I’ve just been reading a long, and convoluted, pdf which is (claims to be) a run down on what Google Quality Raters are looking for from a ‘quality’ site.
If you haven’t got the faintest idea what a ‘quality’ or ‘authority’ site is in Google’s eyes then here’s a precis. A ‘quality’ site is one where the pages provide information relevant to the query the surfer enters into the Google Search Engine.
Or, to put it another way, Google rewards sites that provide information that matches what the searcher is looking for. As an example consider what happens when someone types in ‘digital camera review’ into the Google Search box. The pages they might expect to be taken to could either be sites which offer information or reviews on digital cameras or could be a list of digital cameras for sale in an online catalog with comparative reviews. All of these sites would be ‘rewarded’ by Google by high search result placement.
But what if the searcher was more specific? What happens if, for example, the search query is ‘Canon SD700′? Here Google expects the surfer to be taken to a page with specific details about that product, or a sales page that gives more information, or a review site with that product featured.
The difference between these two searches is that one (‘digital camera review’) is termed a ‘broad’ search while the other ‘Canon SD700′ is considered a ‘specific’ search. Google will list a different set of sites for each type of term, unless…
Let’s say you were acting as an affiliate for a digital camera store. You could put up a review site which, on its front pages, gave information on how to select a digital camera to suit your needs, what you should look for in a digital camera, how to use a digital camera and so on. Then you could put up pages which gave more information on specific cameras or offered a comparative review of certain classes of digital cameras.
In that way your site would satisfy both the broad search and specific search criteria, and would be rewarded by Google with a high Search Engine Ranking as a result.
I’ve used this as an example because there’s a site I’ve been visiting for years which offers excellent info on digital cameras. I’m not going to tell you what it is, yet. Try entering the two search terms I’ve used above and see if you can guess which site I’m talking about!
What’s the purpose of this? I’ll tell you.
If you are selling anything, whether it is as an affiliate or as a product creator, then getting a high Search Engine ranking depends wholly on giving exactly the information that Google, or any other Search Engine come to that, wants to see the user receive for both broad and specific search terms.
Cartoon by Dave Walker
Now don’t go out of your way to try and develop a site specifically to suit Google. You’ll probably spend hours researching keywords and struggling with keyword relevance, often to no avail. Why? Because it is much simpler to start putting together a site that you feel would suit the searcher, not Google.
If you focus on the needs of the searcher who puts either a broad or specific phrase into a Search Engine query box then you’ll automatically build a site that ranks highly. This could be a blog, a review site, a forum, an online catalog, it doesn’t matter. Center on building an information based site and you won’t go far wrong.
In my next post I’ll reveal the site I frequent, and how it attracts a high Google Page Rank.
Oh, and that pdf I was reading? Do a (‘specific’) search for ‘quality rater guidelines’ and you’ll find it.