Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You ByWP Engine

Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

Start getting more from your site today!

Rainmaker.FM

The Digital Commerce and Content Marketing Podcast Network

  • Home
  • Shows
  • Hosts
  • About
  • Home
  • Shows
  • Hosts
  • About
  • Member Area
  • Log In
Menu
  • Log In
  • Free Training
7-Figure Small with Brian Clark
Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer
Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing
Get More Clients With Smarter Email Marketing
Hack the Entrepreneur
Members Only
Rainmaker.FM Elsewhere
Site Success: Tips for Building Better WordPress Websites
StudioPress FM
Technology Translated
The Digital Entrepreneur
The Missing Link
The Showrunner
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Youpreneur with Chris Ducker
Zero to Book
Rough Draft
hosted by Demian Farnworth

004 How Search Engines Work, Part Two

  • Social:
  • Link:
  • Embed:
https://rainmaker.fm/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/rough-004.mp3
Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes
Previous Episode:003 How Search Engines Work, Part One More Episodes Next Episode:005 Keywords: Your Love Affair With the Language Your Audience Uses

All Episodes:

October 21, 2015

102 The Beautiful Message Joseph Campbell Was Really Trying to Tell Us

October 8, 2015

101 The Greatest Storytelling Guide This Side of Saturn

September 1, 2015

100 The Episode That Explains the Future of Rough Draft

August 31, 2015

099 A Better Way to Find Big Ideas (That Make You Stand Out)

August 27, 2015

098 How to Grab Great Ideas (Without Using Your Hands)

August 26, 2015

097 The Problem with the ‘Hell-For-Leather’ Writing Movement

August 25, 2015

096 Why These Famous Time-Management Techniques Are Ruining Your Productivity

August 24, 2015

095 Freaking Out Over the Thought of Writing a First Draft? Try Scaffolding

August 20, 2015

094 How to Avoid Obscurity by Misusing Language

August 19, 2015

093 A Creative Email Trick for Becoming a Plain Spoken Writer

August 18, 2015

092 Let This Stupid Machine Read Your Copy Out Loud

August 17, 2015

091 This Free App Will Help You Write Bold and Clear Copy

August 13, 2015

090 Four Writing Lessons I Learned from This Depressing Music Project

August 12, 2015

089 The Clear-Copy Rule of Writing for the Web

August 11, 2015

088 Three Ways Writers Must Adjust in a World Dominated by Social Media

August 10, 2015

087 How This Social Media Thing Kicked Web Writing Right in the Feels

August 6, 2015

086 An Elegant Story on Outsmarting Career Obsolescence

August 5, 2015

085 Raise the Stakes! 13 Writing Ideas That Really Work

August 4, 2015

084 The Two Things That Make a Dull Product Irresistible

August 3, 2015

083 Proof That Stories Can Increase the Value of Even ‘Worthless’ Items

July 30, 2015

082 Could Podcasting Make You a Better Writer?

July 29, 2015

081 When Do You Abandon the Editing Process?

July 28, 2015

080 Four Ways to Get Attention by Rocking the Boat

July 27, 2015

079 A Brief Introduction to the Art of Catching Hell

July 23, 2015

078 Six Storytelling Lessons from a Famous Urban Legend

July 22, 2015

077 Vexed by Your Bankrupt Vocabulary? Listen to This

July 21, 2015

076 Why Writers Need to Develop a Sense of Humor

July 20, 2015

075 Listener Challenge: Could You Read 100 Books in a Year?

July 16, 2015

074 How to Get Massive Attention with a ‘High-Concept Pitch’

July 15, 2015

073 A Lesson in Swagger from a Wooden-Legged Civil War Soldier

July 14, 2015

072 Six Ways to Becoming a Completely Original Writer

July 13, 2015

071 The Oldest Writing Trick in The Book

July 9, 2015

070 Eight Things Every Writer Should Know about Landing Pages

July 8, 2015

069 The Fascinating Truth about Boring Topics

July 7, 2015

068 How to Craft an About Page That People Actually Read and Share

July 6, 2015

067 The Psychology Behind Winning Email Subject Lines

July 2, 2015

066 All Great Writing Boils Down to These Four Emotional Appeals

July 1, 2015

065 A Mildly Spooky Illustration of “Reason Why” Copy

June 30, 2015

064 A Mild Warning for All Headline Writers

June 29, 2015

063 How Every Creative Must Think about Marketing and Advertising

June 25, 2015

062 Do Millennials (Really) Hate Long Copy?

June 24, 2015

061 These 4 Sales Principles Can Improve Anyone’s Writing

June 23, 2015

060 How to Use the 5 Stages of Audience Awareness to Dominate Online

June 22, 2015

059 Why The Most Hated Headline Structures Work So Well

June 18, 2015

058 This is the Most Fun You’ll Ever Have “Explaining the Mechanism” …

June 17, 2015

057 The Doomsday Cult School of Specificity

June 16, 2015

056 How to Sweep Away Skepticism with a Dramatic Demonstration

June 15, 2015

055 Meet the Tragic Poster Boy for the Emotional Brain

June 11, 2015

054 A Straightforward Research Method for Finding a Potent Hook

June 10, 2015

