Personal and Local

Search optimization is a core principal in the use of the Internet. The first key concept is localization.  It describes the search engine attempt to locate contextual geographic and personal preferences to provide end-users with the best search engine results.  By aligning the search to region and preference, it allows the engine to better determine what material the operator wants to view. To acquire the information, two ways are used either explicitly or and implicitly.  Explicit bases the search on interpretation by using data and information that consumers provide to the search engine. The information may consist of location, age, language, and gender all provided by the user. The implicit approach is when the search engine analyzes data gathered from previous searches. To help this process, the system will track pages that are frequently visited by the end-user. They may also go through sites that track their information such as G-mail or a bookmarking site. This allows the search engine to adjust to their preferences. Such personalization is a built upon localization. Individuals would rather give up personal information to improve the results of their searches. Some large search engines, such as Google, are giving the users an opportunity to tell them what they like so their functionality can be further optimized. There are two factors employed in making this experience possible. The first is to adapt the search engine indexing and measuring the site. The second is how the user is expected to be presented with contextual information. Which one would you prefer to use implicit or explicit?

The second key concept is making the search engine results page relevant to the topic. There are five key factors that go into ensuring that the page will provide the results required. The five are relevance, importance, popularity, trust, and authority which assist with an organic search engine optimization.  To achieve the goal, the operator must use hyper-texted markup language (HTML) code for the website.  By doing so, the site is more accessible to search engines.  HTML also allows for a user-friendly method to locate materials and information. Search engine optimization is broke down into five main components: search engine–friendly web site structure, a well-researched list of key phrases, content optimized to target those key phrases, link popularity and, emerging trends.  Although these help make your search more effective and the company’s’ website more available based on search, there are also two factors that play against the benefits.  They are technical challenges that prevent the search engine spider from accessing content, and a competitive marketing environment where everyone wants to be highly ranked. With all these aspects, the search engine optimization and the results it produces for the user looking for the data or information are enhanced. Which factor would you exemplify as the most important? 

The most important skill set I have acquired from these concepts are localization/personalization to assist with optimizing results per page. It is the most important feature since it applies to how the search engine page interacts within people seeking material and data within certain areas. The use of both methods (implicit and explicit) to acquire information must be engaged to optimize a company in which their training could be a board subject or a specific subject. Also, it is critical to provide information based on your likes and dislikes to attain a better quality in your search results engine. It is crucial in such a fast-paced world which requires rapid turnarounds that the engine itself be fast. Individuals do not always have time to conduct extensive searches.  The tracking of internet traffic so that your search engine results indicate what is typically sought can simplify the search process as well.  Will the skill set I choose help improve our teams project?

I learned an extensive amount from reading chapter six and by focusing on the two key concepts I identified. The reason I choose these ideas is based on our project. I believe they will help me provide better insight to my team and how we can improve our group project and the company’s search engine optimization results.  Since we are focusing on the Pittsburgh Chapter of a large non-profit group, the localization and personalization concept is especially important for me to grasp and apply to improve their marketability by our research.

Tracking and Collecting

Key Concepts

The two key concepts extracted from the learning materials are the tracking and collecting data from websites and the funnel concept.  Further discussion on each idea is noted below.

Tracking and collecting data for websites was discussed in previous chapters, but only minor details were provided.  The information discussed included how companies track the amount of time their website is accessed, but did not discuss how they tracked the individual accessing and exploring the site. The terms, page tagging and log file analysis break down how organizations see what customers are seeking on their website. Although the two have some similarities, each is created in a manner to track different events within the website. For example, page tagging can track an individual watching a flash movie while log filing does not have this capability. Page tagging is typically used by corporations who do not have their own web server.  They utilize a third party to conduct the reviews. In comparison, log filing is not as detailed as page tagging. Log filing essentially collects raw data (i.e. number of hits) from the webs server. Log filing does not provide detailed reports seen in page tagging; however, they are more accurate.  The log filing reports are simpler in structure.  With a standard format, the reports are easily transferable between vendors.  Another advantage of log filing is the ability to collect and analyze historical data. Finally, log filing tracks request failures and page tagging only tracks successful searches.

The funnel concept assists in establishing a website’s goal.  The aim will vary depending on the company, but the overall purpose is for the visitor to do what the website intended them to do. The purpose can be broken down into several steps known as events.  The first step is to collect data on each click on the visitor’s path through the site. The funnel serves as a narrowing channel as the clicks become fewer and fewer as the user works through the site. These also have other indicators that support goal achievement such as key performance indicators (KPI) used to monitor and optimizing the website’s goal. The funnel concept informs the organization on what part of their goals are being maximize and those that require additional attention.  The key performance indicators (KPI) are valuable as the allow management to obtain a clear picture of where the organization stands in attaining its goal and the generation of revenue.

Skillset Importance

The most important skillset learned from this session how our group could implement page tagging and log filing for our client. Both bring different elements to the table for the corporation to reach its goals.  I believe the use of log filing is more useful in our scenario simply because it is more accurate. It is completed in-house, and allows the company to see the request failures instead of only successes facilitating their improvement in certain areas.

Learning Journey

Personally, I acquired additional knowledge on how the companies track their websites’ activity. With the greater detail provided a clearer picture of what is most applicable to organizations was ascertained.  The approach varies with the company, their goals, their market and their size. It supports analyze of data and the adaption of goals on a continuous basis. Also, the document went into greater details on AdWords. I believe it will benefit us to maximize our monetary value granted. As complex as this may seem, I think I understand it.  Although, I continue to have difficulty with the credit card for setting up the blog account.