A discussion on traffic generating factors related to search engines.
(And a freebee for you) It is not just position that gets you page
hits... Or...
Are you Selling Ice Cream in the Sahara Desert?
> I would think that it would depend on the particular key word or term used
> to do the search. Agreed, a search of a specific keyword would permit only
> ten in the top ten, but a search of ten different keywords could result in as
> many as 100 different sites in the top ten. As you said, "do the math."
POSITION VS TRAFFIC
Far more important than scoring in the top ten of "a" keyword, is
scoring well in the more frequently used keywords related to your content.
My clients and I have found that most of the 100, 200, or 999 search
engines that they are submitted to are worth Absolutely Nothing!!!
Hits = function of position TIMES a function of #queries.
If the number of queries for that keyword on that engine is low, your
number one top position will yield very little results! I am in charge of
several medical and a religious web site, all catering to rather limited
interests.
We even got Yahoo to put in a new CATEGORY for our religious site!
We were the ONLY one in that category for some time! Two weeks of modestly
high searches, and then very little, since everyone in that limited
religious community saw the site and looked at it. We get more traffic
from other related sites, than from excellent position in some of the
search engines.
In contrast, when Diana died, we put up a page on her, and got 600
hits the first day, converting ten percent to browsing other portions of
the site. Of course, that lasted only a week or two. Diana now brings an
average of one hit a day, and practically zero conversions. And even the
conversions were of limited value, as they were not in the market for a
new religion. (I should have slanted it more towards reward and
retribution angles of the religion, so folks might be more likely to see
what fate that religion thought might be in store for Diana. But that
was just too... tacky.)
One of the medical sites I have some responsibility for is hit by 30
people a day looking for information on leg cramps, a minor side issue to
what the doctor has to present. But it is a high interest topic. Other
of his pages place much higher in the search engines, (and are far more
important to leg cramps in a less obvious way...) yet the lack of queries
keeps limits traffic to those pages to one or two hits per day.
(Alas, it is difficult to influence clients on how to deal with
making medical esoterica obvious to the lay aching public...)
EFFECTIVENESS VS POSITION
> Personally, I have found that unique company names, used as the *first*, or
> *primary* keyword (key phrase?), and contained throughout the content and
> description tend to place that company's link near the very top in *some* of
> the search engines - but not all of them. Intelligent use of META tags for
That helps. BUT... you also need a good title that draws interest, and
a description which enhances that interest. Which would you visit:
Boxcar
The boxcar store.
Railroad Buff's Boxcar
Interested in Railroad Memorabilia? Want a slice of the first
transcontinental RR? Chat pages, pictures of steam engines, even a free
...
A free what???
(Give them a free gif to link to your store, and tell them to stick
it at the BOTTOM of some of their pages. Why? If someone read to the
bottom of their topic specific page, they have probably just qualified
themselves as interested enough to be buyers. Why pay for bandwidth for
non-buyers when you can get others to send you qualified probable buyers?
You have just started your own web wheel, with YOU at the hub!)
WHAT ARE YOU COMPETING WITH?
Next, there is the question of how many pages are competing against
you on a particular set of terms vs how many queries for those terms there
are. For example, if you are in an area with plenty of pages for,
say SPECfp92, especially from the same organization, you get little
benefit from being like them, and a LOT of benefit from being noticeably
different!
I would take that further, and say that to be in the middle of a page
full of pages from the same site is a plus, as then the viewer has to
choose between looking at yet another one of "those" pages, another search
engine page of more pages probably like those, or YOUR page. Of course I
will look at your page if it is different and sounds half way reasonable.
Doubly so if it seems to EXPLAIN what the heck all the technical pages
around it are all about! Change your META Description tag and resubmit
the page!
It is the same as being in a real neighborhood. See where the traffic
is coming from by looking at the referrer entries in your logs, re-running
the searches people have run to find you, then seeing what you can do to
improve your description, and resubmit. Sure, it helps to know what
people are looking for, as per my search engine statistics reports, (URL
at end,) but YOU already have a tremendous tool in your own server logs!
get out your PERL handled pickax, and MINE them for all they are worth!!!
(Or ask me to do that for you.) Re-run searches other people use to find
you, then if you already place well, refine your DESCRIPTION tags to make
your pages stand out in the same search engine position, and resubmit. And
if you don't place well, look at what other keywords the visitors are
using to find you. Are you using them in your title, description, and
header lines?
SELLING ICE CREAM IN THE SAHARA
And yes, it does help to see just what people are looking for around
your topical area, and how much traffic there is for those keywords. That
is what the pages on my search engine area, and the custom reports a
number of webmasters are buying, are all about. After all, an ice cream
stand in the Sahara Desert may be a fantastic sales concept with an almost
guaranteed sale to each visitor even if you charge a premium price! But,
as Bugs Bunny might say, "Err. what's up doc? See anyone out here
lately?" You might make more money selling ice cream, or even bottled ice
water, by simply walking up and down any street in New York City in a
summer traffic jam. (If they don't arrest you for vending on the street,
that is... Heck some might even look at the fines as just another cost of
doing business, and get patrons to sign a petition to repeal any relevant
laws.)
Remember the first rule of business: Location, Location, Location.
That rule is derived from an analysis of Traffic! And traffic analysis is
exactly what I offer at http://www.mall-net.com/se_report/ , where a free
statistical analysis of the top 100 queries are posted every week.
PROMO DEAL:
Mention http://www.mall-net.com/se_report/ in another forum, (mailing
list, Usenet news, web page, whatever,) CC me, and I will send you a
week's free subscription to the Top of the Hour report listing the top
query of the hour for the past 24 hours. Now how's that for a deal?
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