns dug into this a bit more. He determines they are "likely determined by traffic patterns." His findings in short:

Google snippet links do not return links outside of the home domain. Google snippet links do not have to be from a text link, it can be an image link or even a javascript link. Google snippet link text can be determined from an image's alt text. Google snippet links can be subdomains of the home domain. Google snippet links are not determined by PageRank. Google snippet links are displayed for the top result for a "brand" search or "domain" search. (For example, "zappos" and "zappos shoes")

I tend to agree with this breakdown, however I believe Danny might not agree with all of the findings.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:09 AM | Permalink

April 10, 2006

Google Hires Orion Search Engine Creator; Gets Extraction Algorithm

Back in September, SEW Forums moderator Edel "Orion" Garcia posted a thread about a new search technology under development. It was coincidentally called the "Orion Search Engine" but not connected with our moderator. Instead, it was developed by a university student who now, according to news reports out this weekend, works for Google. Google's also acquired his search technology.

How great this search engine was is impossible to say. The press release that inventor Ori Allon put out last September was full of excitement, but so are plenty of releases trying to attract the attention of investors and the media. The search engine itself was never available for the public to use.

It sounds like Allon mainly developed an algorithm useful in pulling out better summaries of web pages. In other words, if you did a search, you'd be likely to get back extracted sections of pages most relevant to your query. From the release:

The results to the query are displayed immediately in the form of expanded text extracts, giving you the relevant information without having to go the website.

Such extraction could work well with moves by Google to expand direct answers that it offers, something all search engines are doing. Of course, the more Google and other search engines extract heavily from web pages without sending them actual traffic, the more likely they'll come under legal pressures of stepping over the fair use line.

Via Threadwatch, Google buys search algorithm invented by Israeli student from Haaretz has more details on Google getting the rights to the Orion algorithm and confirmation that Allon now works for Google. His university says that Yahoo and Microsoft were also in negotiations for the technology.

Google wins rights to Aussie algorithm from The Age reports that Allon's been with Google for about six weeks. However, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates never commented on the technology, to my knowledge. The Age just seems confused that Allon's press release mentioned public comments by Gates that there's room for improvement generally in search.

Google does deal for Aussie program from the Daily Telegraph pitches that the technology will revolutionize the way we search. Ho hum. Reality check, OK? When Google acquired the three people from Kaltix along with their search technology back in 2003, it hardly created a revolutionary change for us soon after.

By revolutionary, I mean a radical shake-up of how we search or a major leap-frogging past other players. That didn't happen post-Kaltix. We did indeed see better personalized search come from Google, what I find one of its most impressive features. But that's an evolutionary change. It works on top of other things Google has built. It doesn't overturn and throw out the base technology.

So my reality check alarm is mainly for anyone who thinks Google's going to suddenly change because Allon and this extraction algorithm are now at Google. He gives Google another good employee, and the technology will probably give Google another evolutionary change that may improve things over time, rather than instanty.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, The Orion Search Engine.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:56 AM | Permalink

September 21, 2005

Save the Time of the Searcher: Yahoo's New "Quick Links"

On Search Engine Roundtable, Barry blogs about Yahoo's new Quick Links feature that you'll now find included in some Yahoo web results summaries.

Quick Links allow the searcher to save time and clicks (something we like) by integrating direct links to specific parts of web site. For example, this search for American Airlines shows Quick Links right below the text snippet. You'll find links to the reservations, travel info, and AAdvantage (American's frequent flyer program) portions of the American web site. On the Yahoo Search Blog, you'll read more about the technology and learn that Quick Links are generated by an algorithm that, "tries to guess the most used information about that page." Also on the blog you'll find a Quick Links example where services like cool send to phone feature from Yahoo Local are also included as a Quick Link. Note: When I searched for several stores and restaurants in my neighborhood I found web pages about these places but they didn't show any Quick Links. It's likely that Yahoo is gradually rolling out Quick Links for local establishments.

Embedding links to non-web search services (like the send to phone feature) also reminds me that while those of us who watch the close industry closely know about specific tools and databases that Yahoo and other large engines offer, many users only know about web results. This is why including links to these services on web results pages gives "web search only" users a chance to learn about and use non-web search services. Heck, all of the major engines now include thumbnail images from their imagery databases on web results pages if the query string suggests that the searcher is looking for this type of material. Promotion and timesavers all rolled into one.

Finally, Yahoo's new service will likely remind you of what Google has been testing in the past few weeks.

Want to discuss Yahoo Quick Links? Here's a link to a thread in the SEW Forums.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:17 PM | Permalink

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