A good example about how websites work with Google Search Results.

Have you seen this handsome fellow on twitter. He is NOT "Patrick Stewart with Hair." However he comes up as a search result option.

Why?

It’s really very, very simple.

How Websites Work in 5 Steps with Google Search (and that Hot Guy on Twitter)

Someone - more then once - searched for Patrick Stewart, specifically “without hair.” The google search brought back a ridiculously hot fellow’s photo - and history was made.

The problem.

It was NOT the actor “Patrick Stewart without hair.”

So what happened?

Okay... quick sidebar about this mix up in images.

Our intention as website developers is to help clients find your website. We are programming the webpages to help people find your business. One way we do this is with keywords.

One thing outside of our control is you - the person searching! This Hot Guy Photo is a great example of how users - searchers - are helping move Google along to find Great Content we want. Even when it’s wrong!

((Below we jump into the 4 reasons that this photo appeared in the search results and how some crazy #fakenews starts. It’s just how google works.

If you want to know more about some of the terminology we use - we linked to our original article on online marketing common terms and definitions (for dummies).))

Here we go - an Example of How Google Search Works in 5 Steps

1. Someone Googled for a photo of celebrity actor: “Patrick Stewart with hair.”

At the time of this posting here is what the google search results looked like*:

And the google search results images looked like this. Go ahead and google it, you will see similar results.

2. Did you see it already?

THE Image that was clicked on most? (Super important) is the image is highly shareable (just look at that adorable face). Users click the handsome fellow and stay on the website to read about if this is indeed Patrick Stewart without hair.

This is the Patrick Stewart image that went viral. Not surprisingly! He’s HOT. But he is NOT Patrick Stewart with Hair.

It’s sometimes how websites work, or don’t, with google search.

3. (Some people even share the photo without reading the website - SHOCKING).

In the comments on the original website reddit linked to an imgur.com image. That was it - people went crazy.

Read some of the comments they shared on social, and comment on the image “looks like Patrick Stewart with hair”

4. Needless to say the image goes viral.

Lots of social shares AND more views and comments on the original website.

The website bounce rate is probably low, meaning people stay on the page and don’t quickly click away back to the search results. Staying on the webpage tells google, this image IS RELEVANT to the search. and. . . because Hello! (handsome fellow in the image.)

5. Google loves semantics >

Google wants to know what the website is about - even if the website content is not exactly about Patrick Stewart! The content was RELATED to Patrick Stewart and very popular (low bounce rate).

So what happened?

All those clicks result in google algorithm calculating that this photo is now tagged in google as “looks like Patrick Stewart with Hair.” (Which BTW this is actually actor Andy Whitfield from Spartacus.)

Semantics! This is not fake news.

The semantic mix up of average users commenting on the fact that this guy LOOKS LIKE the intended search is what caused the mix up. It's google creating fake news because it's not human, and can't filter humor - or admiration of Andy Whitfield.

Google related the comments and the popularity of this search results as the ACTUAL Patrick Stewart with Hair (it’s not).

The Googles algorithm that search results run on can cause a mix up.

Creating a relationship to an image or idea is what google looks for on your website - and semantic connections is way beyond keyword research.

We include semantic searches in all our content writing because it works (just like this example, not our work tho). Instead we link all the ways your potential customers search, and not just simple keyword searches.

Yeah it's a little bit how #fakenews works too. . .

See the original twitter search results on Patrick Stewart without hair photo here.

And a little bit more here as twitter kept loving this idea.

DISCLOSURES:

*For the google search results link, it might not look like the screen shot because the search results may have changed based on the activity of searches and clicks over time.

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