Marketing Digital Report: The rules of the game

other search engines operate when it comes to returning results is often
considered impenetrable by those without an intricate knowledge of how
the internet works. The reality, however, is rather less
complicated.

Search engines now run on an algorithmic search as opposed to the
directory-driven variant that was the norm in the mid 90s. These
algorithms are based on a variety of rules that search engine
optimisation (SEO) expert David Viney, author of the book Get to the Top
on Google, likens to the world of acadaemia.

'Google realised that you could rank websites by a similar standard as
academics,' he says. 'With an academic, the guy who has the most
footnotes referencing him is likely to be the leading expert in that
field. So Google works by looking for links from relevancy in terms of
quality and quantity. That's really the key to its success.'

The rules - or 'best practice' - are simple: stay true to a brand's core
proposition and don't try to outfox the search engines.

This has not stopped unscrupulous SEO firms from trying to con the
engines using a variety of methods. The two most common are using link
farms, a group of sites that exist solely to link to one another, and
'stuffing' keywords, whereby a web page will include words not directly
relevant to the site's subject matter. Neither has the approval of
search engines.

'Littering your site with words that have no relevance is definitely
frowned upon,' says Dan Cohen, head of search at MSN. 'It only serves to
make our job more difficult to try to identify the true content of that
page and its topicality. There are a number of things, which in the past
have been called "grey hat" techniques and there are certain
disreputable SEOs out there who try to "trick" the system.'

Cohen reveals that, should a site undergo a manual review by a search
engine and be found to be using such methods, there is a good chance
that its ranking will be detrimentally affected, or that it will even be
removed from the index completely.

'Using link farms depends on your objectives,' says Cohen. 'I wouldn't
advise any company or brand that was serious to go out and buy links. In
fact, there are moves in the search engine community to discover these
farms and deprioritise the links, or even ignore them altogether.'

That advice is also heeded by the agencies. 'You can go to websites that
are directories; for $30 they'll give you a link in a certain
category,' says Jamie Riddell, director of innovation at digital agency
Cheeze. 'I'd be wary of labelling those tactics as illegal, because
they're not. It's just bad practice. SEO is not governed by any law, but
Google has the power to make sure you don't get included in results.
Basically, a brand runs the risk of being hindered in its SEO if it
doesn't play by the rules of the game.'

Therein lies the lesson - search engines are in control of the
visibility of a brand's site. However, that control is not of an
untoward nature, as it is machine-governed.

'Algorithmically-driven search is about mathematical equations and
watching user behaviour and trends with an intent to try to understand
what the majority of users are looking for when they type in a given
query,' says Cohen. 'The democratisation that algorithmic searching has
brought ensures that the results are high-value content.'

The algorithms do change, but not on a formalised basis. 'The Google
algorithm has never really changed,' says Viney. 'All Google really does
over time is make the algorithm do its job better. Sometimes it takes
steps to catch out people who are trying to trick it.

'When I hear people say "the algorithm's changed and my site's
disappeared (from the top)", it usually turns out to be the case that
they have focused quite narrowly on a particular tactic to get
themselves up there, only so they suffer disproportionately.'

Adam Wilson, SEO specialist at PriceRunner, has found that creating a
blog has helped keep the price-comparison site high in the listings.
'Historically, search engines used to have huge index updates every few
months. These days the changes are more incremental and can happen as
frequently as daily,' he says. 'Universal search means that the results
now contain a blend of results from Google's different verticals -
images, shopping, local, blogs, YouTube and news, rather than the 10
traditional results. Targeting these verticals simultaneously is the way
forward for savvy search marketers.'

Cohen agrees that certain tactics will have a positive effect on site
rankings. Including features such as blogs and making sure that a brand
correctly tags its images will have an impact. 'There are things you can
do around presenting the content that you publish in ways that are easy
to understand,' he says. 'Site mapping and XML site mapping is a
technique that many optimisation companies use to present that content
to the engine to inform them to newly published content.

'Blogging is a good way to communicate with your users and to keep the
engines informed with new and unique content, which is what they place
the highest value on.'

One thing that is impossible to guarantee is a high ranking in the
listings. There is a school of thought that being number 11, the top of
the second page of listings, is better than sitting at number 10, as
users' eyes tend to stay focused on the top of the page.

Cohen is unconvinced, however. 'Potentially, position 11 means you're at
the top of page two. However, as search becomes more of a rich
experience, other types of media are returned in the results page,' he
says. 'So your position is actually slightly slipping in terms of
importance, as you can no longer rely on the position that you think you
had.'

A major part of the evolution of search engines is reliance on
recommendations and the understanding of human behaviour. If a user were
to type in the word 'puma', for example, how does a search engine know
whether they are referring to the animal or the sports brand? That
intimate knowledge of user behaviour is the biggest challenge for search
engines and marketers alike, and means that the rules that govern this
particular game are likely to keep changing.

HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK

All search engines send a 'spider' out across the internet, which then
looks for keywords that match the search a user has entered. The spider
seeks out fresh content, links and keywords; these are found in the copy
on the page and in its HTML coding and URL. Mapping of a site is also a
factor. The spider will examine the site's structure and how many
internal links it contains. The higher the score that a site achieves,
the higher its position in the rankings will be.

FIVE TIPS TO GET TO THE TOP

- Relevance: Do you have content that is relevant and are you buying the
keywords that people will be searching for?

- Technological capability: Do you have the technological set-up to
allow search engines to easily understand your site? Are you optimising
your code correctly?

- Popularity: How popular is your site on the internet? Are people
linking to you? Are the right people linking to you?

- Structure: Is your site easy to understand? Does it go very deep? Do
you have to click eight times to access a piece of content?

- Industry knowledge: Understand what is going on in the search market.
Read blogs and engage agencies or your in-house team.