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10.29.09 Developing Your Site For An Unfamiliar Audience  By
Peter Da Vanzo
Do you ever think that SEO is "obvious"? "Common knowledge"? "Pretty easy, really"? In this video, "Scott" from Google asked 50 people on the street if they knew what a browser was. Watch this. Less than 8% of people surveyed did. Many people confused a browser with a search engine. Google Chome - or Google "Crown" as one woman put it - was unheard of. I bet you're feeling smarter than you did before you watched that video! Fact is, if you're reading this site, you're already waaaay ahead of most people in terms of internet knowledge and how it all hangs together. Pat yourself on the back. There is a downside, however. The Distorted Lens Of Familiarity We see the internet through our own lens, a lens that has been honed over the years by focusing on a specific thing. We study search engines, we experiment with algorithms, we hang on Matt Cutts every word - they should have asked the people if they knew who Matt Cutts was - "Matt Coutts?", we upload sites, we research keywords, we study user behavior, we build links, and more. Such attention to detail can provide clarity, but can also distort our view. We need to keep in mind that most people don't see the internet as we do. Most people don't know what a browser is. Most people cannot tell a paid search result from a non-paid one. People certainly do not understand that the site they are seeing in first position may only be there because some smart SEO has helped ensure that happens. What is "spam" to the trained SEO eye may be perfectly acceptable to the end user, so long as the user gets the answer they want. normal people can't tell the difference between AdSense style ads and all the other links on most web sites. And almost the same number don't know what "sponsored results" on the Search Results Page are either. It's just a page of links to them. They click the ones that look like they'll get them what they want. It's that simple Beyond the tiny web-savvy crowd, these people are your market. So it pays to put yourself in their shoes, especially when making decisions about how your site functions and displays information. According to research conducted by the Nielsen company, the average internet user now spends 68 hours online per month. That may sound like a lot, but it only comes out to an average of about two and a quarter hours a day You have a tiny window of opportunity. There are so many other activities, and web sites, demanding a visitors attention. The fact someone has even arrived at your site should be seen as something special. Here a few points I've found to be true. 1. When Designing A Site, Make It Stupidly Easy To Use Continue reading this article. About the Author: Peter Da Vanzo is the founder of Search Engine Blog.com, a news resource for the search engine marketing industry. He is also a regular contributer on SEO Book. |
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