Your website is there—new, fine and great. A search engine is going to visit it for the very first time; this is the moment of truth. We are going to reconstruct such a visit in a moment—described in pictures, which are easier to relate to. Let’s say it is Googlebot that is visiting, but in reality it doesn’t really matter if it is he, Yahoo or Live that is visiting. It is the same no matter which search engine.

This chapter is fundamental for your understanding of what is important and how to make sure that Googlebot has a good visit. So read this thoroughly and return regularly. If you always remember this chapter when you are “doing something” on your website, then it cannot all be wrong.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

We are going to the beach to find ice cream

You are employed in a company that publishes a catalogue that shows all the best places to buy ice cream. Your task is to visit all the places that sell ice cream, scrutinize them and report back to your company. Thus have the same job as Googlebot, and I am sure you’ve figured out that this is a “parable” of his work that we are talking about.

Your job is to go to a beach in Florida in order to figure out who is selling the best ice cream on the beach. Your information is the only basis that your company has to decide the sequence for listing the ice cream kiosks when the catalogue is published.

You arrive at the beach and see there are three buildings in front of you. These are the ones you see here:

You immediately discover there is a large sign on the roof of each building. You can easily read the text, which is:

Building 1: “Rick Delgado – established 1932″

Building 2: “Welcome to Casa Gela″

Building 3: “The best ice cream on the beach –
ice cream with a smile”

Apparently is it only building #3 that sells ice cream, because the signs on building #1 and #2 don’t mention anything about ice cream. But as a conscientious employee, are you investigate closer.

When you reach building #1, the area in front of the building is empty and the door is a bit crooked on the hinges. You walk inside and see a number of refrigerated counters with lids. There is no sign on the refrigerated counters that informs you about what they contain and there is no shop assistant. You leave again without learning anything. The only thing you know is that the building has belonged to Rick Delgado since 1932.

Now you walk towards building #2. You meet some people on your way (some look a bit ragged, not the kind of type you will borrow money), they are standing pointing towards building #2. Some of them are silent; others say things like “go that way” or “look over there.” Building #2 is nice and neat and there is even a pricelist on the door that shows you they are actually selling ice cream here. Inside are several refrigerated counters and a friendly shop assistant. You ask the shop assistant to tell you about the shop’s selection. You write notes about what she tells you, which you can give your employer.

Next you move on towards building #3. You meet a lot of attractive bikini-clad girls and muscular guys on your way to the building. They are all standing around pointing towards building #3 while they say things like “The city’s best ice cream is that way”, “You want ice cream, then it’s building #3” and “Ready for ice cream? Then building #3 is better than the rest.”

The big sign on the roof of building #3 already tells you clearly what to expect. Inside is impeccably clean, tidy and cozy. There are signs with pictures and explanations, which describe every single ice cream being sold. The shop assistants are forthcoming, nice and skilled. They know everything, and tell about it spontaneously. Your notes are extensive and it is much easier for you to make them here, than in the other buildings, because all you have got to do is to copy from the signs.

Now, you have reached the point where you need to go home, and recommend which of the three buildings your employer should rank in the beginning of the catalogue. Your employer only has one wish in the whole wide world: To produce the best possible catalogue, which recommends the best solution first as honestly as possible, because if he does that he will be able to sell more ads in his catalogue.

Now, it is time to involve you so you don’t fall asleep: Which of the three buildings, would YOU recommend as the best ice cream kiosk? Long pause—and then I will ask: You agree that it must be building #3 with the sign “The best ice cream on the beach – ice cream with a smile,” right?

Ice cream kiosks become websites

You have probably figured out that your employer is a search engine like Google. And you probably also figured out that if you were to visit ALL of the ice cream kiosks in the world, you would be very busy. This will cause every visit to be very short and hasty, and that is why you must rely on the information given to you by each ice cream kiosk and the people that recommend them. You don’t have the time to taste all the ice cream in each and every ice cream kiosk (you would also get too fat if you tried.)

This mean, that the ice cream kiosk that is most capable of being recommended by trustworthy people (lots of links from other and credible websites,) best explains its mission with a sign (page title,) best explains its supply (sitemap, internal links, descriptions) and is best at keeping it nice, neat and tidy (good programming,) is also the ice cream kiosk, you will recommend for top ranking.

Logical, right? And you see, search engine optimization is too in most cases. There ARE more shades than the ones I describe. But this is the main feature. The skill consists in finding the right bikini girls, the right text for the sign on the roof, the best signs on the refrigerated counters and the right shop assistants – then you will sell ice cream. Lots of it!

If you liked this story you’ll love the rest of them in the acclaimed SEO Book from Thomas Rosenstand called SEO-LEX. Go get your FREE SEO-Book right here