SeaWaves Blog

A wide-net resource article is a single article that targets the long tail of a popular search term. The wide-net resource article does not attempt to compete directly at the level of the popular search term, but rather it uses the popular search term as the foundation for multiple qualified phrases built from the popular search term.

Let me explain by using an example. Over at College Crunch, we have built a wide-net resource around the phrase “starting salary” – but we are not really interested in that specific phrase. Rather, we are interested in phrases like “starting salary for engineers” or “average starting salary for biochemists”

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At SeaWaves, we specialize in search engine placement. We manage over 50 websites and this gives us a fine-grained and diversified picture of how the search engines organize search listings.

One thing we’ve noticed over the last year is that static websites are at a disadvantage. Over the past few years, search engines have added elements to their algorithms that often prefer fresh data. Or, at the very least, the search algorithms of today tend to prefer domains that provide a steady stream of new content.

At SeaWaves, we tried an experiment by setting up a series of static, informative websites called Guru Guides. For example, we created a guide to online colleges. When we first put this content up, it did quite well in the search engines. And it continued to do well for about 9 months. But then, search referrals started to fade significantly.

There’s a rule on the web that most search professionals now recognize: the websites you work on and develop are the ones that will succeed.

If you are a website owner, keep this in mind. Don’t just let your website sit and go stale. Add to it on a monthly basis, at minimum.

The Psychology of Looking Elsewhere While I Search for Info on Wireless Mesh Technology

Lately, I’ve been researching various strategies for deploying pervasive wireless mesh networks. The commercial packages are far too expensive and/or proprietary for the average hobbiest. So I’ve been trying to keep my search focused on open source, open community technology.

Here’s where my problem with Google enters in. You should note that this all happened naturally without much thought. As I was doing searches in Google, I felt compelled to go to Yahoo and MSN because I could tell that Google’s index wasn’t returning new content. This, of course, is strategic on their part and constitutes a major part of their strategy for fighting spam content on the net. Basically, new content gets introduced into their index very slowly.

The problem is that with new and emerging technology, days and months matter, and content that was unleashed three weeks ago may be very relevant to the search that’s being done. At this point in its life, Google is basically telling me relevant information from 6 months ago. In other words, by doing a search on Google, I discover that 6 months ago, there was no cheap and easy Sveasoft, DD-WRT, OpenWRT, etc. solution to Mesh.

There is a sense in which Google is off the hook on this one, because while using MSN and Yahoo got me fresher results on emerging mesh technology, it turns out that there is still no cheap and easy, magic mesh solution. The prospects are still there, and if you’re into installing and configuring OLSR routing, on the firmwares that are out there, you can make it happen today.

Nonetheless, Google should take note of the sort of psychology that I exhibited in my searching patterns: no longer do I say to myself “If it’s not in Google, it’s not anywhere.” Instead, I say “If it’s not in Google, I better check MSN and Yahoo.” This has been happening a lot lately. And I think it’s grounded in the truth: that Google’s fight against spam is hurting its ability to properly index useful but new information.