06 August 2009

Search engine optimization…

I have this theory that as soon as the search engines (yes, mostly google) have indexed the web enough, they will no longer need the convenience of portals. They will then reduce the transparency how crawlers work and make it much more difficult to optimize a site for them. It only makes sense… the search engine becomes you own personal and customizable portal… but I digress.

Every day I get little reminders of the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). Bu today I got a startling example of what happens when you do absolutely nothing about it. I was searching for a small cabinetmaker in Maryland. It’s a very small shop – and that is partially why I was looking for them. They were actually listed third in the results. Not bad, until you looked at number two. In the number two spot was a listing that took me to a discussion forum. Within that forum, a very nice person had compiled a list of 20 or so cabinetmakers with a similar specialty. Suddenly, I have a full list of this guy’s competition. Surely this is not good for him in any way right?

So, some 10 years since my small design firm in Kansas (maybe our location caused us to try harder) began working to help clients optimize their sites so that they could be better found on the web… there are still people with web sites that have no clue. So much opportunity lost.