by Stephan Miller
Yes, it does seem to be open season. And it does seem that anyone who tries to make their website rank higher in search engine results is lumped together with search engine spammers.
Now, I would understand this a little more if search engine technology was at a level where I type a phrase in and find what I am looking for. But people's minds works differently and no search engine will ever be able to account for this factor.
A newbie to a certain technology, doesn't matter which, doesn't use the same terminology as an expert. He will use terms that relate to his areas of expertise and as he progresses, this terminology will evolve until it is more precise. Therefore, there will be many levels of vocabulary that he will use in this progression. As SEO's, we recognize this.
A person may type in "change belt in my car", not knowing that there are multiple belts in a vehicle and each vehicle may have different procedures for changing this belt.
The more "authoritative" website may never use this exact term. They will use "change a timing belt in a 94 Toyota Camry" or "changing the drive belt in a 95 Chevrolet Corsica." While the SEO, who has researched search terms on internet users, will know the vague terminology that newbies may use.
This is the job of an SEO. To bring people the information they are looking for. Maybe make a sale while they are at it, but still an SEO knows the pulse of what people are looking for more accurately than the run-of-the-mill textbook webmasters.
People looking for something on the web are looking for something quick. They do not care that the language they may use is inaccurate. They don't want to read a manual before they type words into Google. They just want the info. As SEO's we bring it to them and reap our rewards.
To do this, we learn a little about the search engines we submit to. It's a necessity. And I think this makes the internet a better place to find things. To suggest otherwise would be like saying that people born with bad eyesight should be forced to live without glasses.
Of course, I am only speaking for those on the white-hat side of SEO. Presenting a false front to search engines is not good practice. Just give people what they are looking for and add value to your site.
Let the blind continue to lynch SEO's. Let search engine's change their ranking algorithms. Let spammer's continue their games and get banned. Let the non-SEO webmasters continue to website equivalent of Siberia. Then sit down, know your audience, know your competition, know your search engines, and write.
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Stephan Miller http://www.profit-ware.com
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# posted by Priya Shah @ 3:52 PM
