Searching for search answers

by Mark Wheeler, Technology & Business

People don't like choosing the very first result on the SERP-it's too obvious to our suspicious mind

It seems almost silly to do it-it's like I'm betraying the code of my craft-but on this particular occasion I have Googled and selected the very first entry on the SERP (search engine results page).

Normally, for an IT industry journalist, a large portion of work will be done on the Internet, and Google is of course both an amazing resource and a set of blinkers. As anyone who uses it regularly would know (and that is most of us) with a bit of crafty key-wording and an understanding of the likely haunts an impressive range of information, background and leads can usually be wrung out of it.

The danger is-and ABC's Media Watch is a great one for reminding us-that trusting Google's easy-got information can lead you to just about anywhere and a credible source of information sits right beside a spoof or, even worse, disinformation or even malicious information.

Optimising your Web site so that it ranks well in a Google search is big business these days, and one of the reasons Google became so successful was is its ability to counter many of the unscrupulous attempts to play the system.

There are, however, plenty of legitimate strategies that can still be used to give your Web site the edge. A culture of search engine optimisation (SEO) has evolved under the watchful eye of the Google algorithm but it's a curly topic for any business to tackle. Some methods are considered entirely acceptable while others are considered very poor form, yet there are some strategies that seem to sit a little in both columns.

The black arts of Web design have left many a business wallowing in Google's backwaters, but with big benefits on the line, competition for top spot is very, very hot, and getting your Web site right can mean the difference between backwater and clearwater.

Optimising your Web site for a search engine blends an interesting mix of social psychology and user behaviour, content quality and relevance, Web site usability and design, as well as some intricate HTML tricks, optimisation techniques and a whole lot of statistical analysis.

Interestingly, one SEO consultancy Web site I took a peek at references a study that claims an Internet user takes just one 20th of a second to decide if they like the look of a site. So it is twice a pity then that I didn't like the look of theirs.

Another study points out how people don't like choosing the very first result on the SERP-it's too obvious to our suspicious mind, yet at the same time most users expect to find what they are looking for on the first page.

In the case of searching for an organisation that consults in search engine optimisation it would seem logical that an organisation that talks the talk should really be also able take its own advice.

As you can read in the article ";Courting Google", this is not actually the case but my cruel sense of justice reckons that any SEO organisation worth its weight in mustard should come at the very top of my Google search for a SEO... So, just for once I'm going to ignore my impulse to dig and instead take a look at who's done it to perfection.