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.