How to Google; or How to be Easily Distracted

I set out with the intention of writing a self improvement type article with an original temporary working title of 'How To Overcome Fear'.

Being the sound marketing man that I am though, my first action was to research whether this was relevant to many peoples lives.

What followed was a mistake.

I had read recently about a 'Google Suggest' in Beta test mode (http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1), and so I thought I would give it a whirl.

I should have known better - distractions on the web happen to me all the time.

The next hour passed effortlessly away as I played with the new found toy.

This is Google's own description of the tool:

'What is Google Suggest?

As you type into the search box, Google Suggest guesses what you're typing and offers suggestions in real time. This is similar to Google's "Did you mean?" feature that offers alternative spellings for your query after you search, except that it works in real time. For example, if you type "bass," Google Suggest might offer a list of refinements that include "bass fishing" or "bass guitar." Similarly, if you type in only part of a word, like "progr," Google Suggest might offer you refinements like "programming," "programming languages," "progesterone," or "progressive." You can choose one by scrolling up or down the list with the arrow keys or mouse.

That's pretty cool. How does it do that? Our algorithms use a wide range of information to predict the queries users are most likely to want to see. For example, Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various searches to help rank the refinements it offers...'

Here are some thought provoking results:

'How to overcome fear' - 2,580,000 results

'How to overcome anxiety' - 119,000 results

At least I am right to be targeting my article towards those expressing concern about fear.

But here is the strange thing - Google sponsored AdWord links for 'anxiety' is twelve, but 'fear' only has three.

There are many more anomolies such as this in a very short time.

Furthermore, look at these interesting results from Google Suggest:

The really amazing thing is how big some of the search results are:

'How to be happy' 95,000,000 results - sponsored links, nine.

AND

What about these:

'How to be hot' - 192,000,000 and get this - NIL Google sponsored links.

'How to be humble' - 6,700,000 - NIL Google sponsored links.

This last example has been included, as it is more surprising in that even the normal Google search for the keyword phrase 'how to be humble' throws up results that bear vary little resemblance to the searched term. Try it and see.

What absorbed me were the ranking figures showing on the right. IF the figures are correct I can confidently state that product producers, affiliates and advertisers are really missing out on a lot of massively searched niches.

Have I found a goldmine? Should I be revealing all this?

Well I don't know, and frankly I am puzzled by what the 'Google Suggest' numbers really represent.

I am not going to get that excited as I have just been to Wordtracker which gave me these results for two of the above terms.

'How to be hot' - 13 searches in the last 110 days

'How to be humble' No searches in the last 110 days.

So where do the 'Google Suggest' figures come from? Can you throw any light on this, because if you can it will save me being distracted further in search of the truth.

Oh - and there is still that article to write about overcoming fear. Down to it.

Keith is the Managing Director of Creative Eye and has over 10 years experience in website design, development and project management. To read more from Keith Watson, visit http://www.creativeeye.co.uk/articles/

---

Build Link Popularity The Smart Way

A Brief Introduction To Link PopularityAs webmasters research various ways... Read More

Stay In The Know With Google SMS

The Short Messaging Service (SMS) from Google sends short, quick,... Read More

Link Exchange Tips, No Tricks

Use text links, avoid image links. Anyhow, if you... Read More

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Fix Your OnPage!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is something you should be aware... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Keyword Analysis (part 3/10)

If you imagine that building an optimized site is like... Read More

How to Choose Keywords to Theme Your Pages and Boost Your Traffic

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is... Read More

Five Tips for Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization sounds so daunting for most young companies.... Read More

Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 2: Content Creation

Welcome to part two in this search engine optimization series.... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Conclusions (part 10/10)

As you have seen throughout the guide, search engine optimization... Read More

How to Avoid the Google Duplicate Content Filter?

More and more webmasters are building websites with publicly available... Read More

Make Quality Content Your #1 Priority

It is by now a proven fact that content is... Read More

10 Ways to Tackle Keyword Research and Selection

You need to be extremely careful with keyword research so... Read More

Why Top Search Engine Placements Never Move?

#1 question when it comes to web advertising is how... Read More

Local Customers Know Where to Find Local Businesses... the Internet

Through search engines and directories, the Internet provides a quick... Read More

Link Popularity Pitfalls

As we all know Google uses their PageRank technology to... Read More

Search Engines The Masters Of The Internet Universe ? Part 1

Trillions of Billions of content pages make up the wide... Read More

Gaining Link Popularity Techniques

Link popularity is very important these days for all websites... Read More

Without Conversion Rates You Don’t Know If You’re Mickey Mouse Or Mickey Mantle

I couldn’t agree more with the headline of this article... Read More

Microsofts New Search Engine

I tried out Microsoft's new search engine (beta version) the... Read More

Search Engine Optimisation ? Why And How To Do It

In the following article I will give you some basic... Read More

LSI and Link Popularity

When Paypal's official Web site no longer ranked #1 in... Read More

Internet 2005: The Ten Billions Pages Search Engines

To see each and every page during 10 seconds would... Read More

Get a Number One Google Ranking With This Simple Technique

You probably do this already - complete regular searches in... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

Lets face it. Search Engines rule the World Wide Web... Read More

Increase Web Site Sales with a SEO Proposal - Part 2

Part I of this article discussed some of the points... Read More

How Do I Improve My Web Site Conversion Rate? Part 1

Question 1.What do you mean by conversion? Do you mean... Read More

Anchor Text Optimization

Anchor Text (also called phrase linking) can significantly improve your... Read More

Beyond Search Engines

Some webmasters report that search engines account for 75% or... Read More

Search Engine Saturation Tool ? A Must Have SEO Tool

Search Engines have become the soul of the Internet. They... Read More

Keyword Demand Isnt Enough

I get half of the world traffic for the term... Read More

Free Search Engine Advertising: 10 Secret Ways To Indirectly Race To The Top Of Search Engines

Do you have a website that has little or no... Read More

Developing A List Of Keywords For Marketing

Keywords aren't just some words that allow search engines, like... Read More

New MSN Search Engine: How Good is it?

If you have an online business or you just use... Read More