I would say at least 3 out of 10 valid SEO theories evolve from sheer stark raving lunacy, so I’m gonna take a bit of a stab at a decent discussion on one. Perhaps this is already common knowledge, but I haven’t heard it discussed a whole lot as of yet, and I really just felt like going off on a rant this afternoon. It should be disclosed that I am by no means qualified to discuss specifics of algorithms, and you are at risk of developing your own wild-eyed ideas from reading the information contained below.
As I was scoring the various elements of Rand’s incredible search engine rankings factors document, I noticed that many of the variables could be judged more or less important depending on what I would be using if I were doing a test query. I think most SEO’s are aware of this fact, but I really haven’t seen it discussed all that often.
During several sessions given by search engine representatives, I’ve heard them mention that they most certainly distinguish intent in different types of queries. Yahoo mindset is one of the more interesting recent SE developments, and illustrates in very simple form the deciphering of intent between commercial and informational queries.
From a taxonomy of web search by Andrei Broder:
A taxonomy of web searches
In the web context the “need behind the query” is often not informational in nature. We classify web
queries according to their intent into 3 classes:
1. Navigational. The immediate intent is to reach a particular site.
2. Informational. The intent is to acquire some information assumed to be present on one or
more web pages.
3. Transactional. The intent is to perform some web-mediated activity.
Before we discuss these types in detail, we need to clarify that there is no assumption here that this intent can be inferred with any certitude from the query. The examples below might have alternative explanations.
These seem like they are probably just top level taxonomy now. However, imagine if there were query specific algorithms for transactional vs. informational + the taxonomy of the DMOZ categories. So for transactional + business there was one algorithm versus a fairly different one for informational + computers. Then imagine going a heirarchy structure deeper (something like informational + business + jobs). Thinking about each level and the variables involved in a ranking algorithm, it is fairly easy to say that different weights and dampening factors could be used for different semantic taxonomies.
While I would imagine intent is quite ambigious and difficult to guage, Yahoo Mindset demonstrated that they have the top level pretty well clocked. How deep does the structure go now, and what are the criteria for determining intent? How big of a role is query intent or query specific variables currently playing in determining search engine rankings? I suppose at some level this is probably a fairly remedial way for my less than genius mind to comprehend in some way how semantics are being applied in the search engines in regards to rankings.
I remember Tim Mayer mentioning in one of his sessions that some of the main measurements for spam were “intent and extent”, which seemed very logical to me. It is also the reason why their is a double standard for large corporations using “IP-delivery” vs. small businesses “cloaking”. The intent is different, and the extent of the impact is much higher relevancy for a large company with a lot of information showing up in the results often vs. a small company with only a bit of relevant information showing up often. This could be seen as a double standard by some, but it is a valid one nontheless.
With search intent being so important to search engineers, it seemed odd to me that I couldn’t find more discussions from SEO’s on the subject query specific ranking variables. Of course, as with most search concepts I’m sure the engineers have much different terminology for the concepts I am trying to verbalize.
Examples of query specific variables
These are the handful that really stuck out in my mind as “query specific variables”. To some extent, near any variable in the search algorithms could likely be query specific. These are the ones where it was apparent enough to me to raise the question of just how much of an impact the other variables are reliant on the intent of the query to derive their individual weight. When ranking these in Rand’s study, it was fairly difficult because what could be highly important in one type of query may not be important at all in another type of query. Thus started my fascination with query specific intent and optimization.
Variables that potentially have large varying degrees of importance based on query intent:
- Freshness/Staleness
- Rate of content additions
- Rate of link acquisition
- Rate of link rot
- Keyword frequency in document
- Related word use in document
- Related word use in anchor text
Consider for each of these how different you would expect the weighting of the variables to be if you were looking for a news article versus a how-to document. Extreme examples of how query intent SHOULD influence rankings can quickly lead to the more ambigious areas of deciphering where the impact level should be with the artificial intelligence for ranking documents for any query.
