Ok so the forum is about SEO and this particular page is about Google in particular. One subject I do not hear a lot about is the fact that a website can show up high in the search engines by using good keyword research and having quality links, and this is great. However, I gotta tell ya, be careful what you wish for: a good SEO strategy can still drive potential customers to competetive sites if:

• Your site looks like it was designed by a 3rd grader
• Has no value
• Does not have sticky items (Video, Interactivity, Animation, A call to action, etc.

The point is; there are a lot of high ranking sites out there that lack credibility and do not expound value, and basically force the user to hit the back button to a competing site. Google does not pay attention to poorly designed sites unless there are errors on the pages,

I just thought this might be a good thread to start about usability, once your sites rank well, and what tips others may have when they have attracted visitors, to how they keep them interested.

Well, content should also be a big thing also... Good content + good design and usability is a great combination...

Doing your SEO means that you have to understand that your site ids for your visitors and readers. You have to remember that all time.

Originally Posted by yankees51

a good SEO strategy can still drive potential customers to competetive sites if:

• Your site looks like it was designed by a 3rd grader
• Has no value
• Does not have sticky items (Video, Interactivity, Animation, A call to action, etc.

I Agree with the first 2 points but the 3rd is complete rubbish....
What have video & animation got to do with anything??

Have you ever heard "a picture is worth a thousand words? - if this statement is true then a video or animation "is worth a thousand pictures" i.e. a million words.

Sometimes products are so complex that a movie or animation really helps along with textual content to explain it.

SELECT * FROM [Not Thinking] WHERE Results > 0

I'm with English Darren on this. I don't think a blanket statement on video, animation, or even interactivity on any level can be made in terms of whether or not it will help a website. What most webmasters and SEOs conveniently ignore is the cost of implementing such tools; they may bring more visitors, but it may not be worth it to the site owner to implement them because the dollar figure may be too high. SOMETIMES they work. But your statement made it sound like they work all the time, and they quite often don't.

This is actually a deeper problem that exists with computer technology in general; people "in the know" spit a whole bunch of rhetoric out about how great the tools are, but can't figure out how to apply the tools to the situation at hand in a manner that is cost-effective for their customers. Sometimes the cost and trouble involved isn't worth the benefit seen, and customers need to have all sides explained to them objectively...not just the benefits.

This is kind of the deeper point here...every site is different, every site owner's needs are different, and there are no blanket solutions and never have been.

The code idea is also incorrect and dinosauric thinking on a pair of levels. Google has been running an Accessibility Search engine in beta for a while now, which places quite a bit of emphasis on clean code; it's not perfect by any stretch, but the results in there are generally well-coded sites. What also needs to be considered is that code contributes a lot more to design than anyone gives it credit for because it's not as sexy; but if something is badly coded and "optimized for Browser X" or "shifts around 5 pixels to the top in Browser Y", then the users of the negatively affected browsers will not come back and will not share the site with others. One of the common sharing forms is to provide an organic backlink.

In other words, the first part of what you said is right; SEO is not the be all and end all. However, you missed the deeper point you were trying to make; understand your users and build the site for them. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for that, and there never will be.

Thanks adam,

I was disagreeing with your statement that every site has to have video and animation for users not to go elsewhere.

Its differnt for every site - I've lost count of how many times ive been to a site to find info about something and had a Flash splash screen greet me.... "click back! click back!"

BTW yankees51, I could take your PHP line as quite offensive...

Look guys,

I did not want to start a discussion on whether video is good or bad, I was just using it as an example.

What gets lost in these forums is that great SEO, when connected to a poorly designed site, does nothing for you

I simply thought it useful to start a discussion on site stickiness techniques because I felt it important based on this forums objectives.

I actually agree with you both and do realize it depends on the website.

Thanks

Actually...what gets lost in these forums is that a lot of the elements of great SEO are also design elements and therefore it becomes increasingly less likely as time goes by that a poorly designed site will perform well in terms of search referrals.

