A theoretical discussion of the role the use of images and videos plays in the achievement of top search engine rankings [0155] (original) (raw)
Related papers
Fusing website usability and on-page search engine optimisation elements. [0016]
2012
It was concluded in the literature review that small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMME) should prioritise utilising the websites on the Internet, as it provides a low cost infrastructure, unlocking opportunities and allowing small- to medium-sized enterprises to market to the international customer, promoting business activities in a low-risk environment. However, visitors do not know that they do not know, meaning a need for facilitation exists between the Internet user in terms of the information required and the information available on the Internet. Search engines (governed by their organic ranking algorithms) were created for this very purpose, to facilitate users in finding relevant information on the Internet in the shortest time possible. Search engines interpret and evaluate any given indexed web page from a targeted keywords perspective, indicating that web pages must be optimised from a search engine perspective. However, the elements search engines perceive to be important may not always be aligned with what website visitors perceive to be important. Anything on the web page that may remotely impede the visitors’ experience could be detrimental as alternative website options are but a click away. An example would be the excessive use of content on a given web page. The search engine may find the excessive content useful as it may provide contextual interpretation of the web page. However, the excessive content may impede a visitor’s website interaction as it is estimated that the average visitors will often view a web page for 45-60 seconds and read a maximum of 200 words only. During the process of identifying the contradictory search engine optimisation (SEO) elements and website usability (WU) attributes, three journal articles were written, with two journal articles following their own research methodologies and the third journal article utilising all the research results in order to create the fused SEO and WU model. Journal Article 1: Two websites were used as part of the experiment: • Control Website (CW): http://www.copywriters.co.za • Experimental Website (EW): http://www.copywriters.co.za/ppc/. The CW is an existing website with no special emphasis applied to SEO and/or WU. The EW was developed by implementing the WU attributes and ignoring all contradictory SEO elements. In order to ensure integrity of the experiment, search engines were denied access to the EW. The traffic sources for the CW were search engines (organic) traffic, as well as direct and referrer traffic. The traffic source for the EW was purely PPC. The two websites sold exactly the same products. Owing to the different traffic sources, performance was measured by considering the number of conversions obtained from the amount of website traffic obtained (conversion – traffic ratio) of each website over the same period of time, which were then compared (keeping the traffic source in mind). Additional factors, such as time spent on site, page views and Return on Investment (ROI) were also considered as measuring tools. Additional experiments (interviewing Internet users and directing the PPC traffic source to the CW for the same period of time) were conducted for triangulation purposes. The statistical analysis was based on the Mann-Whitney U test. This analysis indicates that Visitors, Average Page Views per Visit and conversions are all significantly different when comparing the CW values with the EW values. Average time on site per Visitor and ROI were not considered as being significantly different. Accumulated results obtained from the triangulation experiment interview indicated the importance of security, minimising content and making the contact form as easy as possible to complete. The PPC triangulation experiment obtained five times more traffic (including PPC traffic) than the EW (primary experiment). However, the EW obtained approximately 50 percent more conversions as opposed to the number of conversions obtained during the triangulation experiment. The primary objective of this research project was to determine the WU attributes which are in contradiction with SEO elements. The literature review clearly indicated that contradictions do exist between SEO and WU. The secondary objective of this research project was to determine whether or not the WU attributes identified do in fact have an effect on conversions. The primary experiment results combined with the results obtained from the triangulation experiments, provided evidence that WU attributes do have an effect on conversion. The journal article results contribute to the body of knowledge by evaluating the WU and SEO contradictions from a WU perspective, which has a direct impact on website conversions. Journal Article 2: The objective of the second journal article was to prove that implementing search engine optimisation elements that are in contradiction to website usability attributes is essential to improve rankings. The primary experiment included two websites, which were utilised as part of the experiment, the CW: http://www.copywriters.co.za and the Experimental Website Two (EW2): http://www.translation-copywriters.co.za/. The CW is an existing website with no special emphasis applied to SEO and/or WU. The EW2 was developed by implementing all on-page SEO elements and ignoring all contradictory WU attributes. The EW: http://www.copywriters.co.za/ppc/ was utilised for triangulation purposes. The purpose of the primary experiment was to monitor 130 predetermined keyword rankings across the three major search engines, over a period of four months, comparing the CW with the EW2 rankings. The primary experiment ranking results documented were the results obtained at the end of month four. During the four months a number of systematic changes were made to the EW2 for SEO purposes. However, no changes were made to the CW at all. For triangulation purposes, four additional experiments were conducted, of which two were the keyword rankings and organic traffic improvements documented each month, comparing the