Google is a Giant Help Desk

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The process of learning how to create Squidoo pages absolutely absorbs you in learning more about the web and how all things connect. I’ve read so many how-to pages on Squidoo and followed tips from a number of them. One lens suggested that various question and answer websites had do-follow links. If you’ve ever tried to drive web traffic to your own site or page you already know the importance of do-follow links. If you don’t, you should.

I tried a couple of these question and answer sites and they were fun for a bit if you have the patience to weed through the ridiculous questions that come up and hunt for the ones that are more interesting to you personally. I’ve often thought that there are some people who tend to talk for the sake of talking but not because they have anything important to say and there are lots of questions in those sites that look like they came from those people. I have some lenses like that, actually. I did them for practice or because I thought I might draw traffic that would generate income, but I don’t really think they have anything unique to offer. The ones I most enjoyed were the ones I really felt passionate about. It didn’t even have to be “passionate”, if I at least cared about the subject, I had a much easier time creating the lens. Just like with the question and answer sites. If I cared about the question, I could provide a quality answer rather quickly. My Desktop Stress Relief lens nearly wrote itself.

Every night in bed I browse the web on my iPod before falling asleep. I read up on keyword research and how to create meaningful content and how to improve traffic. It hit me last night that Google is really one, giant question and answer site. Maybe this was a revelation that others understood but I’m still a baby here. I’ve barely learned to roll over on my own. I’m not new to Google, just new to figuring out how ti all comes together and I’ve taken it so for granted that I never considered it as really being a question and answer format. In Google, users don’t phrase their questions, though, in the form of questions. They’re putting in search terms hoping the answer comes up. Those who write content try to come up with answers that the questioners will find useful.

Here’s where I think it gets really interesting. Unless your keyword is a long, descriptive phrase, you don’t really know what the searcher was after when he entered “jelly doughnuts” in Google. Does he want to know where the nearest shop might be? Does he want a recipe for them? Does he want to know how many were sold in Kenya in the year 2006? I’ve found myself taking a term like that and throwing in everything but the kitchen sink – even a kitchen sink, at times. “Here, you want this? Or this? Or maybe some of this?” I feel like a hawker at a county fair or those people who stand alongside the Las Vegas Strip handing out the fliers I never take.

It’s starting to make sense to me that going for longer keywords is absolutely the way to go, especially if you’re just starting out.