Pt. II: Attraction

More Sales through Better Search and Engagement

So you read More Sales through Better Search and Engagement Pt. I: Search, you made some tweaks, and you feel like your site is search optimized now. Good work!

Once your site places well in search engine results, the problem isn't placement, it's attraction.

Showing up in the first page or three of search engine results ought to get your site some organic search traffic. But now that all eyes are on you, why aren't you getting that traffic?

Let's take a look at what search engines show to searchers. After searching for "flat panel television repair" this is what Google showed me:

For most searchers, it's the few lines under each result that will earn you clicks or get you skipped over. For most sites, this text comes from the first paragraph of the content on the page. Attraction in search results is about grabbing the attention of readers, and giving enough information for readers to want to read more. It should give enough information that searchers know that your site is the right site for them.

In the Attraction phase, the user will select the results that they think best meet their needs, and if no results look like they're suitable, the user will go back and search with different search terms.

Just like dating, not everyone is looking for the same thing, and what's attractive to one person is not going to be attractive to another. When it comes to online search, the same thing applies. Attraction depends, to some degree, on what searchers are looking for. A searcher looking for information on wild flowers may not be attracted to a site that discusses growing orchids in hot-houses. The trick, if there is one, is to know your audience. Know what they're looking for, and engage with them on their terms.

Simply looking at what your customer-base might search for if they were going to buy your product or service isn't enough. You need to make your pages attractive to users who simply want to be better informed, or who might want to alert their friends to something. For instance, users looking for information about wild flowers might be looking for trails and meadows where wild flowers might be abundant, how to plant a wild flower garden, how to make wild flower arrangements, how to remove wild flowers from your lawn without killing the grass...it's a big list of questions that users might have; and while you can't answer all of them, your site might want to provide links to resources that can answer the questions you don't.

Attraction isn't so much about giving your audience what they want, nor is is about making your audience want what you're giving -- it's about finding the audience that wants what you have, and engaging with them to make that audience grow.

Next: Engagement -- Are you dancing in the spotlight, or a deer in the headlights?