Query Specific Optimization
It is already fairly tough already to do engine specific optimization. Personalization and vertical search are quietly rolling into the search results. Will we soon to have to worry about query specific optimization? As vertical search gets further embedded into the search results we will see a very visible example of just how important query specific optimization will have become. Strategies for acheiving granularity as well as “short-tail” phrases will be increasingly important. Maybe then marketing agencies will start to wise up that SEO is not just about exploiting short term algorithmic holes, but rather about long-term online marketing strategies that place odds on the proven best practices and ways to make them better.
Using all the tools at your disposal will be extremely important with query specific optimization. Using a press release often to get in the “one-box” for a new query. Using a froogle feed with individual price per product breakdowns for top listings on a product search. These are just examples of query specific optimization for the one box. What happends when the one-box is no longer identified and vertical search is just a portion of the “natural search results”?
Search Ranking Variable Questions for Speculation
Of course, most SEO’s have been on to this for years. I’ll gladly take 10 visitors arriving for “buy plasma tvs online” than 100 visitors for “plasma TV comparisons”. I’m just guessing the SE engineers have intent much more refined than this, and curious as to how large of a role it is already playing in the rankings for individual query specific results.
Resources on Query Specific Intent and Query Specific Ranking Variables
Tags: Search Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, SEO
Okay, the title is a hoax. You caught me. I’m a liar who likes to tell stories. There is no “magic formula for website success”. There are only best practices. As a search engine marketer (SEO/ SEM..whatever you want to call it), we are really moving towards being project managers (yes, I harp about this all the time). As a project manager, you have to understand how all the tools at your disposal work, and how they could work better. I’m going to tell you exactly what best practices *I* would use as a guide for marketing a retail (or better yet manufacturer) website online.
Assumptions:
- You have a worthwhile product
- You have exceptional profit margins
- You have a well trained, enthusiastic staff that is willing to work and learn
- You have a plan for growth
- You are willing to change when necessary
- You have a qualified web development team
- You have someone who will handle link development and PPC
10 marketing strategies that matter
Months 1 - 3
Month 1 - Planning
Spend the first month planning. Document and consider every angle to your marketplace. Define your unique selling points. Devise ways you can be remarkable by your customers. Brainstorm and write down EVERY idea in your head that is even remotely related to your new online business. Write down keywords. Start organizing your ideas and writing copy for your pages. Delegate responsibilities to your staff. Start dividing up the work.
Compleat guide to SEM I
Compleat guide to SEM II
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If you have a business and you have news, you need to announce it. Enter PR - public relations…or press releases…that other PR. As search engine marketing evolves towards traditional media marketing, this type of optimization will become more and more important. Understand the old methods of promotion, and it will help you to create effective strategies for new methods of promotion.
Press releases get you into a good habit of writing about and announcing news. These should be archived on your site as well. Use press releases to promote other forms of viral marketing that may be able to bring your site the links and recognition that you will need for higher rankings and growth. Pay for better distribution on the really important releases, and do free releases as practice for a bit of extra exposure. Check out all the places you can distribute (and I’m sure there are many more): (more…)
Filed under: General, Mr. Ploppy, Personalized Search, Tools by Stuntdubl SEO at 10:43 am, 7/4/2005
So I’ve just started diving into the world of social bookmarking, and I think there are some very valuable tools out there for those in the world of internet marketing. I decided to spend a bit of time and explore exactly what is available and the types of things people are doing with social bookmarking. Thanks to Lee Odden, who runs a great online marketing site about SEO/SEM issues and news. Most promising about these tools is the opportunity to potentially tag each blog entry for multiple servers simultaneously. I would imagine that this shouldn’t take all that long to program or may already exhist (the open-sourced “freetag” seems to be a step in that direction). I have used technorati tags in the past, but the plugin broke, and the minimal traffic didn’t seem to really justify manually creating them each time. Parts of this seem promising, and other parts kinda seem over-glorified, hyped-up meta-tags. I didn’t find a way to do this easily yet, but it should be nice and easy as soon as someone releases a freetag plugin for wordpress.
