Designing for Search Designing for Search EnginesEngines

MIS 424Professor Sandvig

OverviewOverview

Why to Design for Why to Design for Search EnginesSearch Engines

Google’s Magic Google’s Magic FormulaFormula

How to be well rankedHow to be well ranked What to avoidWhat to avoid

Why Design for Search Why Design for Search EnginesEngines

E-commerceE-commerceTraffic = Sales = $$$Traffic = Sales = $$$Very effective Very effective

marketing method marketing method Free!!!Free!!!

Effective DesignEffective DesignFirst page of resultsFirst page of resultsFew users look past first page of results Few users look past first page of results

Market ShareMarket Share

What Users Want from a SearchWhat Users Want from a Search

1.1. Comprehensive Comprehensive indexindex

2.2. Relevant ranking Relevant ranking of resultsof results

Millions of pages Millions of pages containing containing keywordskeywords

Which get listed Which get listed first?first?

Google’s Magic FormulaGoogle’s Magic Formula

Early search engines: Early search engines: Rank on keywordsRank on keywords

FrequencyFrequencyPositionPosition

Limitations:Limitations:no measure of page no measure of page

“importance”“importance”Easily gamedEasily gamed

Google’s Magic FormulaGoogle’s Magic Formula

PageRankPageRankMeasure of site Measure of site

popularitypopularityBased upon:Based upon:

Number of inbound Number of inbound linkslinks

Importance of Importance of linking siteslinking sites

How Google Ranks ResultsHow Google Ranks Results

1.1. RelevanceRelevance Page contains keywordsPage contains keywords Location & frequency of keywords in Location & frequency of keywords in

pagepage

2.2. ImportanceImportance PageRankPageRank

Based upon number of inbound linksBased upon number of inbound links Importance of linking sitesImportance of linking sites

Difficult to gameDifficult to game

How Google WorksHow Google Works

1. Relevance1. Relevance Page contains some or all of keywordsPage contains some or all of keywords

Number of times keywords usedNumber of times keywords used More is betterMore is better

Location of keywords in pageLocation of keywords in page Page titlePage title URLURL HeadingsHeadings DepthDepth Font sizeFont size etc.etc.

Example: SQLExample: SQL

How Google WorksHow Google Works

Google:Google:sqlsql

How to Be Well RankedHow to Be Well Ranked

Keyword placement:Keyword placement:Prominent locationsProminent locations

Page title – very important!Page title – very important!HeadingsHeadingsNear topNear top

Use frequentlyUse frequentlyKeywords in domain nameKeywords in domain nameMeta tags?Meta tags?

How to Be Well RankedHow to Be Well Ranked

Selecting keywordsSelecting keywordsRelevant to siteRelevant to siteTry to use specific and/or unusual phrasesTry to use specific and/or unusual phrases

Model names, numbers, ISBN, etc.Model names, numbers, ISBN, etc.eg. MIS 424, eg. MIS 424,

Maximize PageRankMaximize PageRankDevelop incoming linksDevelop incoming linksAvoid leaking PageRank to other sitesAvoid leaking PageRank to other sites

rel=“nofollow”rel=“nofollow”

How to Be Well RankedHow to Be Well Ranked

Human sacrificeHuman sacrifice

How to be Well RankedHow to be Well Ranked

Analytics:Analytics:Webmaster ToolsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle AnalyticsOpen Site Explorer (pay)Open Site Explorer (pay)

Search Engine SpammingSearch Engine Spamming Trying to “trick” search engine for higher page rankTrying to “trick” search engine for higher page rank

Many techniquesMany techniques Paid links (Paid links (JCPenny caught) caught) Repeat words many timesRepeat words many times Use popular but irrelevant wordsUse popular but irrelevant words

sex, Brittany Spears, …sex, Brittany Spears, … Text same color as backgroundText same color as background Gateway pages (BMW Gateway pages (BMW banned)) Auto-redirectsAuto-redirects Hidden linksHidden links

RiskRisk Search engines will ban site from index (Search engines will ban site from index ( Difficult to get back inDifficult to get back in Wordpress banned by Google

Google BombingGoogle Bombing

Tricking Google’s indexTricking Google’s indexExamplesExamples

miserable failuremiserable failureWeapons of Mass DestructionWeapons of Mass Destruction

How:How:Couple dozen links:Couple dozen links:

Distinctive phrase: “miserable failure”Distinctive phrase: “miserable failure”Link to official Bush bio.Link to official Bush bio.

Also: Santorum, RomneyAlso: Santorum, Romney

Design features to AvoidDesign features to Avoid

Can cause problems:Can cause problems:FormsForms

Google’s spiders attempt to submit formsGoogle’s spiders attempt to submit formsDon’t count on itDon’t count on it

FramesFramesFlashFlashImages without alt tagsImages without alt tagsJavaScript redirectsJavaScript redirectsNear identical pagesNear identical pages

Additional InformationAdditional Information

SearchEngineWatch.comSearchEngineWatch.comSurveys, statistics, tipsSurveys, statistics, tips

WebmasterWorld.comWebmasterWorld.comWebmaster Guidelines (by Google)Webmaster Guidelines (by Google)

ObservationObservationDo some searchesDo some searchesLook at design features of top ranking Look at design features of top ranking

sitessites

SummarySummary

Search engines Search engines want relevant want relevant contentcontentGain customersGain customers

Effective Effective designsdesignsKeyword usageKeyword usageBuild PageRankBuild PageRank