Jon Smith - Get Into Bed With Google: Top Ranking Search Optimisation Techniques

Get into bed
with Google

NEW EDITION

Get into bed
with Google

Top ranking search optimisation
techniques

Jon Smith

CAREFUL NOW

There are both good and bad sources of information available on the Internet, in the telephone directory and advertised on bad photocopies for 20 pence a week in the local newsagents. The Internet, especially, is a constantly changing phenomenon and therefore good (and bad) sites are forever popping up and dropping off. Web addresses change, so if a link doesnt work, be sure to use Google to try and find its new home or a similar service offered by another firm or individual. Likewise, you should have an up-to-date virus checker installed before you visit new sites and download anything whatsoever. You should also be aware that new applications may squabble and bicker over whos the daddy they might not work because of other things you have installed on your machine. Were very sorry about all this and wish it was a better world, but its the only one we have. We believe in taking it on the chin like grownups and expect you to do the same. We love you dearly but if it all goes kumquat shaped then youre on your own; we take no liability. See it as an adventure.

Copyright The Infinite Ideas Company Limited, 2008, 2010

The right of Jon Smith to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2008 by
The Infinite Ideas Company Limited
36 St Giles
Oxford
OX1 3LD
United Kingdom
www.infideas.com

New edition 2010

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of small passages for the purposes of criticism or review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the publisher. Requests to the publisher should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Infinite Ideas Limited, 36 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LD, UK, or faxed to +44 (0)1865 514777.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781906821647

Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Designed and typeset by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford
Cover designed by Cylinder
Printed and bound in Great Britain

Brilliant ideas

Introduction

When the first edition of this book saw the light of day in 2008 the idea of getting into bed with Google was already accepted, albeit often grudgingly, as a necessity of doing business online. Simply put there was no point in having a website unless people were going to find it and it was self-evident to anyone who themselves searched the web that the way people found websites was via Google.

When it comes to search engines two years later not a lot has changed. Google hasnt always made itself popular and despite Microsofts best effort to dethrone it (see chapter 27 The Young Pretender) it is still the starting point for just over 72% of searches in the US.

One of the reasons why Google has stayed on top is that it works tirelessly to update and optimise its own algorithms to produce better searching. This book includes chapters on what has changed in Google over the last year, and of course what that means for anyone who would like their own site to appear in the results of those refined searches (see chapters such as Caffeine Jolt, Mayday Mayday, and Faster Faster for more details of those).

One thing has changed however. Google itself may remain the 900lb gorilla of search but search isnt the only game in town when it comes to getting found. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter send huge amounts of traffic to sites and anyone looking for a better profile for their site can no longer afford to ignore them (so neither does this book).

Search optimisation is big business and its salespeople (of whom there are many) will tell you that it is a delicate science to which only they know the keys. Thats rubbish. In reality the word-of-mouth factor from social networks means that getting yourself and your site noticed continues to be a mixture of science and luck. People who are looking for things tend to pick and choose, dip and dabble, sometimes proceeding with purpose and sometimes going with the flow. Which as it just so happens is by no means a bad way to approach this book. Maybe youve heard of keywords and metadata and are keen to look them up (chapters 4 and 6 respectively), maybe youd like to be surprised with things youve never heard of and want to surf in a more organic fashion. Either way is fine, you can begin at the beginning or dip in and out as you wish since each chapter is a self-contained, bite-sized morsel of advice about making it to the top. Or at least to the top of that page of results.

1
Whats so
special about
Google then?
Is it really all that?

Google this and Google that! What about Yahoo, AltaVista and all those other search engines? My mum always said dont put all your eggs in one basket

Say it with numbers

When an Internet user is unable, or unwilling, to guess your URL (Uniform Resource Locator, read website address) they will use a search engine to find you. Now, of all the website visits conducted in the UK and US that were immediately preceded by a search engine search, Google is responsible for the majority. Google is by far the most widely used search engine and the biggest referrer of visitors. If anything it is growing as I write Googles share of the market has just risen 1 % to 72.17% of the US search market while Yahoo has just dropped from around 15% to 14.5% and Bing has fallen to a little under 9.25% percent. In the UK that share is even more dominant Google has taken nearly another 10% of the market over the last year meaning it is now nearing 90% of all searches. So now you see why we talk about getting into bed with Google.

Google, like Hoover, has achieved a dominance so great, in such a short period of time, that the company name is often used to mean Internet searching. Single execs, looking for companionship, google potential dates before committing to a meal. Parents google a school to decide whether its suitable for little Frankies education. Job applicants google the interview staff to learn any interesting snippets that they can bring up at interview (and vice versa). Internet users use Google a lot.