"What if Google had to design their user interface for Google?"
Um, isn't this what they did to get their current homepage? Who designed it if it wasn't Google?
Oh... wait. Does that mean: "What if Google, the company, had to design their user interface so that it ranked high on the Google search engine?" I think I get it now. But I also think I have to agree with reisio.
Case in point: go to Google and search on "liminality." First result is Wikipedia, not surprisingly. Second result? Me. Now search on "what is liminality" (in quotes). First result? Me (without quotes I'm second, again after Wikipedia). And I used none of those techniques mentioned. I don't even have a "links" page (anymore).
I understand that it was an attempt at humor, but it didn't strike me as all that funny, maybe because I was confused by the title question. A more accurate title would be: "What if the user interface for Google were designed by someone who was obsessed with SEO techniques and not really interested in content or usefulness?" But then I guess maybe it wouldn't be as funny(?).
it's probably not intended to be a gut buster, it's just a commentary on the way things are. and of course it's about designing for rank
I'm sure you Suho, rank high for liminality mostly due to the relative obscurity of the word (FF spellchecker has flagged it in this textarea, the irony), not a lot of common usage out there, couple that with inbound links...
wet blanket indeed!
that said, ha. Just realized it wasn't that interesting
Jason: yeah, relatively obscurity certainly helps, but I'm still second out of 433,000 results for the term. My point is that I didn't actually do anything in the way of search engine optimization to get there, that's all.
Although I suppose it is telling that Wikipedia is now first (or at least on the first page) for just about everything in part due to Page Rank hoarding...
mas: yep, you got a raised eyebrow. In fact, I think it's stuck there.
quote: Suho1004 said:
My point is that I didn't actually do anything in the way of search engine optimization to get there, that's all.
whether you meant to or not you've done something
Ranking algorithms like your URL, your title, your XML file, 6743 links to your domain, the clout/authoritativeness of aforementioned links (some have major teeth in the online world, congrats), your copious cross linking within your own domain etc etc etc
you may not have gone out of your way to appeal to a robot but you my friend must face facts, your semantic attitude, logic, attention to detail, social skills, all very sexy to robots.
I won't tell your wife but I expect she is suspicious already