Focusing on the Short Tail...Yes, You Read That Right

[thejenn]

Authored by: Jennifer Laycock

Full Text: http://www.searchengineguide.com/laycock/007680.html

A Snippet:

When it comes to internal site search engines, companies need to focus on the "short tail" of search rather than the more commonly evangelized "long tail." Now I realize this may sound like I'm about to tell you to go against everything you know about the power of the long tail, but it's essential to keep in mind that with this article, we're talking about internal site search, not search conducted on a search engine like Yahoo! or Google.

[amon]

Ok, I buy the short tail statistics. Even though the percentage is small, it just makes sense. If the potential customer finds what he wants quickly, there's a better chance he will buy.

So what inexpensive search tools are out there that would allow you to guide a search to the correct page rather than letting it select the results based upon keyword presence? Similarly, how do you handle typo's without having to have those bad boys actually in a page?

We put an inexpensive, but powerful search tool on our site (FM SiteSearch Pro ) and it offers a pretty solid looking return page. But I can't do anything with the "results not found" (a lost opportunity) nor can I direct to a specific page.

Is anyone aware of some choices to help improve search results?

[pageBuzz]

Optimizing for searches is like painting your store pink because your child said that was a good idea. Just because one person says it works does not justify doing it. People spend more time optimizing than they do marketing and that is their downfall.

The truth is, an optimized site is a site that customers wont use. The best answer is to build optimized sites that direct customers to the user friendly site. Websites are cheap, so having a few extras that generate traffic is much cheaper than trying to optimize your main site.

As far as optimizing, throw that out the window. Just build several sites differently, use little or no graphics and use all static html pages. I tend to write programs to convert my sites to html sites with some changes. This gives me an alternate that the search engines may like.

The fact is, what works on google, wont work on yahoo and so on down the line. Each engine and more are coming, has it's own taste, so it's almost impossible to build anything that works accross the board.

Instead, build some diversity and let all the sites bring in traffic to the main site.

[url removed. see signature file for site info] .

[Robert]

Originally Posted by pageBuzz

The truth is, an optimized site is a site that customers wont use.

False. Proper optimization focuses on usability.

The best answer is to build optimized sites that direct customers to the user friendly site.

False. Why spend the time building multiple sites when you can focus all your energy on creating one great, properly optimized site.

Websites are cheap, so having a few extras that generate traffic is much cheaper than trying to optimize your main site.

False. Creating one site correctly to begin with is cheaper than creating a bunch of sites improperly.

As far as optimizing, throw that out the window. Just build several sites differently, use little or no graphics and use all static html pages.

False. You can use graphics and dynamic elements in a properly optimized site.

I tend to write programs to convert my sites to html sites with some changes. This gives me an alternate that the search engines may like.

Why not just create a properly optimized site to begin with?

The fact is, what works on google, wont work on yahoo and so on down the line.

False.

I'm not trying to pick on you pageBuzz but that is really bad advice.

[thejenn]

Amon,

I'm not an expert at internal site search, so unfortunately, I can't really tell you which program you need to go with. Hopefully one of our other members will pop in with some advice on that.

PageBuzz,

As Robert said, sorry to pick on you, but the advice that you give is just flat out WRONG.

There's absolutely ZERO sense in building an un-optimized web site. It'd be like building your new brick and mortar store in the middle of the Nevada desert and then not doing a lick of advertising. Why would you pass up the potential for tons of free, targeted visitors when a few simple considerations during the building process can make it happen?

I'll also second what Robert said about two things...

First...building multiple sites is a TERRIBLE idea. Not only would those sites be considered doowary domains (which is against Google's terms of service), but you're also adding a ton of work for yourself with very little reward. With links playing such a powerful role in the algorithm, there's absolutely no way to build the proper amount of incoming relevant links to these 'doorway' sites that you mention, which means they won't stand much of a chance of ranking anyway.

Far better to put your time and effort into building a great, usable site with high quality content in a search engine friendly design.

Second, optimized sites are not bad for the user. As Robert correctly points out, usability issues and search friendly design are intricately tied together. So much so that many search marketers are now becoming usability experts and vice versa.

Really, what it boils down to is this... the advice that you give (multiple domains, zero graphics, sites that rank well but are not user friendly) basically describes the common advice that was given out five, six, even seven years ago. While it was, at one time, true that a bare-bones keyword stuffed site would rank quite well, those days are LONG gone.

I hope that you'll stick around. There's lots to learn here and if you spend some time reading, we can likely dispel quite a few myths for you.

[thejenn]

Just because one person says it works does not justify doing it.

And just to note...

Robert and I both said it...that makes two. I bet ya anything that my friends Matt, Lis, Danny, Chris, Jill, Scottie, Dax, Todd, Ammon, Karon, Andrew, and about a million other people would also say it.

Does that make it true?

[David Wallace]

Originally Posted by pageBuzz

Optimizing for searches is like painting your store pink because your child said that was a good idea. Just because one person says it works does not justify doing it. People spend more time optimizing than they do marketing and that is their downfall....

Sorry but you are wrong on EVERYTHING you said. Wrong, wrong, wrong.