With Google, there is the need to be relevant and then the need to be authoritative in order to achieve optimal search results.
As Adam Singer, owner of AJ Singer Studios, says, “Be the search.”
Singer, a local website designer and programmer, spoke at the Savannah Area Chamber Small Business Council’s SMART luncheon, held Tuesday at the Savannah Morning News auditorium, 1375 Chatham Pkwy.
He told the small businessmen and women on hand that in order to improve search engine optimization, or the amount of visibility a website receives in the unpaid search results, websites must answer the questions of the searcher.
“Google’s main priority,” said Singer, “is to make the searcher happy.”
Thus, he said, the top results are often relevant to the search topic and authoritative when compared to similar websites.
According to Singer, 83 percent of all clicks during a Google search are made on the first four websites of the first page.
If the website answers the searcher’s question, it is relevant, but to be authoritative, he said, the website needs to achieve a higher status among similar websites through links, shares, reviews and even blog posts.
“If people search for what time the Super Bowl starts,” said Singer, “you want your website to say ‘what time does the Super Bowl start’ and then either answer the question or link to another website that might have more authority or knowledge.”
He also said that in sharing information on websites such as Facebook or on Google+, organizations such as news outlets might have more clout than an individual in search optimization.
But, Singer said, Google wants to know you, which affects the objectivity of searches.
He recommended logging out of Google applications, such as Gmail, or using Google Chrome’s ‘incognito’ mode to see the real, non-objective, search status of a company’s website.
“Just because your company comes up first on your Google searches,” said Singer, “doesn’t mean someone else’s screen looks like that.”