#11 Things I wish I had taught my son... And still can
Dec/27/2008 09:27 AM Filed in: Technology | Business How-To
Have you googled something lately?
Sooner or later you're going to be making a website for yourself, for a group you're teaming up with or for a business. And even though you're looking at a science career, you'll inevitably end up needing to understand how to make money in that chosen career. Perhaps you'll be the next Jacques Yves Cousteau or the next Crocodile Hunter and people will come to view your latest webisodes on your website. If you end up a veterinarian or a paleontologist or an expert on plankton (not the character on SpongeBob Square Pants), you'll need to announce to the world your services, your findings, your point-of-view, the compelling "why" they should care about your work.
Therefore, I want you to know in general terms how Google works. It is by far the most powerful search engine in the world. And since you will want people to stumble onto your site someday, you'll need to know how the logical "robots" at Google think and operate.
When you type in a combination of words in a Google search and hit enter, Google runs off throughout the world (in a matter of seconds) and tries to satisfy your wish, attempting to retrieve for you the best internet website that it rationalizes will satisfy your search request. And wala... You get a list of ranked sites that seem to be quite impressive... Saving you a ton of time.
There are three main categories of results that show up on a search. There are the paid Sponsored Links on top, the top ranked unpaid sites below and the paid Google Adword ads on the right side.
First, a little about the paid sites... These are people or companies who have bought Google Adwords. They have paid to hopefully get your attention. They are on the right side of the page on the other side of a little blue line. There are also some paid or "Sponsored Links" on the top of the results page usually with a light coloration. These too are paid for by individuals or companies. The prices for those ads may range from a nickel per click to quite expensive depending on the demand for those words.
The remaining results are unpaid sites who have succeeded at becoming the best ranked sites on the subject you just searched. Sometimes, they're just what you were looking for, sometimes you have to have to go deep into the other pages until you find what you wanted.
Well... Google is paying attention to your behavior. If you're not picking the sites on the first page, Google is demoting the sites on the first page. If you do find what you were looking for on the first page, Google is happy. But Google makes sure that you click on several pages within the site you enter before it deems the site a success. If you find what you were looking for on the third page of the search result listings, then Google will reward the site you pick on that third page and move them up the ranks, perhaps to the first page (if others like you also find the same site relevant).
How does Google know to even display these sites in the first place? What is Google looking for? That'll be covered in tomorrow's "things".
The bottom line... If you make a site, you'll want to be on the first page of a Google search and to do that you'll need to know what word combination people are using to find what they're looking for. I'll let you know how that works too. But later. Now get back to studying.
Your papi
Forward this to a friend or have him or her start receiving the first email in this series by signing up at http://www.thingsiwishihadtaughtmyson.com
What I do... http://www.thestorytellingplace.com
Sooner or later you're going to be making a website for yourself, for a group you're teaming up with or for a business. And even though you're looking at a science career, you'll inevitably end up needing to understand how to make money in that chosen career. Perhaps you'll be the next Jacques Yves Cousteau or the next Crocodile Hunter and people will come to view your latest webisodes on your website. If you end up a veterinarian or a paleontologist or an expert on plankton (not the character on SpongeBob Square Pants), you'll need to announce to the world your services, your findings, your point-of-view, the compelling "why" they should care about your work.
Therefore, I want you to know in general terms how Google works. It is by far the most powerful search engine in the world. And since you will want people to stumble onto your site someday, you'll need to know how the logical "robots" at Google think and operate.
When you type in a combination of words in a Google search and hit enter, Google runs off throughout the world (in a matter of seconds) and tries to satisfy your wish, attempting to retrieve for you the best internet website that it rationalizes will satisfy your search request. And wala... You get a list of ranked sites that seem to be quite impressive... Saving you a ton of time.
There are three main categories of results that show up on a search. There are the paid Sponsored Links on top, the top ranked unpaid sites below and the paid Google Adword ads on the right side.
First, a little about the paid sites... These are people or companies who have bought Google Adwords. They have paid to hopefully get your attention. They are on the right side of the page on the other side of a little blue line. There are also some paid or "Sponsored Links" on the top of the results page usually with a light coloration. These too are paid for by individuals or companies. The prices for those ads may range from a nickel per click to quite expensive depending on the demand for those words.
The remaining results are unpaid sites who have succeeded at becoming the best ranked sites on the subject you just searched. Sometimes, they're just what you were looking for, sometimes you have to have to go deep into the other pages until you find what you wanted.
Well... Google is paying attention to your behavior. If you're not picking the sites on the first page, Google is demoting the sites on the first page. If you do find what you were looking for on the first page, Google is happy. But Google makes sure that you click on several pages within the site you enter before it deems the site a success. If you find what you were looking for on the third page of the search result listings, then Google will reward the site you pick on that third page and move them up the ranks, perhaps to the first page (if others like you also find the same site relevant).
How does Google know to even display these sites in the first place? What is Google looking for? That'll be covered in tomorrow's "things".
The bottom line... If you make a site, you'll want to be on the first page of a Google search and to do that you'll need to know what word combination people are using to find what they're looking for. I'll let you know how that works too. But later. Now get back to studying.
Your papi
Forward this to a friend or have him or her start receiving the first email in this series by signing up at http://www.thingsiwishihadtaughtmyson.com
What I do... http://www.thestorytellingplace.com