Is Google the Internet? A Lesson In User Experience & SEO

Many people beleive that Google is the only thing that matters on the internet. They design their sites with only Google in mind and obtaining that top position for a highly searched keyword/phrase. While these nut jobs are running around spending countless hours doing this, they’re over looking a very important part of any community or website for that matter. User Experience.

Google is NOT the internet, it isn’t your websites success or failure it isn’t even a measure of your success or failure. Google is a tool, one that you should use, but use in moderation and wisely. Do not make your site for Google, make your site for Users! And I’ll even tell you why!

Search Engine Optimizations is a huge thing around the internet, however many search engine companies don’t take things into consideration. Such as “How will this look to the end user”. Which is an extremely important part of your sites success. SEO companies usually will ask and answer this question, “How will this look to Bob (the end user) and Google, and which one will be more likely to return”. Their success and income depend on Google returning, not Bob, so who do you thinks going to be left in the cold? You guessed it, poor Bob who will go off to find another site who impressed his visual tastes better.

I’m not saying ignore SEO completely, or even that SEO should come after you’ve got users, because it shouldn’t. You’re SEO campaign must be carefully thought out, and implemented with your user experience, having a community rank #1 for 8 billion unsearched keyterms is great, but its useless without users. Your users come first, then the spiders. Always remember that.

Lets break down what users can do, and spiders can’t. Often these things are used to measure your communities success. Users can post new information, spiders can not. This new information can be posts/threads, pictures, articles whatever it is your site serves. Users can tell other users about your site, spiders can to, but not nearly as good. “Hey Joe you need to check out vBulletinSetup it’s an awesome site and comes loaded with features.”. “Thanks Bob” says Joe! The spider says “vBulletin Modifications, Hacks help, vBulletin skins, styles and templates available at the vBulletin Setup forums. We offer vBulletin SEO optimization…”. Real interesting right. Makes you want to go register right now doesn’t it. Lets contine, Users can be sources of income, spiders, not so much.

The list could go on and on, about why users are more important then spiders, but I think you’ve got the picture. That User Experience is equally, if not slightly more important then the spider experience. So when you’re launching your next project, or working on your current one, remember Users before spiders!