[Sigia-l] SEO versus Experience design versus usability

Skot Nelson skot at penguinstorm.com
Tue Oct 10 09:53:33 EDT 2006


On Oct-8-2006, at 19:56 , Marianne wrote:

> For information architecture, the critical changes involve site  
> structure.

I think this is a somewhat narrow definition of "information  
architecture" although it may be true at the core. Information  
Architecture should play a role in determining "content structure" as  
well as how that content is distributed through the site. Neither one  
of these is encompassed by the term "site structure."

> For me the most important is to remember that this technology is  
> pretty
> smart and getting smarter by the week if the technology patents are  
> to be

This, to me, is a key point that too often gets forgotten. Examples  
are frequently cited of the google algorithm being tweaked and entire  
groups of sites losing their highly paid optimized search rankings.

A long time ago I posted a note on a poorly read Canadian discussion  
list that called search engine optimizers "snake oil salesmen"; the  
reaction was pretty entertaining. My fundamental point, and I made it  
quite clearly then, was this:

The person you pay to do search engine optimization doesn't control  
Google's algorithm any more than you do. Any SEO specialist offering  
a guarantee is offering something they cannot actually provide.

One of the reasons I liked the Nielsen article I referenced earlier  
was because it made a very good fundamental point: focus on quality  
content and structuring your site well first, and chances are good  
that your site is already well on the way to being optimized.

SEO dollars should be treated as *any* marketing spend should be  
treated -- count what you spend, measure your ROI and don't expect a  
silver bullet.
--
Skot Nelson
skot (at) penguinstorm (dot) com
http://www.penguinstorm.com/

skype. skot.nelson

	"In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when
	 there is no longer anything to add, but when there
	 is no longer anything to take away."
	-- Antonine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars






More information about the Sigia-l mailing list