053 What You Don’t Know about Your Product Can Kill Your Copy

June 9, 2015

052 Three New Ways to Write a Headline (and When to Use Each)

June 8, 2015

051 Want Copy That Actually Works? Start with Mass Desire

June 4, 2015

050 The Curious Secret to Building Trust and Credibility

June 3, 2015

049 My Second Most Favorite Copywriting Formula in the World!

June 2, 2015

048 How to Get Lazy People to Care about Your Ideas

June 1, 2015

047 My Favorite Copywriting Formula … Ever!

May 29, 2015

046 How to (Rapidly) Build an Audience with Content Syndication

May 28, 2015

045 Solve Your Online Proofreading Problems With This Simple Trick

May 27, 2015

044 The Profanity Princess on Finding Your Voice

May 26, 2015

043 The Oddest Story About Overcoming Obscurity You’ll Ever Hear

May 21, 2015

042 10 Odd Books That Will Improve Your Writing

May 20, 2015

041 How to Read a Book in 2 Hours

May 19, 2015

040 The Shocking Way to Master Any Book

May 18, 2015

039 Nine Copywriting Books for Web Writers

May 14, 2015

038 The 8 Rules of Ruthless Editing from David Mamet

May 13, 2015

037 Revealed: The Perfect Blog Post Length

May 12, 2015

036 The Aggressive Work Ethic of Highly Creative People

May 11, 2015

035 The 10 Rules of Rough Drafts

May 7, 2015

034 5 Ways to Create the Perfect Ending that Your Content Deserves

May 6, 2015

033 6 Simple Rules For Writing Effective Dialogue

May 5, 2015

032 Use Internal Cliffhangers So People Never Stop Reading

May 4, 2015

031 226 Transitional Words and Phrases Every Writer Should Know

April 30, 2015

030 The Great Paragraph Hoax

April 29, 2015

029 5 Ways to Write a Seductive Sentence

April 28, 2015

028 How to Be Smart in a World of Dumb Verbs

April 27, 2015

027 How the Perfect Article Is Framed by White Space

April 23, 2015

026 The Best Articles Always Have This (and a Great Headline)

April 22, 2015

025 The Anatomy of a Hyperlink That Woos Readers

April 21, 2015

024 The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Bullet Points That Work

April 20, 2015

023 How to Create Exquisite Subheadlines

April 16, 2015

022 Four Safe Ways to Find Your Writing Voice (and One Dangerous One)

April 15, 2015

021 The Two Kinds of Knowledge Every Writer Needs

April 14, 2015

020 The Crazy Thing Writers Do to Become Exceptional

April 13, 2015

019 How to Answer the Most Important Question About Becoming an Exceptional Writer

April 9, 2015

018 Four Things That Can Make Writers Famous

April 8, 2015

017 A Small Gift for Your Dark Days as an Obscure Writer

April 7, 2015

016 Steal This Episode

April 6, 2015

015 David Sedaris’ Guide to Writing Brilliant First Sentences

April 2, 2015

014 Six Proven Ways to Open an Article With a Bang

April 1, 2015

013 How I’ll Make You Read Every Single Line of This Article

March 31, 2015

012 The Ugly Truth About How People Read Online

March 30, 2015

011 The 3 Pillars of Great Web Writing

March 26, 2015

010 How to Use RSS to Write Better Headlines

March 25, 2015

009 How to Write Headlines that Get Results

March 24, 2015

008 Where Headlines Have Gone Horribly Wrong

March 23, 2015

007 A 12-Minute Crash Course on Link Building (Ugh)

March 19, 2015

006 An Idiot-Proof Guide to Writing Blog Posts That Google Loves

March 18, 2015

005 Keywords: Your Love Affair With the Language Your Audience Uses

March 17, 2015

004 How Search Engines Work, Part Two

March 16, 2015

003 How Search Engines Work, Part One

March 3, 2015

002 The Unbreakable Law of the Web

March 2, 2015

001 Two Challenges All Digital Content Must Conquer

March 17, 2015

004 How Search Engines Work, Part Two

Where you find out how Google learns what a page is about, and how it ranks that page.

Imagine you love jaguars. You have a blog about jaguars. You publish seven times a week about jaguars. On your site, it’s jaguar all day and all night.

But Google doesn’t seem to know you exist. What gives?

The problem is Google can’t tell if you are an authority on the car, the animal, or the older woman variety — because you write about all three.

Not good.

In this roughly 4-minute episode you’ll discover:

  • The conversation search bots have with each other while they crawl over your content
  • Writing advice for people who LOVE jaguars
  • Wikipedia’s secret to ranking high in search results (you can easily copy)
  • Why links are so precious to online content

Listen to Rough Draft below ...

004 How Search Engines Work, Part TwoDemian Farnworth
  • Social:
  • Link:
  • Embed:
https://rainmaker.fm/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/rough-004.mp3
Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes

Other episodes in this series:

  • How Search Engines Work, Part One

The Show Notes

  • The Mighty Jaguar
  • How search works
Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You ByWP Engine

Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

Start getting more from your site today!

