Google, Bing, Yahoo and many of the other popular search tools are replete with pages and pages of information about any topic under the sun. However mining through this information dossier to find the most relevant, accurate, and original data has become quite a challenge.
Thankfully search engines are constantly updating their algorithms by frequently crawling over every new web page that’s being added to the World Wide Web. According to the WorldwideWebSize.com, the indexed web contains at least 3.32 billion pages (as of Thursday 10th July 2014). However, with the addition of millions of bytes every second from all over the world, any attempt to put out an estimate will just be a failure!
With data and information growing at such a mind-boggling speed, wading through it has become quite a challenge for internet users. While information is now available at the tip of the finger, which information to click has become quite the contention.
Although search engine optimization (SEO) has gained relevance, the focus here is in tricking the search engine to manipulate the data so the data you put out there ranks higher in Google search results. Note that this does not necessarily mean that another user who researched for information found the most accurate article by clicking on the top three results that the search engine throws up. It simply means the owner of the article has manipulated the search engine algorithms to incorporate keywords (based on rankings) that will enable the search engine to rank that webpage over other pages. And if your information, blog, or web page does not rank anywhere on the first page of Google—even if it has the most pertinent information—it is of very little use. Rarely would someone visit page 30 to find an article for the subject he or she researched. Wouldn’t you agree?
It is said that even by under-estimation, the total data on the internet has crossed 1 Yottabyte. Wikipedia definies 1 Yottabyte as:
1 YB = 10008bytes = 1024bytes = 1000000000000000000000000bytes = 1000zettabytes = 1trillionterabytes
It is important to note that this includes videos, audios, images, blogs, and other pages.
To put things in perspective, in 2010 “it was estimated that storing a yottabyte on terabyte-size hard drives would require one million city block size data centers, as big as the states of Delaware and Rhode Island.” (Wikipedia) So how can we wade through all of this information overload? It seems like everyone is blogging, tweeting, liking, commenting, writing, expressing all at the same time. But who’s listening?
Recently LinkedIn seized on this opportunity tremendously. Seeing the number of bloggers expressing themselves through other mediums and popularizing it on LinkedIn, they decided to open up their blogging service for the public. Several voices have debated for and against this service over the last few months especially with users using it to post everything from thoughts to job requirements to resumes and even jokes on a professional platform.
While many users are frustrated with the smog that’s created over the World Wide Web, it is imperative for users on the internet to follow a few guidelines to make your content more powerful rather than allowing it be clouded with the rest of the web smog.
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Whether you like it or not, key words are the key. It is not just important to publish valuable content, it is also imperative to optimize your content for search engines. This applies not just to articles, but for ALL content—be it video, your resume, or your blog.
2. Web Health Check
Several websites offer free web health checks to enable users to understand the quality of the speed of the site, keyword rankings, search indexed rankings etc. Make good use of this service since many sites offer it for free. Simply punch in your website and see how you even compare with one or two of your favorite other competing sites. It helps to always gauge your competition if you want to move ahead.
3. Powerful Blogging through the Most Powerful Medium
Everybody and anybody is blogging nowadays. But where is the blog taking the user to? While there are several popular blogging sites available, 48% of the top 100 blogs are hosted on WordPress (according to FactsHunt.com). The user-friendliness and clean design of WordPress sites are definitely what makes this platform so popular.
4. Brand Yourself
Content is King, but who is putting the content out there is even a bigger Sultan. Gone are the days when content on the internet was produced by authorities. Be it pages from Wikipedia or personal blogs—always search for the source from where the content is coming. That will be a key differentiator. While content is important, where it is coming from is also now equally important.
5. Knowledge Sharing is Not a Fad
Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms, liking, tweeting, retweeting, commenting, and sharing are now necessities and not just a fad! In order to entice and compel search engines to turn back and take notice—and for dynamic content to be relevant and stay relevant—content needs to go viral. Likes determine popularity and pushes up your content to the top. After all, knowledge shared is knowledge gained.
So as you wade through 1 Yottabyte of information on the World Wide Web, turn on the exhaust, reduce the haze, and keep your content loud and clear.
About the Author
Susan Varghese is based out of Washington DC and heads Business and Talent Acquisition for Cynet Systems Inc, Ashburn VA. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
