Search Engines: Online Word of Mouth

Without a doubt, one of the first questions we get when working on a website is:

• "How do I get my site to be the top site on Google?"

When describing the technology of search engines and their rankings I like to use "The Hamburger Analogy"...

Suppose you are the owner of a neighbourhood hamburger restaurant. In an effort to draw in more business you put a big flashy sign on the front of your building claiming that you have the "best hamburgers in town"! Obviously the problem with this approach is that no one will believe your claim... unless people are trying your hamburgers for themselves, discovering that you do have a fantastic recipe and spreading the word around the neighbourhood.

Internet search engines like Google work in a similar fashion - it's all about online word of mouth. Google will not give much attention to your website if no one else is talking about you and linking back to your website. Of course, you need to make sure that your website is accurately describing your message. Keywords and phrases are still important.

It is also important to understand that search engines DO NOT actually search the Internet for you at the very moment when you run a query. If you use Google to search the Internet the results are actually displayed from an enormous database that has been carefully built by Google. Search engines have automated programs called robots or crawlers that head off and build a catalogue of the Internet one website at a time. The keywords and links that the robots find are stored in the enormous database. Your search is run against this database and the results bring back the links to the sites that match.

Tips for the website owner:

1. Make sure your content contains the keywords AND phrases people would use to search for your site.
2. Approach your associates about linking back to your website with an accurate description of your website - again using keywords and phrases.
3. If you have a Flash website make sure you have a text-only version which can be indexed by Google and other search engines. Text that is embedded in a Flash file cannot be read by the robots that add your site to a search engine's database.
4. If the topic of your website is similar to others it will be more difficult to generate enough "word of mouth" to move your site up to the top of search engine results. Emphasize the unique qualities and content of your website to get yourself ahead of the rest.
5. Be patient - it may take awhile - sometimes several months for a search engine to find you and properly catalogue your site in their database.