The Transcript

How Search Engines Work, Part Two

Demian Farnworth: Hi and welcome to Rough Draft, the daily podcast that delivers the essential writing advice you need to succeed online as a writer.

I’m your host Demian Farnworth, Chief Content Writer for Copyblogger Media. Thank you for sharing the next four minutes of your life with me.

This episode is episode four, and it is called “How Search Engines Evaluate Content.”

So we are continuing our discussion about how search engines work. Like I mentioned before, you don’t have to be an expert in this, but you must understand it.

The Conversation Search Bots Have with Each Other While They Crawl Over Your Content

It is based upon the content on your page. The robots and crawlers are crawling over everything. The words you use in your headline, in the sub headlines, throughout the copy. These little eight-legged robots are looking crawling over your content and looking for patterns. Do you keep repeating the word “jaguar”? Then you are probably writing about the large feline cat, panthera onca. But not so fast. You talked about rubber tires and a windshield and engine size. Then you are talking about the luxury car.

This is basically, though we will talk about the more nuanced ways of search engines in future episodes, the basic idea of how they work.

Writing Advice to People Who LOVE Jaguars

But that’s only part of the equation. They have to figure out which pages about jaguars are more relevant than others. Let’s imagine we are talking about the large feline cat. And let’s say there are over 1,000 very enthusiastic lovers of jaguars. And they all blog. And each of them has a page — a very basic page — about the jaguar. So the question is: which one of these pages should they give you … and in what order.

They do this through popularity and authority. This is the other problem I spoke about neglect. If we want to learn about jaguars, we want to talk to the smartest, the most popular people on that subject.

Wikipedia’s Secret to Ranking High in Search Results (You Can Easily Copy)

Now here’s the cool thing. If you searched for jaguars on Google. The results will basically come in like this: the website for the luxury car maker, Wikipedia entry on the panthera onca, and in third place the Wikipedia entry on the luxury car.

Why these three? It is because of the authority behind each website. Jaguar the car maker, is probably, this is debatable, but probable, is an authority on the luxury car. Wikipedia is also an authority. This is why it dominates the two of the top three spots.

How did it come to dominate? And this is where we get to the ranking system behind Google. So Google evaluates a page. Decides what it is about. Then it decides how relevant and popular it is.

It decides the popularity through links.

Why Links are so Precious to Online Content

One way they used to evaluate the authority of a page is to say “how many links are pointing to this page?” And what kind of links are pointing to it?

See, Google figured that links from other websites pointing to your website indicates that people find value in your page. It’s sort of a vote of confidence for your page. People might link to because a blogger likes how you explained something.

So if you have one hundred links pointing to a page about the nursing habits of jaguars, it’s probably going to be ranked higher than a similar page with no links.

However, the quality of the link matters. One link from CNN is worth one hundred from no-name bloggers. And it’s what those links say, that matter and help Google evaluate and rank pages. We have run out of time now but what we’ll do next time is look further into links and how you can actually create links that are valuable.

Rough Draft is brought to you by Authority Rainmaker, a carefully designed live educational experience that presents a complete and effective online marketing strategy to help you immediately accelerate your business. Don’t miss the opportunity to see Dan Pink, Sally Hogshead, punk legend Henry Rollins, and many other incredible speakers live … not to mention the secret sauce of it all: building real-world relationships with other attendees. Get all the details right now at rainmaker.fm/event, and we look forward to seeing you in Denver, Colorado this May. That’s rainmaker.fm/event.

Never Miss New Shows and Episodes on Rainmaker.FM

Get the best of the Rainmaker.FM network in a single weekly email, along with two weeks
of free training that will change the way you think about online marketing ...

Free Registration

You might also like...

The Showrunner

No. 022 What Craft Beer and Food Trucks Can Teach Us About the Power of Collaboration

Listen to episode
Members Only

Why Doing Less Can Generate More for Your Online Business

Listen to episode
Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing

The Strategy Behind the Copyblogger Redesign

Listen to episode
Rough Draft

093 A Creative Email Trick for Becoming a Plain Spoken Writer

Listen to episode
Site Success: Tips for Building Better WordPress Websites

[37] 3Q for Picking the Right Host for Your Website

Listen to episode

When to Shift Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Thing

Listen to episode

Comments

  1. Patrice says

    March 20, 2015 at 3:50 PM

    Great podcasts on search engines! Thanks for offering the information in bite size chunks. Unless I’m really interested in the subject of a podcast, I don’t typically listen to them while I’m online. Too distracting. But these 4-minute lessons are perfect.

    Reply
    • Demian Farnworth says

      March 20, 2015 at 7:20 PM

      That’s so good to hear, Patrice! I thought people would like the bite sized chunks. 😀

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You ByWP Engine

Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

Start getting more from your site today!

Copyright © 2023 Rainmaker Digital, LLC. Powered by the Rainmaker Platform.

Privacy Policy  ·  Refund Policy  ·  Cookie Policy  ·  Terms of Service  ·  Contact