CW results with the EW2 results. The two additional experiments were the conversions obtained and interviews conducted, whereby the CW, EW and EW2 results were compared. The statistical analysis for the primary experiment was based on the univariate analysis of variance test. The results indicated that the EW2 retained better search engine rankings than the CW. The triangulation ranking results documented each month indicated similar results to the primary experiment. The statistical analysis utilised for the triangulation organic traffic experiment was the linear regression analysis. Although the EW2 did not draw as many visitors as the CW, the experiment did provide evidence as to the EW2 experiencing significant traffic growth over time owing to the application of SEO. Conversely, the CW´s traffic growth was virtually zero over the same period of time. The results obtained from the triangulation conversion experiment were analysed utilising the Kruskal-Wallis test, indicating that the EW obtained significantly more conversion that the CW and the EW2. The interviews emphasised that SEO elements, as implemented on the EW2, were considered to be obstacles from a WU perspective. The unanimous choice of website was the EW. The results obtained from all the experiments clearly indicate the importance of applying both WU attributes and SEO elements to ensure the success of a conversion orientated website. The results also indicate that some WU attributes (content, text and media) contradict certain SEO elements (content and keywords), which have a direct impact on the process of obtaining conversions. Although search engine algorithms constantly change, certain fundamental elements will remain the same, such as the artificial intelligence programs which have to crawl, index and arrange the search results through an organic ranking algorithm. The journal article results contribute to the body of knowledge by evaluating the WU and SEO contradictions from a SEO perspective, which has a direct impact on search engine rankings. Based on the results obtained from the two journal articles, the author was able to construct a model, synergizing the SEO elements and WU attributes along with the contradictions and solutions in an attempt to provide guidance to industry (SMME). The primary objective of this research project was to determine whether on-page search engine optimisation elements and website usability variables can be applied to a single website simultaneously, without resulting in degradation of service to either of the two concepts. The fused SEO and WU model addresses the visitor's concerns by removing or isolating any obstacles that may impede visitor interaction, without compromising the on-page SEO elements, thus successfully fusing SEO and WU. The author is thus of the opinion that the research problem and questions have been resolved and answered.
Use of Ethical SEO Methodologies to Achieve Top Rankings in Top Search Engines. [0063]
Proceedings of the 2007 Computer Science and IT Education Conference, Informing Science Institute. 16-18 November. Mauritius. 717-727., 2007
In this research project an empirical study was done on the application of ethical SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to a website (www.uvasys.com), in an attempt to increase its visibility to the three main search engines. Neither paid placement nor any black hat techniques were considered. A literature survey has established that there are a number of proposed techniques that could be used to achieve high visibility. However, no reference could be found to empirical work proving these claims. An evaluation of the chosen website proved that it had virtually no visibility. The methodology involved the measurement of visibility, re-engineering of the website according to the elements indicated by the survey, and subsequent re-measurement. The results indicated that the website now occupied first position on the three top search engines for a number of selected keyword definitions. It can be concluded that the implementation of ethical methodologies, careful placing of text and the use of key phrases can dramatically increase the visibility of a real-world website.
Research has shown that most website developers first build a website and only later focus on the ‘searchability’ and ‘visibility’ of the website. Companies spend large amounts of money on the development of a website which sadly cannot be indexed by search engines, is rejected by directory editors and which is furthermore invisible to crawlers. The primary objective of this dissertation is to compare and report on the impact of text-based versus graphic-based hyperlinks on website visibility. The method employed in the research was to develop two e-Commerce based websites with the same functionality, contents and keywords, however utilising different navigation schemes. The one website had all hyperlinks coded in text-phrases, while the other embedded the hyperlinks in graphics. Both websites were submitted to the same search engines at the same time. A period of eight months was allowed to ensure that the websites drew sufficient ‘hits’ to enable a comparative analysis to be conducted. Two industry standard website ranking programs were used to monitor how the two websites feature in the search engine rankings. Graphs as well as text-based reports produced by the ranking programs and the t-test were used to compare and analyse the results. Evidence based on the reviewed literature indicated that there are conflicting reports on the impact of text as opposed to graphic hyperlinks on website visibility. However, there is unsupported evidence that text hyperlinks achieved higher rankings than graphics-based hyperlinks. Although the ‘human website browsers’ find a certain amount of graphical aids conducive to easier navigation, ‘search engine crawlers’ find many of these same graphic aids impossible to index. The study supported that the graphic-based website ranked higher than the text-based website, which calls for a balance to be found between these two extremes. This balance would satisfy both ‘human website browsers’ and ‘search engine crawlers’. It is posited by this author that this dissertation provides website designers with the abilities to achieve such a balance.
