Search like a Man – War of the Sexes in Search Engine Optimisation
The purpose of the game is to provde Guaranteed Top 10 Search Engine ranking to your customers but how a lot of so called experts in the field really understandthe psychology of the search? I don’t mean the workings of Improving Search Engine ranking by placing key words in the appropriate places on web sites but more importantly appreciating|recognising|comprehending|understanding[/spin] the psychology of the customerdependant on their sexual category.
A short conversation with some female colleagues interesting differences, ask a lady what she would type to search on a subject and it becomes clear that there is a noticeable difference in approach and language.
It has long been recognised that any Search Engine placement service worth it’s salt spends a significant amount of time with a customer in order to appreciate the product and the market and thus keywords are picked accordingly however how many consultants actually look at the gender profile of the market. Not too many I would presume.
In any other arena identifying a market is moderately simple, based on buying patterns and in most cases the product itself. On the Internet it’s completely different, how do you know the gender of the person visiting your website ? you don’t … the all male preserve of a site selling tools, for example, can be visited by women in search of a giftfor example and consequently to attract the maximum number of visitors it needs to accommodate all possible search patterns.
Staying with the Tool site offers a good example of how the sexes differ , a male searcher looking for a an adjustable spanner would key in something like “adjustable spanner 10 to 30 mm’ … his girlfriend looking for the same piece of kit might well type “adjustable spanner” … a simple example I know but it highlights the point. A female searcher is possibly to be less accurate to create many possibilities which they can browse, a male searcher will describe just what he wants and buy the first one that meets the requirement.
So , how does one accommodate this difference in thinking patterns? Well the obvious way really, don’t presume you understandthe gender of your visitors and as importantly don’t leave the choice of those vital keywords up to a single webdesigner or even a same gender team. After any attempt to help a client identify the right keywords I suggest you revisit the list and reassess the process using a mixed gender team, possibly even going through male and female members at different times to guarantee that there is no weakening in the approach.
Only then will you cover all the bases.