The Semantic Blenders: Not Consumable by Most
June 7, 2015
i read “Schema Markup and Microformatting Is Only the First Step in your Semantic Search Strategy.”
Okay, schema markup and microformatting. These are, according to the headline, one thing.
I am probably off base here in Harrod’s Creek, but I thought:
- Schema markup. Google’s explanation is designed to help out the GOOG, not the user. The methods of Guha and Halevy have proven difficult to implement. The result is a Googley move: Have the developers insert data into Web pages. Easy. Big benefit for Google too.
- Microformatting. A decade old effort to add additional information to a Web page. You can find examples galore at http://microformats.org/.
I am not very good at math, but it sure seems to me that these are two different processes.
But the burr under my blanket is that one cannot apply anything unless there is something written or displayed on a Web page. Therefore, these two additions to a Web page’s code cannot be the first thing. Tagging can occur after something has been written or at the same time when the writing is done with a smart input system.
The notion that these rather squishy logical mistakes occur in the headline did not rev my engine when I worked through the 1,800 words in the article. The assumption in the write up is that a reader wants to create an ecommerce site which garners a top Google result. The idea is that one types in a key word like “cyberosint” and the first hit in the result list points to the ecommerce page.
The hitch in the git along is that more queries are arriving from mobile devices. The consequence of this is that the mobile system will be filtering content and displaying information which the system calculates as important to the user.
I don’t want to rain on the semanticists’ parade, nor do I want to point out that search engine optimization is pretty much an undrinkable concoction of buzz words, jargon, and desperation.
Here’s one of the passage in the write up that I marked and inked a blue exclamation point in the margin of my print out:
Within Search Engine Optimization, many businesses focus on keywords, phrases, and search density as a way of sending clues to search engines that they should be known for those things. But let’s look at it from the human side: how can we make sure that our End User makes those associations? How can we build that Brand Association and Topical Relevance to a human being? By focusing our content strategy and providing quality content curation.
Well, SEO folks, I am not too keen on brand associations and I am not sure I want to be relevant to another human being. Whether I agree or not, the fix is not to perform these functions:
- Bridges of association
- Social listening
- Quality reputation (a method used I might add on the Dark Web)
This smoothie is a mess.
There are steps a person with a Web page can take to communicate with spiders and human readers. I am not sure the effort, cost, and additional page fluff are going to work.
Perhaps the semanticists should produce something other than froth? To help Google, write and present information which is clear, concise, and consistent just like in junior high school English class.
Stephen E Arnold, June 7, 2015
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