Usage Data: Factor Of Search Engine Optimisation

Search engines want their results to be highly relevant to web users, to make

sure that web users keep returning to the search engine for future searches.

And the best way to establish relevance to users? How they use websites, of

course!

Usage data is the most effective way of judging the true relevancy and value

of a website. For example, if users arrive on a website and leave immediately,

chances are it wasn’t relevant to their query in the first place. However, if a user

repeatedly visits a website and spends a long time on the site, chances are it is

extremely relevant. When it comes to search engines, relevant, valuable sites

get promoted, irrelevant sites get demoted.

How do search engines access this data?

Search engines use cookies to maintain a history of a user’s search activity.

This will include keywords used, and websites visited from the search engine.

Search engines gather data on the clickthrough rate of results, and on bounce

rates.

Most search engines also provide other services, all of which can be used to

gather data relevant to search. For Google, some examples include:

• Google AdWords

• Google AdSense

• Google Checkout

This is still a relatively new area of SEO. It no doubt plays a part in search

engine rankings, and that contribution is set to grow.

Site speed, i.e. the performance of your website, is a contributing factor to

ranking in Google. Google intimated the importance of site speed in 2009, and

confirmed it as one of over 200 ranking signals in April 2010.

So, what does this mean for SEO? When it comes to a website, it must:

• Be valuable enough to attract both visitors and links naturally.

• Retain visitors and make sure they return to the website.

• Convert visitors.

Social and Search

Social information is playing an ever increasing role in search. Social content,

such as Twitter messages or YouTube videos, can appear in the SERPs, and

there is a growing indication of social influence on search rankings. Google’s

real time search returns almost exclusively socially shared results.

There are several social factors to consider when it comes to social and search.

1. Use social media properties to dominate brand SERPs.

When someone searches for your brand name, you can use your

social media properties to “own” more of the results on that page.

Use your brand name when naming Twitter and Flickr profiles, and

Facebook and YouTube pages. 2. Social links are used as signals of relevance.

Links from social sites such as Twitter include “rel=nofollow”.

However, there is a strong indication that these links are in fact

followed by search engines, and are used to determine relevance. If

you focus on creating great content on your site and making sure that

it is easy to share socially, you should see a result in your SEO efforts.

3. Personalised results are influenced by your online social network.

If you are logged in to a social network while searching (Facebook

for Bing, or logged in to Google with your Gmail Google Account), you

could see results from or influenced by your social circle. In Bing, for

instance, results can include indications of what your friends have

previously liked or shared via Facebook. On Google, you might be

more likely to see your friend’s blog for relevant searches.

4. Optimise for social search engines.

While Google is the biggest search engine worldwide, YouTube is the

second biggest. Even within social properties, users still use search

to find the content they are looking for. Content that is housed on

these properties should be optimised for the relevant social search

engine as well.

Mobile Search

As web-enabled mobile devices continue to penetrate more of the market,

and become easier to use, mobile search remains a key growth area. Mobile

searches tend to be different to desktop searches. They are more navigational

in nature (users tend to know where they want to end up), and users are looking

for concise, actionable answers.

Mobile search input can also be different to desktop search. As well as typing in

search keywords, mobile users can search by voice, using images or scanning

barcodes.

As with mobile web development, mobile SEO is a little different to desktop

SEO, though the fundamental principles remain. Build usable and accessible

sites with great content, and you’ve already come a long way.

Where there are differences in approach for mobile SEO, these are largely

due to:

• Search engines having the ability to deliver precise location-based

results to mobile users.

• The importance of usability in sites for mobile devices.

• Search engines having less data to work with (as compared to

traditional web) in terms of site history, traffic, and inbound links.

The fundamentals of mobile SEO are not so different to those of desktop SEO.

1. A usable, crawlable site is very important.

Build mobile versions of your website that cater for mobile users:

simple, easy navigation, and content stripped down to only what is

required.

2. Content is important, and should be formatted for mobile usage.

Text and images should be optimised for the mobile experience – so

no large file sizes! The metadata still matters: titles and descriptions

are what users see in the SERPs.

3. Links are important, though less important at this time.

You should link to your mobile site from your desktop site and vice

versa. Submit your mobile site to relevant mobile directories.

4. Submit a mobile XML sitemap.

Mobile specific sitemaps use the same protocols as standard xml

sitemaps, with the addition of a mobile tag.

5. Use the word “mobile” on the mobile website, or use mobile TLDs.

Make it explicit to search engines that this is the mobile version of

your website, and they are more likely to prioritise it as such.

Local Search

Local search refers to search behaviour and results where location matters.

Either results returned are local in nature, or results returned can be mapbased.

With blended SERPs, map-based results can be returned together with other

types of results, depending on the type of search. As search engines continue

to become more sophisticated, location can be inferred and still influence the

type of results.

For example, a user might search for “plumber london” and the search will

know to return results for London plumbers. These might even be returned on

a map. However, a user in London might just search for “plumber”. The search

can infer from the user’s IP address that the user is in London, and still return

results for London plumbers.

For search engines to return location relevant results, they need to know the

location of things being searched for! This is often determined by sites which

include the name and address of a business. Note that this site might not be

yours. Location results are often determined from various review sites, and the

results can include some of those reviews.

Search engines also allow businesses to “claim” their location. A business can

verify itself through a process with the search engine, and ensure that location

information is correct.

What Not to Do

Black hat SEO refers to practices which attempt to game the search engines.

Should a search engine uncover a website using unethical practices to achieve

search engine rankings, it is likely to remove that website from its index.

Google publishes guidelines for webmasters, available through Google’s

Webmaster Central (www.google.com/webmasters). As well as outlining best

practice principles, Google has supplied the following list of don’ts:

• Avoid hidden text or hidden links.

• Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects.

• Don’t send automated queries to Google.

• Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords.

• Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially

duplicate content.

• Don’t create pages with malicious behaviour, such as phishing or installing

viruses, trojans, or other badware.

• Avoid “doorway” pages created just for search engines or other “cookie

cutter” approaches such as affiliate programmes with little or no original

content.

• If your site participates in an affiliate programme, make sure that your site

adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason

to visit your site first.

• Avoid link farms and focus on attracting quality, valuable links.

The bottom line: design websites for users first and foremost, and don’t try to

trick the search engines. It will only be a matter of time before they uncover

the black hat techniques.