T ype the words "baby boy name 2011" into Google and one offirst 10 results will be a website for Pampers disposable diapers.That's the work of Tom Gerace, chief executive of Skyword Inc., aBoston company that helps clients get the best possible placement inGoogle, Bing, and other online indexes.
The practice, "search engine optimization," or SEO, has become apowerful and controversial marketing tool in an Internet-centricworld.
Skyword used optimization techniques to ensure that when peoplerun Google searches for baby-related topics like names, the Pamperspage ranks high among the results. "Searchers benefit because theyfind the information they seek, provided by brands they trust,"Gerace said. "Brands benefit because they can connect with potentialcustomers."
Optimization companies get the attention of a search engine byadding relevant keywords to a page or by linking to other pages withmore information on the same subject.
Google and other search services encourage these techniques,known as white hat optimization methods, because they can providevaluable information to the public. But the search services wage anonstop battle against black hat tactics - gimmicks that can boosta site's search ranking without making it more useful.
"Sites sometimes violate Google's webmaster guidelines in anattempt to game our algorithms and trick their way to the top of ourresults," said Matt Cutts, the Google engineer assigned to protectthe purity of his company's search results. "If they succeed, thishurts the search experience for people coming to Google, becausehigh-quality information gets buried by spammers, and sites don'tget to compete on a level playing field."
It's a contest with high stakes. A study released in September bythe Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 58 percent ofthose who were surveyed search the Internet for information onproducts and services before they buy.
But many shoppers pay attention only to the first few results onthe first page of a Web search.
"Over 30 percent of all clicks for all search terms visit thefirst result," said Jonathan Allen, director of Search Engine Watch,an online trade publication. "The second position might get only 15percent; the third might get less than 10 percent; and the fourthless than 5 percent." So a company that gets into the top tier ofsearch results could see a big increase in traffic and sales.
A site's position on the search page is determined bymathematical formulas, or algorithms, which give high rankings tosites that are most likely to be useful. The search engineoptimization firms are playing a kind of computer game. To win, theymust convince the algorithms at Google or Bing that their client'swebsite deserves a high rank.
Pampers' parent, Procter & Gamble Co., hired Skyword to createthe editorial content on its Pampers Village website - for example,an essay on popular baby boy names for 2011. It's a short article,but the term "baby boy names" appears seven times. That's noaccident. The search engine's indexing software sees that and willgive the page a higher rank when someone searches for names.Expectant mothers who run such a search will often end up at PampersVillage, where they will find lots of other child care information,and of course, ads for disposable diapers.
Skyword also designed the site so that keywords like "breast-feeding," "pediatrician," and "teething" appear on almost everypage. That tells the search algorithm that the Pampers site hasinformation on those matters, and many other child-related topics.It all pushes the site's ranking a little higher, and makes it moreuseful to mothers.
That's why Google likes that sort of thing. "We absolutely wantto encourage legitimate SEO," Cutts said.
By contrast, black hatters use techniques that appeal to thealgorithms but don't add value to the clients' sites.
For example, if 500 websites put links to your site on theirpages, the search engine software will jack up your site's ranking.The more of these "backlinks" point to your site, the better. Soblack hat companies pay other websites to add backlinks pointing totheir clients' sites.
Other black hatters set up blogs and cram them with backlinks. Tomake this method more effective, companies use "autoblogging"software to constantly update the blogs with computer-generatedtext.
"For example, `Kobe Bryant fined' might be a huge trend rightnow. If the software makes an article on that topic, Google will eatup the blog, send it traffic, and give a significant boost to anysite that the article points to," said Jack Durham, chief financialofficer of Eikasoft LLC, a New York company that makes autobloggingsoftware. In an e-mail interview, Durham admitted the quality ofautoblogged articles is "far from perfect, but Google can't tell thedifference."
Search engines generally forbid link buying and autobloggingschemes. That's why Google responded so harshly in February whenretailer J.C. Penney Co. was found to have boosted its search engineperformance by buying links. An investigation by The New York Timesfound that Penney had purchased links on websites on unrelatedsubjects, like nuclear engineering and Bulgarian real estate, in asuccessful effort to get higher search rankings for its clothing andfurniture lines.
In response, Google took the unusual step of bypassing itsindexing software and manually slashing Penney's search ratings. Ina recent Google search for living room furniture, Penney's siteappeared on the sixth page of results; relatively few shoppers willever get that far.
Peter Roesler, president of Web Marketing Pros LLC, an SEOcompany in Jacksonville, Fla., said prominent companies quietlyengage in link buying.
"People want to be number one on Google, and they want itovernight, and that's the quickest way," he said.
But Roesler added that search companies are constantly on thewatch for such tactics. "It's kind of like the IRS," he said. "Ittakes some time, but they eventually get you."
Besides, said Skyword's Gerace, the higher rankings and profitsgenerated by white hat optimization tactics are more likely to last,because they will benefit the public as well as the business.
"For long-term success, you need to actually create consumervalue," Gerace said.
"You can't use short-term tricks to try to get around that."
Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.
BY HIAWATHA BRAY | GLOBE STAFF
18search.ART
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