Searching Like A Man – War Of The Sexes In Search Engine Optimisation
The aim of the game is to give Guaranteed Top 10 Search Engine ranking to your customers but how scores of so called experts in the field really comprehendthe psychology of the search? I don’t mean the technicalities of Improving Search Engine ranking by listing key words in the appropriate places on web sites but more importantly appreciating|recognising|comprehending|understanding[/spin] the psychology of the searcherdependant on their sex.
A short chat with some women colleagues brings differences, ask a lady what she would type to search on a subject and it becomes clear that there is a clear difference in approach and language.
It has long been accepted that any Search Engine placement service worth it’s salt spends a major amount of time with a client in order to recognise the product and the market and thus keywords are chosen accordingly but 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 comparatively simple, based on buying stats and in most cases the product itself. On the Internet it is completely different, how can you establish 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 presentfor example and so to attract the maximum number of visitors it needs to accommodate all possible search patterns.
Staying with the Tool site offers a fine example of how the sexes differ , a male searcher looking for a an adjustable spanner would use a search something like “adjustable spanner 10 to 30 mm’ … his wife looking for the same piece of kit might well type “adjustable spanner” … a simplistic example I know but it illustrates the point. A female searcher is possibly to be less accurate to create many possibilities which they can leaf through, a male searcher will describe accurately what he wants and buy the first one that meets the specification.
So , how does one deal with this difference in thinking patterns? Well the obvious way really, don’t assume you can tellthe gender of your visitors and as importantly don’t leave the choice of those vital keywords up to a single programmer or even a same gender team. After any attempt to help a client identify the right keywords I suggest you revisit the list and go over the process using a mixed gender team, perhaps even checking through male and female members at different times to guarantee that there is no weakening in the approach.
Only then can you cover all the bases.