The crossover point between keyword rich website text and spamdexing. [0002]
2011
With over a billion Internet users surfing the Web daily in search of information, buying, selling and accessing social networks, marketers focus intensively on developing websites that are appealing to both the searchers and the search engines. Millions of webpages are submitted each day for indexing to search engines. The success of a search engine lies in its ability to provide accurate search results. Search engines’ algorithms constantly evaluate websites and webpages that could violate their respective policies. For this reason some websites and webpages are subsequently blacklisted from their index. Websites are increasingly being utilised as marketing tools, which result in major competition amongst websites. Website developers strive to develop websites of high quality, which are unique and content rich as this will assist them in obtaining a high ranking from search engines. By focusing on websites of a high standard, website developers utilise search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies to earn a high search engine ranking. From time to time SEO practitioners abuse SEO techniques in order to trick the search engine algorithms, but the algorithms are programmed to identify and flag these techniques as spamdexing. Search engines do not clearly explain how they interpret keyword stuffing (one form of spamdexing) in a webpage. However, they regard spamdexing in many different ways and do not provide enough detail to clarify what crawlers take into consideration when interpreting the spamdexing status of a website. Furthermore, search engines differ in the way that they interpret spamdexing, but offer no clear quantitative evidence for the crossover point of keyword dense website text to spamdexing. Scholars have indicated different views in respect of spamdexing, characterised by different keyword density measurements in the body text of a webpage. This raised several fundamental questions that form the basis of this research. This research was carried out using triangulation in order to determine how the scholars, search engines and SEO practitioners interpret spamdexing. Five websites with varying keyword densities were designed and submitted to Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Two phases of the experiment were done and the results were recorded. During both phases almost all of the webpages, including the one with a 97.3% keyword density, were indexed. The aforementioned enabled this research to conclusively disregard the keyword stuffing issue, blacklisting and any form of penalisation. Designers are urged to rather concentrate on usability and good values behind building a website. The research explored the fundamental contribution of keywords to webpage indexing and visibility. Keywords used with or without an optimum level of measurement of richness and poorness result in website ranking and indexing. However, the focus should be on the way in which the end user would interpret the content displayed, rather than how the search engine would react towards the content. Furthermore, spamdexing is likely to scare away potential clients and end users instead of embracing them, which is why the time spent on spamdexing should rather be used to produce quality content.
Search engine exclusion policies: Implications on indexing E-commerce websites. [0089]
The aim of this research was to determine how search engine exclusion policies and spam affect the indexing of e-Commerce websites. The Internet has brought along new ways of doing business. The unexpected growth of the World Wide Web made it essential for firms to adopt e-commerce as a means of obtaining a competitive edge. The introduction of e-commerce in turn facilitated the breaking down of physical barriers that were evident in traditional business operations. It is important for e-commerce websites to attract visitors, otherwise the website content is irrelevant. Websites can be accessed through the use of search engines, and it is estimated that 88% of users start with search engines when completing tasks on the web. This has resulted in web designers aiming to have their websites appear in the top ten search engine result list, as a high placement of websites in search engines is one of the strongest contributors to a commercial website’s success. To achieve such high rankings, web designers often adopt Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. Some of these practices invariably culminate in undeserving websites achieving top rankings. It is not clear how these SEO practices are viewed by search engines, as some practices that are deemed unacceptable by certain search engines are accepted by others. Furthermore, there are no clear standards for assessing what is considered good or bad SEO practices. This confuses web designers in determining what is spam, resulting in the amount of search engine spam having increased over time, impacting adversely on search engine results. From the literature reviewed in this thesis, as well as the policies of five top search engines (Google, Yahoo!, AskJeeves, AltaVista, and Ananzi), this author was able to compile a list of what is generally considered as spam. Furthermore, 47 e-commerce websites were analysed to determine if they contain any form of spam. The five major search engines indexed some of these websites. This enabled the author to determine to what extent search engines adhere to their policies. This analysis returned two major findings. A small amount of websites contained spam, and from the pre-compiled list of spam tactics, only two were identified in the websites, namely keyword stuffing and page redirects. Of the total number of websites analysed, it was found that 21.3% of the websites contained spam. From these findings, the research contained in this thesis concluded that search engines adhere to their own policies, but lack stringent controls for the majority of websites that contained spam, and were still listed by search engines. In this study, the author only analysed e-commerce websites, and cannot therefore generalise the results to other websites outside ecommerce.
