Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [18]
Figure 2-4: Bing search results: Bing Crosby
Search engines are integrating more multimedia and allowing deeper access to documents and media earlier in the search process. However, once again, they are attempting to determine the intent of the searcher and deliver results accordingly.
Places
If you are searching for a restaurant, the search engines are focusing on your intent to find and eat at that restaurant, so the results focus on providing as much information as possible (Figure 2-5).
Figure 2-5: Google search results: st andrews NYC
By simply narrowing a search to a business and location, Google determines the intent of my search and provides a map, address, phone number, bus route directions, and links to scores of reviews for the restaurant.
Things
Figure 2-6 shows one of my favorite results examples, a search for a PDF scanner.
This is an example of having more than one type of result on the results page. The number-two position is held by a video on YouTube by Tiger Direct. Rather than competing head-to-head in the results, Tiger Direct leveraged the popularity of YouTube to gain significant rankings visibility for its video. Just from the results, you can see that it is a seven-minute video, it is rated highly, and it provides a link to the product page. Yes, I bought the scanner—I couldn’t help it. I was so impressed by the strategy that I had to support it.
After the YouTube video on the SERP, there is a product image and three results from Google Products. These are direct shopping results that provide retailer information for products and direct links into the listings. Retailers can upload a listing of their products to Google Products in order to gain visibility in this area.
Figure 2-6: Google search results: PDF scanner
Search engine results are being broken up by multiple media, all based on search terms. Searches for movies (Figure 2-7), restaurants, and maps will yield unique results based on the location and search.
Figure 2-7: Bing results for a movie search
Product-based searches show “how-to” videos and product results. News topic searches produce real-time results from Twitter and latest news feeds from all over the world (Figure 2-8).
With each search, the search engines will customize the results specific to your need, attempting to provide you with the best and most relevant experience possible.
Figure 2-8: Up-to-date search results and real-time updates within the news results.
Understanding the Vocabulary
If you have ever spent any time in the presence of a search engine optimization specialist, then you will know that they tend to rattle off an impressive vocabulary of amazing words and acronyms. To the uninitiated, it is very easy to become overwhelmed by a series of familiar words that are being used in unfamiliar contexts.
Starting out with defining search engine terminology, we find that not only are the words unfamiliar but there are also multiple words that mean the same thing. This is a result of a largely decentralized industry that was born out of self-discovery rather than a university course. Early search engine optimizers found out how to rank well in the search engines largely by accident, and they researched for themselves how and why it happened. Many shared their findings on message boards, and multiple communities sprang up around the Internet for these self-taught practitioners. Because this industry was based on discovery and reaction, there was no centralized authority in place that designated official terms, practices, or guidelines. Essentially, Internet marketing has always been a “Wild West” sort of activity, and it remains that way today.
Bots, Crawlers, and Spiders
The first term you need to know is probably the most widely used and interchangeable word in the industry. The software program that search engines run in order to find websites and