Searching, Sort of Searching and Finding.

Posted by Englesos on the Web on: 2005-07-07 20:07:12

Self SEO > Search Engine Articles

An alternative route to the SEO Holy Grail.

A Google search for the phrase “Property in Cyprus” at this time yields 2,000,000 hits. A few months ago, it was 1,600,000.
Thus, we deduce (unsurprisingly) property in Cyprus is currently booming, as is the demand for property websites.
As a webmaster working in Cyprus – this makes me happy.

Clients who commission websites do so in order to be found, with the increasingly elusive “No 1 on Google” as their Holy Grail.
So how do we go about making them happy too?

A Little Background.

Google are responsible for about 40% of searches conducted on line and so are good to have on board with any web-based project. They offer pay per click (sponsored) results and free (organic) results.
Without analyzing the way in which Google operates – as far as we can know – and the relative merits of organic verses sponsored results, suffice it for now to say that Google is highly volatile in terms of what sites rank highest in their index regardless of how much you may pay.

Some argue that the search engine mega-giant is as reliable as the English weather and as fickle as a leaf in the wind but this is obviously anecdotal rather than evidence based.

Exaggeration aside, the point at issue here is that we cannot control the performance of Google and thus how can we risk our business by depending on it?

Available Options

So how do we get client number 200,000,001 found despite the odds?

I would argue that searches fall into three categories.

1. The “pure search”
This is when the individual searcher types keywords or phrases into the search engine of their choice or into a range of utilities that search a number of engines at the same time.
This will return varying numbers of results of which research suggests the searcher will read the first page or two.

2. The “partial search”
The searcher types in something he remembers from your site or publicity material. It is not necessarily a full web address but it is something intended to stick in the memory of anyone who hears it. A memorable URL for example is a big plus here.
Example – my on-line name is “Englesos”, which means “Englishman” in Greek. This makes my local clients laugh…and they remember it.
A Google search for “Englesos” always returns me in the first one or two places. Obviously, this means that the searcher has to have heard of me at least in order to perform such a search but if I back up my on-line presence with traditional advertising, this is not so hard a goal to achieve.
My website is englesos.net and my e-mail englesos@englesos.net.
Someone else beat me to dot.com but rest assured I am working on it.

3. The “Direct Hit”
Admittedly this is not really a search, but it is the best outcome of all. The searcher types your address into the browser and navigates directly to your site without side trips or distractions.
The “”partial search” becomes a “direct hit” if you choose the right name for your site and advertise it effectively. The golden rules are memorable, short and unambiguous in terms of meaning and spelling. Obviously memorable is the big issue here and the quality of your advertising will help with this issue.

The major plus with the “pure search” is that it is a minimal outlay option - in fact, it can be done for free, but it takes a good while for the search friendliest site to work its way up the rankings.
For a shorter-term return on investment (ROI) for the client, the fact needs to be faced that you will need an advertising budget of some sort. On line we speak of “push and pull”, pushing browsers to the site with advertising and pulling them in by means of your good design. Options include banners, handouts of all sorts (pens, mugs and the like), newspaper advertising, e-mail campaigns and the like.

Do not overlook the low cost but effective approach of every single scrap of paper that passes through your company’s hands carrying your e-mail and web address, and the use of e-mail as much as possible on any pretext so your website can be advertised on every mailing and subsequent reply.
It all gets you seen and helps you to the ultimate goal of the direct hit.

The Final Word.

In terms of short-term return on investment (ROI), a website requires an advertising budget of some sort. The money can be spent on improving your performance artificially on one specific search engine or on advertising your site by what may be described as “traditional” means.

Given time, a well-designed website will improve in terms of visibility.
Regardless of promises to the contrary, there are no dependable ways of improving your organic positioning assuming your site is reasonably well designed – HTML, non-dynamic and with appropriate meta-tags.

You can throw as much money at this issue as you wish – it will make no significant difference. In the hands of a poor-quality or unscrupulous webmaster it may even do harm.

About the Author

Englesos is a Web and Graphic Designer working out of the Famagusta area of Cyprus. See more of his work on http://www.englesos.net

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