There's a thread on here where someone can't figure out why she doesn't rank for a specific keyphrase. Throwing aside the idea that rank checking is useless for a minute, the site in question has some serious navigational issues and design issues, as two people pointed out. If those issues are solved, many of the other SEO issues are solved too.

SEO is a subset of good design, not a standalone component designed to replace it.

I agree, what is the use of getting visitors if you cant keep them long enough on the site....

Originally Posted by djura

I agree, what is the use of getting visitors if you cant keep them long enough on the site....

I agree with djura...

Originally Posted by rolda hayes

BTW yankees51, I could take your PHP line as quite offensive...

That's SQL, not PHP.

What makes a video "sticky"?

That's SQL, not PHP.

DOH!!

Video can be very sticky on a site that is selling a complex product, the video can show how that product works along with corresponding text. In another example; a how to fix your BMW site could use video to show how to remove a front disc brake, etc etc etc.

Once again, Consider an industrial site, that sells very unglamorous complex widgets, sticky items may include:

• Video and Animation (To explain in moving pictures how the product works)
• Interactive Product Catalogs (Searches based on multiple attributes)
• A Unit Conversion Calculator (Inch to Metric, lbs force to Newtons, etc)
• A monthly drawing for a free dewalt power tool
• A searchable knowledge base
• FAQ's, RFQ's, Shopping Cart
• Immediate sales and tech support using online collaboration
• etc

I have to bring this thread back to my original thought, What do you guys (and gals) do, with whatever your site is about, do to keep your prospects interested, once yoursite is ranking well.

Does anyone understand that I thought this may be an interesting topic.

SELECT * FROM [This thread] WHERE (Users LIKE '*Marketers*' AND Users NOT LIKE 'Tech_Geeks*')

Results =
ADAM Web Design
rolda hayes (maybe?)
~ServerPoint~
zeruel

PHP MySQL

Actually, I'm a bit of both...so technically I wouldn't qualify under that query.

As far as keeping my prospects interested is concerned, I don't really do anything more than I did to get to the point where they found me in the first place. I just give them unique content that has been thought out.

It's a simplistic marketing formula, but it works every single time I try it.

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

What makes a video "sticky"?

Sticky comes from The Tipping Point. Some things are sticky, they leave a lasting impression. Others aren't/don't.

It would be a mistake to think video by itself has this quality. Think of a youtube showing paint dry. But if your users are going to like something that's best expressed in a video it's probably worth a try.

Actually your SQL query has a syntax error;
The "%" symbol is a wildcard in SQL not the "*"
So;

SELECT * FROM [This thread] WHERE (Users LIKE '%Marketers%' AND Users NOT LIKE 'Tech_Geeks%')

The wildcard would be '*' in MS Access and '%' in SQL Server.

It's obvious a video would not be sticky if it were of "watching paint dry" or "grass growing".

However, the workings of a complex product is perfect for video and animation. I gave an example of a site with examples of other sticky items to offer value to users, but it seems most of you are fixated on the video thing.

Once again the thread was started to discuss the items that can keep a prospect on your site once you rank well and not a discussion on the merits of flash or video...I Give up!

I think you might have missed John's deeper point here, Darren...although you did try to cover it.

The problem isn't the idea that a video can work...it's the idea that a video will work. The way your point came across initially, it's that video was a universal solution, which you later clarified that it wasn't. Unfortunately, your initial stance (or at least its interpretation) fit to a T the stance of the vast majority who go around toting ideas without understanding the how or why behind them.

Get a blog.
Put a video on your site.
Virally market (I love this one).
Social bookmark sites are great sources of traffic (so exchange bookmarks with other spammy sites to get yourself up there.)

People all too often believe the concept is good enough, and completely forget the details. Personally, I blame the corporate world where some six-figure blowhard says something, the rest of his ***-kissing yes-men tell him it's a good idea, and it goes down the chain, gets implemented incorrectly, costs millions and ultimately the worker is blamed for the lack of planning on the part of the blowhard and yes-men.

I see, thanx Adam, point taken. My apologies to all. (See next page)