| Introduction
Page 11
Poor Site Indexing Costs
A good
example of poor indexing of documents is a government document repository
which citizens can access online. After numerous searches, users
often give up in frustration. Then they call the phone number listed
on the contact page and wait for a customer service person to answer.
During the conversation, the CSR tells the inquiring citizen that
the document has a specific number and name. The document can only
be found with that information and you must know specifically, which
government department controls that document.
This inability
to find what you’re looking for isn’t just a government
bureaucratic problem. On the public Web, documents are still difficult
to find. As good as Google is, its reliability in terms of quality
is still questionable. Google’s system of popularity delivers
popular results, not necessarily the most informative and helpful
documents. When the best documents can’t be found, opportunities
are lost, sales aren’t made, and our collective intelligence
diminishes. The costs are probably incalculable.
Despite
this frustration, millions of people seeking summaries (that’s
what search results are) of Web content daily. Search engines are
making money on the side via advertising, and even by selling their
indexing programs. Their advertising space is expensive. I recently
saw an ad that cost the advertiser 25 dollars per clickthrough!
People clicking through may not even buy anything at that web site
so the advertiser’s real cost must be staggering.
Since businesses
from around the world compete for the same search engine listings,
whether paid or free listings, the competition for the first few
slots on the search results pages is also staggering.
There
are a number of ways to get listed well in search engines, and good
search engine copywriting is one of them. If you respect and understand
search engine’s need for clarity and cohesion in your Web
site in terms of keywords, you’re on your way to having them
deliver many visitors to your Web site.
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