Ok, it’s time to set Google and the world straight!
Well I guess Google is adequate since it is pretty much “the world according to Google” and that is not necessarily a bad thing!
So what is it that needs to be set straight? Terminology! Google has just released (September 2010) “Google’s 2010 Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide”. I say it should be “Google’s 2010 Self Expression Optimization™ Starter Guide”!
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization was what Web masters did to get higher page rankings in the Web 1.o era of the Internet. At that point in time search engines relied on the Web masters to tell them what the site was about. To do this Web masters used keywords and the keyword meta tag along with the description meta tag to indicate what the site was about. Unfortunately this led to widespread abuse! Web masters would “stuff” all types of relevant and non-relevant “keywords” in the “meta tags” and on the Web site its self in an attempt to get the Web site to rank high no matter what the user typed in! Do you remember when you would do a search using the “keyword” “church” and you might get a result that was for an “unsavory” site!
All this began to change in 2004 with the advent of MySpace and YouTube which spawned the Web 2.0 Era of the Internet and, the death of SEO – Search Engine Optimization and the birth of SEO – Self Expression Optimization™!
The Web 2.0 era was the era of community, conversation and sharing. In fact, MySpace and YouTube were taking market-share away from Google in the 2004- 2006 time period with Google ultimately buying YouTube in 2006. Why did Google buy YouTube? Google saw the handwriting on the wall! Video would be the future! And they were correct! YouTube, in September 2010, knocked Yahoo out of second place and became the number two search site just behind Google!
So why and what is Self Expression Optimization™?
During the 2004 – 2006 time period and to this day and beyond Google has refined their algorithms to the extent they can, for all intents and purposes, read a Web page as you or I would and then index it accordingly. Hence, Self Expression Optimization™! Express your self well so people will understand what you are saying and Google will also understand what you are saying and will index it accordingly!
Take a look at “Google’s 2010 Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide” It’s all about how to express yourself!
In fact, here are Google’s exact words from the first page of the “Guide”:
“Even though this guide’s title contains the words “search engine”, we’d like to say that you should base your optimization decisions first and foremost on what’s best for the visitors of your site. They’re the main consumers of your content and are using search engines to find your work. Focusing too hard on specific tweaks to gain ranking in the organic results of search engines may not deliver the desired results. Search engine optimization is about putting your site’s best foot forward when it comes to visibility in search engines, but your ultimate consumers are your users, not search engines.”
And, what about “Keywords”? Well people typically search the Internet for an answer to a question or solution to a problem. Don’t you? And, when you do, do you type in “keywords” like ‘bake cake’ or do you type in a “search phrase” like ‘how to bake a cake’? In either case, what you are typing is a “search phrase” not “keywords”!
So, Google and the world, let’s bring the terminology up to date with the Web 2.0 (the “Community Web”) and now Web 3.o (the “Interactive Web”). It’s “Self Expression Optimization™” and “Search Phrases”! Of course this is all just my personal opinion!
PS. Read thru “Google’s 2010 Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide”. It will educate you so you won’t be mislead when talking with Internet Marketers and Web Site developers!
STAY TUNED!
ACT NOW BEFORE YOUR COMPETITION DOES!
Call Richard Price
561-401-0747
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who really knows what theyre talking about over a internet. You actually know how to bring an trouble to light and make it important. A lot more persons must read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not a lot more popular because you really have the gift.
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