[thelist] Re: Search Engines

[Shirley Kaiser, SKDesigns]

At 06:24 AM 11/26/2001, Deke wrote:
>On 26 Nov 2001, at 3:54, Shirley Kaiser, SKDesigns responded to a message 
>which said:
>
> > >The best way is to keep your text.  so many designers hate the HTML
> > >text renditions.  However, searchengines love text, so you have to play
> > >favorites. Either your designer or the searchengines has to go.  You
> > >make the call.
>
> > Perhaps you could clarify what you mean by "Either your designer or the
> > searchengines has to go." That statement sounds like designers can't
> > design sites that work well for search engines, so it's one or the
> > other. Is that what you mean or am I misunderstanding?
>
>He didn't say designers *can't* design sites that search engines like,
>he said they *don't* design sites that search engines like.
>
> > If that's what your statement means, then I will respectfully disagree
> > with this generalized statement. While I certainly agree that there are
> > designers who don't know how to design search engine friendly sites, I
> > don't agree that a choice needs to be made between having a designer and
> > having good search engine rankings. As long as the designer is well
> > versed in design for search engines, then it does not need to be one or
> > the other.
>
>Generally speaking, anyone who calls himself a designer thinks that
>text is simplistic, boring, ugly, and undesirable. You, for instance,
>format your pages so that the text runs unreadably off the right side
>of the screen. That's not unfriendly to search engines - but it *is*
>unfriendly to users.
>
>Search engine architects aren't dumb though, and their job is to
>return pages that users want, so *anything* that is user-unfriendly
>will eventually result in lower rankings in the search engines.
>
> > One of my specialties as a designer is designing search engine friendly
> > sites, and I know that it is indeed possible for a designer to design a
> > site that has very high rankings with search engines... it is part of
> > what I do.
>
>Take someone from Carpinteria who works in Isla Vista. They need a
>cosmetic dentist.
>
>Googling on "Carpinteria cosmetic dentist" doesn't come up with
>your client, Dr. Weiner, at all.  Googling on "Isla Vista cosmetic
>dentist" doesn't come up with your client at all. Googling on
>"California cosmetic dentist" doesn't comes up with your Dr. Weiner
>until the fourth page of listing.
>
>But your dentist is smack dab between those two cities.
>
>Is that what you call good search engine ranking?
>
>Frankly, I think search engines aren't worth a whole lot of effort. Put
>the same effort into developing reciprocal links, and you get top-
>quality traffic and long-lasting results.
>
>I've seen people go after that strategy with a vengeance, so that their
>website becomes a hub that people use in their search for answers.
>You have to think that people remember the name of that website,
>and that the site has an above-average chance of being where people
>end up doing business.
>
>Dentistry? Plant nursery?  Fighting with someone who's three states
>away over search engine rankings is a poor use of resources. Their
>website oughta be a brochure, and traffic driven to it by business
>cards, cash register tickets, classified ads, and other cheap local
>advertising.
>
>And it ought to be *useable*, not a frou-frou design site.
>
>deke
>
>*Any great truth can -- and eventually will -- be expressed as a cliche
>-- a cliche is a sure and certain way to dilute an idea. For instance,
>my grandmother used to say, "The black cat is always the last one off
>the fence." I have no idea what she meant, but at one time, it was
>undoubtedly true. --
>                        Solomon Short

Deke,

I don't appreciate your rude, attacking note. You've also made some 
discriminatory comments about designers and search engine experts that are 
ridiculous and out of line.

If you'd taken the time to read my description about my work for Dr. Weiser 
you'd have read that I designed the site, but I did NOT register the site 
or work on the keywords, content, or search engine part at all. I am an 
expert at designing sites for search engines. I said nothing about 
registering this site for Dr. Weiser and working on that aspect. 
Additionally, my colleagues who did the work have achieved #1 rankings for 
the most significant search terms for his target market. They're also top 
experts in their field, working right alongside Danny Sullivan. If you'd 
done your homework a little better, you would have seen and known that.

You would have also read my tutorial on designing for search engines at 
Digital Web and would have known that my view on marketing a site is that 
traffic from search engines are only one part of bringing in visitors and 
not to put all one's focus into this.

And if you knew anything at all about my philosophy about design or my 
work, none of your note would make any sense.

Your attack is totally out of line, uncalled for, and I refuse to have a 
spam attack with you. Any further e-mail from you will go into my trash bin 
unless you choose to apologize, as I won't tolerate such rude e-mail from 
anyone.

Best wishes,
Shirley

-- 
Shirley E. Kaiser, M.A.
SKDesigns  mailto:skaiser at skdesigns.com
Website Design, Development  http://www.skdesigns.com/
Pianist, Composer  http://www.shirleykaiser.com/
Brainstorms and Raves http://www.brainstormsandraves.com/
Moderator, I-Design http://www.adventive.com/lists/idesign/summary.html