The primary objective of this research project was to determine whether search engine optimisation elements as specified in the Chambers model, affect real estate website visibility. In South Africa, real estate companies predominantly function as SMMEs and are therefore as vulnerable to failure as any other SMME in the country. In order for SMMEs to reduce the possibility of failure, they need to re-evaluate their use of the Internet, as it could assist in their survival. The traditional company structure is no longer sufficient to ensure market reward. The reality is that users are rapidly adapting to the technology available. The Internet is fast becoming a communication, commerce and marketing medium that is changing business globally. Real estate SMMEs are unable to adapt to e-commerce in its purest form, however, they can make effective use of e-marketing. Static websites are used for that specific purpose. A marketing strategy is imperative to the survival of a company, whereby the firm is able to create and maintain a competitive advantage in a cluttered marketplace. Regrettably, hosting a website on the Internet is not enough. Searchers tend not to view search results beyond the second page - 30 results at the most. It becomes evident that companies should ensure that their own website ranks as high as possible on the search engine result page. This in turn should sufficiently market the company. Search engine optimisation involves designing or modifying websites in order to improve search engine result page ranking. The elements as specified in the Chambers model are extensively elaborated on in the literature analysis. The methodology consisted of two stages - a questionnaire and empirical experiments. A quantitative research approach was adopted for both of these components. The primary objective of the questionnaire was to obtain search phrases from the public when searching for real estate online. The search phrases were then used in the experiments, testing the visibility of predetermined websites, which were based on a pre- post- test control group design methodology. In this instance, the before group consisted of five different websites from five different real estate companies which have been hosted on the Internet for a duration of no less than three months. The Chambers model was used in the development of five new optimised websites, one for each company. The new websites were hosted on the Internet for 27 days, in order to give search engines the opportunity to index them. The results documented were then compared in order to draw a conclusion. A total of 121 key search phrases were obtained. The results from the old and new websites were applied to a process which produced a combination of results known as the ‘quality factor’. The quality factor indicated either a visibility improvement or visibility deterioration with regard to the old and new company’s website. In addition to this, this author compared the optimised website which obtained the best visibility improvement with the website that obtained the highest deterioration in visibility. As a result, the elements specified in the Chambers model were re-evaluated whereby new elements that had not been specified in the original model were identified. Based on the new findings, this author developed a new search engine optimisation model as a secondary objective in this thesis.
Development of a search engine marketing model using the application of a dual strategy. [0182]
Background: Any e-commerce venture using a website as main shop-front should invest in marketing their website. Previous empirical evidence shows that most Search Engine Marketing (SEM) spending (approximately 82%) is allocated to Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns while only 12% was spent on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The remaining 6% of the total spending was allocated to other SEM strategies. No empirical work was found on how marketing expenses compare when used solely for either the one or the other of the two main types of SEM. In this study, a model will be designed to guide the development of a dual SEM strategy. Objectives: This research set out to determine how the results of the implementation of a PPC campaign compared to those of a SEO campaign, given the same websites and environments. At the same time, the expenses incurred through both these marketing methods were recorded and compared. Method: Article one was based on an empirical field experimental approach. The authors considered the implementation of both SEO and PPC, and compared the results. Data was gathered from Google search results after performing both fat head and long tail key-phrase searches based in various categories. The websites that were listed in the top 10 of the sponsored section of the search results were recorded. These websites were then checked to see if they also had an SEO ranking within the top 100 for both the fat head and long tail key-phrases. The author then researched and produced article two where the active website of an existing, successful e-commerce concern was used as platform. The company has been using PPC only for a period, while traffic was monitored. This system was de-commissioned at a given point, and SEO was implemented at the same time. Again, both traffic and expenses were monitored. Finally, the author proceeded with article three where various successful e-commerce websites, utilising both SEO and PPC, were evaluated on their Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). The CPA for the e-commerce websites was calculated over a set period. Also, the cost over that period for both SEO and PPC was divided by the number of acquisitions achieved by each, and compared. Results: It was found in article one that website owners seldom invest in SEO as part of a SEM campaign. This seemed to confirm some of the findings of other authors. Only SEO and PPC were evaluated, as they are the most used SEM techniques. Possible future research could include investigating other search engines’ PPC systems - Bing and Yahoo!, for example. Article two's results indicate that the PPC system did produce favourable results, but on the condition that a monthly fee must be set aside to guarantee consistent traffic. The implementation of SEO required a relatively large investment at the outset, but it was once-off. After a decrease in traffic due to crawler visitation delays, the website traffic bypassed the average figure achieved during the PPC period after a little over three months, while the expenditure crossed over after just over six months. It was found in article three that the cost per acquisition (CPA) for SEO, for each of the e-commerce websites, was significantly lower than that of the CPA for the PPC campaigns. Conclusion: While considering the specific parameters of this study, an investment in SEO rather than a PPC campaign appears to produce better results at a lower cost, after a given period. This research has important implications for SEO and PPC practitioners, and for website owners. It should influence the way budgets for SEM are applied. Finally, it could be used by marketing managers in better utilising their limited SEM budgets. No evidence could be found that this kind of empirical research has been done before, hence the results are considered to be unique and contributing in a major way to the body of knowledge. Model: As a conclusion, a dual strategy model was proposed. This model should be used in designing a cost-effective SEM strategy, tailored to a specific business. It involves choosing between one or both of SEO and PPC as marketing platforms. The results of the three research articles have been combined and articulated to design this model, which should allow any digital marketer to plan a marketing strategy in a way that will, for a specific situation, reduce costs and increase yield.
