Measuring Importance - Usability Strategy Ranks High With Search Engines
Measuring Importance - Usability Strategy Ranks High With Search Engines
By Jim Hedger (c) 2005, StepForth News Editor, StepForth Placement Inc.
Usability is already a critical component of successful online
ventures but with the advent of Google Analytics and the
implementation of the Jagger algo update, user-activities and
behaviours are going to play an influencing role in search
engine rankings. How people act when they visit a website or
document is being measured and accounted for, even for sites
without Google Analytics tracking codes in the <head> section of
the document source-code.
Google is concerned with how people find information and what
they do when they access a document found in the Google index.
Which document in a site they tend to land on, how long users
spend on that document and how much, if any, time does a user
spend exploring information in a domain, are all pertinent to
how Google perceives the relevance of documents listed in the
index. As long-term online marketers know, this is where
usability comes into the picture.
Usability, as defined by Kim Kraus Berg
(http://news.stepforth.com/2005-news/Kim-Krause-Berg-interview.shtml )
is, "... the ability to successfully, comfortably and
confidently learn or complete a task. For the web site designer
or application developer, it's the mechanics of designing and
building a web site or Internet-based application so that it can
be understood and easy to accomplish any task."
According to local (Victoria-based) website marketing expert,
Michael Linehan, a focus on site usability is simply common
sense marketing. Leading visitors towards goal-orientated
outcomes makes as much sense for a functioning website as it
does for a functional building and, to follow through on the
analogy, it all starts with a smart architect.
Michael knows his stuff, so much so StepForth considers him to
be one of our marketing and site usability gurus. If our
assumptions about user-behaviours and the post-Jagger Google
SERPs are correct, Michael's talents will play an important role
in our overall SEO techniques.
"It's all about marketing," Michael explains (exclaims is
probably a better word, ML is pretty passionate about this
stuff), "and marketing is all about envisioning an effective
strategy." While most people involved in business understand the
concept, surprisingly few actually take the time to implement
and follow a marketing strategy in relation to their websites.
"Website owners have to prioritize their messages and make their
websites easier to use. It's a matter of measuring the
importance of different parts of their marketing strategy and
their websites."
Michael suggests that over 95% of companies he has worked with
use opportunistic marketing tactics with separate strategies
being employed out of sync with each other. A simple example
would be the Yellow Pages ad that does not mention the website
URL or a printed brochure that does not include an email address
in the contact information. A more complex example can be found
by looking at most business websites.
"When a business owner gets a website for their business, they
often expect the designer to know how to market their new
website." said Michael. "That's just ludicrous. Website
designers already have a difficult and mentally demanding job.
Expecting them to be proficient marketers is like expecting your
architect to act as your real estate agent."
Michael deconstructs websites, pulling them apart to find or add
the little things specific to a business website designers often
can't customize for. His work could be described as user-outcome
optimization.
He has a good point. Search engine marketing is becoming much
more complicated. The web is rapidly adopting a more
professional attitude as it grows into the global mainstream
marketplace. As this maturing takes place, two factors should
drive website owners and webmasters towards a more professional
view of their online marketing strategies.
The first factor is the increased analytic abilities of the
major search engines. As previously mentioned, Google is taking
stock of a number of user-sensitive factors surrounding
documents in its index. In March 2005, Google filed a patent
titled, "Information retrieval based on historical data"
(http://news.stepforth.com/whitepaper/google-patent-may05/google-whitepaper.php ).
The patent application) outlines the historic record Google
keeps on every document and file in its index. One of the items
mentioned covers user behaviours touching on the following
points:
- how much time an average user spends examining a document,
- the entry and exit paths of users,
- if users store reference to the document in bookmarks,
- how users access the document (via search engine, typing URL,
link from other document, or bookmarks),
- an evaluation of search traffic driven by Google and related
keywords the document was found under
Each of those points should lead webmasters to think about how
visitors use their site. Website marketing is not necessarily
about search engine placements. It is about using your website
as a marketing tool. In the context of website marketing,
usability is about moving visitors from the entry point to the
goal line and off again to another compellingly relevant website
experience.
The second factor is the evolving needs of website users and
their increased analytic abilities. The Web is almost second
nature to most of its users. People are experienced in the
environment and, at least in the case of work-related web use,
know what they want. As it stands today, there are a lot of
websites that no longer live up to user expectations because
those expectations have moved beyond the design of those
websites.
Usability is a component in smart and informed website marketing
simply because it implies making the website experience simpler
and clearer for visitors. Strategically moving a site visitor
from the entry point to the information or sales point (goal
lines) is common sense. It is also providing the visitors
exactly what they want.
Google placing more weight on user behaviours makes sense. User
behaviour is a logical extension of the democratic concept of
PageRank in that the users' collective judgment is incorporated
into that of the webmasters who coded incoming links. Webmasters
of sites supporting AdWords advertising are already
super-charged, stoked about Google providing detailed data that
can help drive traffic.
All good marketing strategies are goal orientated and center
around a clear vision. As time goes on, it can get pretty
complicated, especially when clarity and ease of use are the
ultimate design goal. Objective planning might involve
rethinking the design of your website but moving into the near
future, rethinking the design of your website might just become
essential.
==========
Jim Hedger is a writer, speaker and search engine marketing
expert based in Victoria BC. Jim writes and edits full-time for
StepForth and is also an editor for the Internet Search Engine
Database. He has worked as an SEO for over 5 years and welcomes
the opportunity to share his experience through interviews,
articles and speaking engagements. He can be reached at jimhedger@stepforth.com
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posted by Victor Lloyd Smith @ 2:14 PM
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