2007 IA Summit: Las Vegas

1. 2007 IA Summit: Las Vegas SEO and IA: The Makings of a Beautiful Friendship

2. Introduction • Me: Information architect/Search specialist • IA since 1998 • Search since 2004 • Topic: Search engine optimization and IA • Shift in user locus of attention • From navigation to search box • Shift in our locus of attention • From macro-structure to micro-wayfinding • What I want • IA to become a partner in developing search technology that works with the user • IA community to “think” about how users find their websites when they design them • Key takeaways [fingers crossed at my end] • Search optimization and IA can and should co-exist • One should not exist at the expense of the other

3. Search Usability • Web analytics show preference for search box over any site navigation of any kind • Search enables users to develop a need-specific/use-specific information path • Search engine users visit more pages than those using navigation • Pogo effect • Ask.com now offers preview service so user does not have to click through • How much of the navigation will they see in a thumbnail? • Out of the top 20 results and you are out of sight and out of mind for a majority of users

4. Blame it all on Google PageRank is a pre-query valuation Based on number of links to the page 1 link=1 vote Most votes wins top placement Has no relationship to the subject of the query Googlearchy : dominant Web sites become more firmly entrenched in search results by nature of size Link rich get richer Failings soon uncovered Link farms Googlehacks

5. Search 2.0 • Web 2.0 give us Search 2.0 • Harnessing the collective intelligence • Online bookmarking • Architecture of participation • Open source Search • Peer-to-peer Search • Index of nodes in system • Query passed to find appropriate node • Remixable data sources and data transformation • Local search • Any of the “maps” applications • Kayak.com and other travel sites • Software above the level of a single device • Mobile search • Compensation for the commercialization of organic search • Paid ads do not have to map semantically to the results they accompany • Wales and Searchipedia • Program not tied to a revenue model

6. As Moore’s Law brings about cheaper, faster, stronger hardware, the quest changes from indexing everything to the presentation of results Search challenge to determine relevance without understanding meaning Transition from strict computation to computational techniques to determine meaning Hilltop Algorithm Topic-sensitive PageRank Now It is All About Meaning

7. Hilltop Algorithm • Segmentation of corpus into broad topics • Subset that is then extrapolated to Web as a whole • Created by Jon Kleinberg at Cornell in late 1990s • Consultant to Google • Selection of authority sources within these topic areas • Authorities have lots of non-related pages on the same subject pointing to them • Quality of links more important than quantity of links • Determination of HUBS • Pages that point to many authority sources • Pre query calculations applied at query time • Likely part of Google’s Florida update in 2004

8. Topic-Sensitive PageRank • Consolidation of Hypertext Induced Topic Selection [HITS] and PageRank • Pre-query calculation of factors based on subset of corpus • Context of term use in document • Context of term use in history of queries • Context of term use by user submitting query • Creator now a Senior Engineer at Google

9. Search Further Down the Road • Semantic search technology patents • Search tool with preset categories and keywords • 4-part database of information • Index, categories, keywords, document-specific data • Categories define topics through human-mediation • Keywords extracted from document text • User can iterate search results through related keywords presented from database • Search manager • Brokering application that facilitates selection of best search engine for the user’s query • Similarity estimation • Creates “sketch” or compact representation • Compares sketches based on determined similarity threshold • Deleted duplicate entries • Personalized search • Microsoft: Compares snippets of Web search engine results with data collected from user behavior and client • Demonstrated in NYT article March 7, 2007 • Google: user bookmarks [online and client] used to construct “personalized search object” that is used to filter Web search result • Predictive search • Bayesian model • Compares user choices to predict more appropriate result from same vector space

10. SEO and IA: Choices • Capitulate • No action • Search technology continue on parallel path • Cooperate • Work with current search technology • Develop best practices that build on developments in search technology • Initiate • Influence development of search technology • Become a partner in developing user-centric search technology • Action Items • Influence the technology to work for not against user • Site Navigation Strategy • Site Organization Strategy • Link Strategy • Page Code Strategy • Content Strategy • Metadata Strategy

11. Initiate: Site Navigation Strategy • Locus of attention has changed from navigation to search • Hard-coded navigation structures are losing ground to pogo strikes • Navigation Blindness • Navigation Fatigue • Page Paradigm • Transitional Volatility • Users need inducement to move further into the site • Search technology rewards relationship navigation • Berrypicking Information Model • System approach to navigation development • Systems have specific behaviors and outcomes

12. Initiate: Site Organization Strategy • Distance makes a difference • Hierarchy reflects relevance • MOSS 2007 and use of structural factors • URL depth: the further from the homepage, the less important it must be • Click distance: the further from an authority page, the less important it must be • Architecture extends from the site to the page

13. Initiate: Linking Strategy • Links are human-mediated relationships • Blast services are no longer worthwhile • Related sites, niche directories, online bookmarking sites, provide starting points • Create link-based relationship model of relevance • Create or find authority • Hook up to HUBs • Think beyond the site

14. Cooperate: Page Code Strategy • Reveal the site to the search technology • Sitemap.xml • Provide on the page navigation • Don’t rely on dynamic navigation that spider cannot read • Craft structures that cue technology on importance • Illuminate the non-textual functionality • Optimize JScript and Flash

15. Initiate: Content Strategy • Dense, subject-specific content is what is indexed • People will scroll • If they don't scroll, they will print it out • Content to code ratio of 25% • Promote a keyword-to-content ratio 10–15% • Design on-the-page structure to move important information to the top • Design relational content models • Next steps as well as more information • Develop authority sections on site • Topic-based, not type-based

16. Cooperate: Metadata Strategy • Many forms of description • In the code • Page title [in the browser window] • Description • Keywords? • In the content • Display title • Content headings • Most effective if unique to the content on the page • Say goodbye to cut and paste • Description rivals structure for importance for user context • Ask.com thumbnails • Humans determine the “meaning” of the document and inform the machine

17. SEO and IA: Threats and Opportunities Threats Opportunities Users seeking human-mediated guides to find information Current search rewards a more flexible and intuitive IA Replaced by a new structural paradigm based on relationship and context Hub and authorities Quality over quantity Birds of a feather subject-wise • Search technology advances without user representation • Search engines have become dominant navigation tool through information spaces • Bountiful • Relevant? • Traditional IA methodology increasingly less useful • Hierarchy: pages further from the home page deemed less important • Hard-coded navigation: not visible to search engines • Not Authority-based

18. Marianne Sweeny marianne.sweeny@ascentium.com