Search engine optimisation or paid placement systems – user preference. [0085]
2007
The objective of this study was to investigate and report on user preference of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), versus Pay Per Click (PPC) results. This will assist online advertisers to identify their optimal Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategy for their specific target market. Research shows that online advertisers perceive PPC as a more effective SEM strategy than SEO. However, empirical evidence exists that PPC may not be the best strategy for online advertisers, creating confusion for advertisers considering a SEM campaign. Furthermore, not all advertisers have the funds to implement a dual strategy and as a result advertisers need to choose between a SEO and PPC campaign. In order for online advertisers to choose the most relevant SEM strategy, it is of importance to understand user perceptions of these strategies. A quantitative research design was used to conduct the study, with the purpose to collect and analyse data. A questionnaire was designed and hosted on a busy website to ensure maximal exposure. The questionnaire focused on how search engine users perceive SEM and their click response towards SEO and PPC respectively. A qualitative research method was also used in the form of an interview. The interview was conducted with representatives of a leading South African search engine, to verify the results and gain experts’ opinions. The data was analysed and the results interpreted. Results indicated that the user perceived relevancy split is 45% for PPC results, and 55% for SEO results, regardless of demographic factors. Failing to invest in either one could cause a significant loss of website traffic. This indicates that advertisers should invest in both PPC and SEO. Advertisers can invest in a PPC campaign for immediate results, and then implement a SEO campaign over a period of time. The results can further be used to adjust a SEM strategy according to the target market group profile of an advertiser, which will ensure maximum effectiveness.
Search engine ranking profile maintenance - a case study. [0110]
Proceedings of The 9th annual Conference on WWW Applications. 4-7 September. Johannesburg, South Africa. , 2007
The primary objective of this research project was to determine whether a test webpage will be able to maintain its high ranking with search engines after the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) elements, as identified in the Chambers model, were implemented. The secondary objective was to determine how many of the test website's competitors were optimised for the keywords they wanted their potential clients to use to find their website using search engines. The methods employed in this project include a full literature review on SEO, as well as an evaluation of the Chambers model. Previous empirical research has shown that the implementation of the Chambers model had a positive effect on a website's ranking with search engines. Further empirical work has been done to determine whether or not a website will be able to maintain its high ranking with minimal changes to the website itself over a period of one year. Furthermore, a questionnaire was sent to competitors of the test website. Results were used to do a comparison between the visibility of the test website and its competitor websites. An independent software application was used to evaluate these sites. The primary conclusion reached is that after implementing the Chambers model, the test website maintained its high ranking with search engines over a period of one year with no further optimisation or submission to search engines. The secondary conclusion reached is that a low percentage of competitors in the same industry were optimised for their own sets of keywords. SEO elements need to be revised constantly in order to ensure that they could be used as valid optimisation components.
SA Journal of Information Management. 13(1), Art. #428, 9 pages. , 2011
The primary objective of this research project was to identify and investigate the website usability attributes which are in contradiction with search engine optimisation elements. The secondary objective was to determine if these usability attributes affect conversion. Although the literature review identifies the contradictions, experts disagree about their existence. An experiment was conducted, whereby the conversion and/or traffic ratio results of an existing control website were compared to a usability-designed version of the control website, namely the experimental website. All optimisation elements were ignored, thus implementing only usability. The results clearly show that inclusion of the usability attributes positively affect conversion, indicating that usability is a prerequisite for effective website design. Search engine optimisation is also a prerequisite for the very reason that if a website does not rank on the first page of the search engine result page for a given keyword, then that website might as well not exist. According to this empirical work, usability is in contradiction to search engine optimisation best practices. Therefore the two need to be weighed up in terms of importance towards search engines and visitors.