I found myself doing a Freudian slip and typing “social bookmarketing tools”, and I thought it was worth mentioning. Perhaps because I spend the majority of my days trying to find new and improved ways to get ideas across to people effectively, I think that’s exactly what it is. Getting people to bookmark and view your site on more than one occasion is a pretty tough thing, just like selling a client on services, you are selling the idea that your site is important enough to spend more time on it later.
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What they do:
SEO consultants are generally project managers. They coordinate all aspects of website development and promotion for optimal search rankings. Clients look to an SEO consultant to provide input, and many times definitive answers on what the best methodology is to approach a web development problem for best overall results (combining user experience with search engine optimization). The best SEO consultants are actually Internet marketing consultants that can weigh the value of any potential marketing method versus another. They should be aware of business issues such as margins, return on investment, labor costs, time management, opportunity cost, and other related issues. They should also be able to understand user behavior (usability and conversion metrics), statistical tracking and analysis, and technical issues that impact all of the above listed concepts. SEO has been hugely successful to this point because there wasn’t a large NEED to measure a campaign. The opportunity cost of attaining high search engine rankings was far less for the relative value than any other method could hope to be. Most people could jump right in, learn 20% of what it takes to truly understand SEO and be successful (I am thankful to have been a part of that bubble myself), these folks were allowed the perk of being able to learn as they went. As has been demonstrated by web design and development, this is not a trend that is likely to continue much longer. As more people enter into search engine optimization, the opportunity costs rise and the relative value begins to fall into the range of other marketing methods.
A good SEO should know when when not to optimize as well. You can no longer just claim yourself as an SEO and make it so anymore by virtue of declaration. Ben Pfeiffer of Ranksmart has recently written a great article, “Why the Big SEO Company is Killing the True SEO†on this subject, and how many folks in the industry are cashing in on non-existent services, taking on more than they can handle and under delivering, and many other unsavory techniques that give the industry as a whole a big black eye. While I agree with a good majority of what is said in the paper, and I think this is quite damaging to the industry as a whole. I think the fact that there is less value in large corporate SEO actually has the potential to HELP the smaller SEO consultants that provide high value in their services, and can demonstrate high ROI for their clients. SEO consulting is a tough service to scale, as it is only as good as a combination of the the human resources driving the development, and the tools that they use for tracking and performing campaings. Big companies main advantage is that they have the ability to develop and utilize effective tools much quicker by absorbing tool development costs more easily than do one and two man SEO shops. Small shops have the ability to change with algorithm shifts more quickly, making them more able to consistently offer high return on their services (some large SEO companies STILL promote SE submissions and meta-tag optimization). Many of the large companies also lock themselves into using the same tools and techniques for an extended period of time, making them outdated at some point in the process.
How it might change:
Everyone knows that the SEO game is getting harder. SEO consulting will further develop into project management. SEO is a catchphrase that has become a cool way of saying “I delegate website responsibility effectively for optimal resultsâ€. SEO’s are responsible for understanding enough about all aspects of the web to make intelligent decisions. This means testing and implementing new techniques on a constant basis, and staying up to date with changes. As search moves closer towards personalization, and further from site based voting algorithms, the need to understand traditional marketing concepts will increase. SEO’s will be expected to understand personalized market segments in order to reach the customers that will convert best. It will essentially come full circle back to marketing to PEOPLE, rather than manipulating algorithms for maximum reach. If you can reach EVERYONE for the same price (as it is now), it is a good idea. As personalization increases, the cost to reach EVERYONE will increase as well, and it will be more important to target the RIGHT customers to remain profitable.
Favorite Resources on SEO Consulting and Web Project Management
Coming soon – The Last Segment on SEO Occupations:
Past Discussed SEO Occupations:
