Why isn't the VDHA Website ALWAYS at the top of the Results List on Google Searches?Download AnswerWhy isn't the VDHA Website ALWAYS at the top of the Results List on Google Searches? By Dave Broeker Last Updated - 01/04/2009Regretfully, I have no
control over the priority of the listings in search engines, but this is the way
that I believe it all pulls together.
If it was possible to simply buy a top position, then we'd be at the very bottom of
the list because everyone who had any money at all, would simply buy their way
to the top position.
Google is an excellent
search engine, but only one out of hundreds, or possibly thousands! If you do
not find what you want when you do your first search, then try other words and
other search engines. There is no guarantee that the exact results you are
looking for will pull up the first attempt you make. People often spend months
looking for specific data, and many times, never do find what they are looking
for.
We are the NEW VDHA and
our address is VDHA.us. Try inputting that in a search engine... I did, and
got 12,300 Results. We were the top listed and almost every result of
the first 20 results, absolutely did list us correctly, as that specific link
had referenced us. I did not have time to go any farther. I feel most people
depend on the first 20 or so results found.
Then, I entered the
following in Google: vietnam +dog +handler +association and got 45,100 results.
We are listed first!
I think the most common
mistake made in reference to our organization is the adding of the letter "s" to
the word "HANDLER". I modified a sample search
by removing the "S" and added a space in front of each +. Just by making those
tiny two changes, the results plummeted from 141,000 to 45,100.
A great tip: When searching for multiple words, you MUST put a space in front of each + to get the best possible search results. Just the difference of nearly 100,000 less results, makes for a more accurate search and does away with a lot of false results. Remember, the better the search the fewer the results. Fewer results is often best, because they are more accurate. Very often, website
owners, will do anything they can to get their website and advertising looked at
for free, and they spam many websites who are doing well on the search engines.
Our website has been spammed this way. Here is how it works:
When any website is built, "META-Data" is entered to reference the general information on the page. When the page is published to the web, the meta-data is automatically shared with search engines, to assist bringing up information about that specific WebPage. This information as well as actually typed text on the WebPage, constitutes the data pool from which the information is pulled. An example would be this: A webpage might have been built about Mary, who had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow. The meta-data entered could be as little as one word, possibly being "Mary". So every time you entered "Mary" into a search engine, it will absolutely pull up that webpage, but it might be near the end of the results list. If, in the meta-data information, you entered other words to reference the subject, like little, lamb, fleece, white, and/or snow, the website would come up much more often when ever any of those words are entered into a search criteria. Likewise, even
though they have nothing to do with Mary and her little lamb, these following
words, when added to the meta-data by the webmaster of the Mary had a little
lamb website, will also bring up Mary's website. Words like dog,
handler, Vietnam, military, USAF, Army, pickle, etc, etc. It should be against
the law, but it isn't regulated because of freedom of speech, so many webmasters
are stooping to this tactic in an effort to get their website pulled up more
often during website searches. Often, unsuspecting people enter search criteria
into a search engine and have no idea why certain results appear in the
list. When they might have intended to search for pickles, for example, the
search results might list a website about a little girl and her fleecy lamb, if
the webmaster had entered "pickles" in the meta-data for that website. At this
point, two things have been accomplished by the webmaster. First, his
substandard ethics, has stolen precious time from the unsuspecting browser.
Secondly, any advertising he has on his webpage, has unfortunately, caught the
eye of the viewer, in a pitiful effort to sell merchandise. Remember that you
can not "UN-SEE" advertising, after the fact, and it is a proven fact that a
certain percentage of viewers will always buy the product. The intent is to get
as many viewers to see the product, no matter how low the tactics
are.
Websites should appeal
to a targeted group of people and the majority does. When malicious meta-data
is entered, (meaning search words that have nothing to do with the subject
matter at hand), the person browsing the web becomes the unsuspecting victim.
Meanwhile, the damage has been done and the offending webmaster has successfully
reached at least two targeted groups, so he has doubled his audience. Many of
these URL's become so prominent in the results lists, when you see their
addresses continually being listed in the results when you know they have
nothing to do with your intended search, you learn not to click on any link that
has their identifying URL because you come to understand it as a
ruse!
This is why so many of
the results you search for, deliver total junk. They took perfectly good information
that included text you searched for, and linked to it in a conscious effort to
use and abuse the public.
Many links still
exist in text form, that reference web pages that no longer exist, and typically
bring up a "Page can not be displayed"
message. Nothing can ever be done about this! Only when that referenced
text is deleted or the web page is pulled, will the search engines no longer
find that result. The larger the web gets, the more junk pages are out there
floating around. It will get worse, I can promise you, because many websites
are subscribed to for years in advance and are left unattended on a regular
basis. Many websites consist of information pages and require no follow up,
like a merchandise page might require to update merchandise or
pricing.
So short and sweet, the
results are what they are and it is up to you as an educated person, to sort
through them in an attempt to find the exact information you are looking for. I
give no excuses for bad results, but instead I encourage you to continue to use
the search engines in an attempt to discover the world put before you, knowing
that you are in command, and now have a little more information about how I
understand it all works.
Respectfully,
Dave Broeker VDHA Webmaster |