Enterprise Search Engine Optimization: eSEO

Last week at the Gilbane Conference in San Francisco, I participated in a panel "Search Survival Guide: Delivering Great Results" moderated by Hadley Reynolds of IDC. In the presentation, I offered a new view on improving enterprise search engine relevancy that I call eSEO.

The term SEO is well understood by - and widely practiced in - the corporate world.  The concept of SEO, as summarized by one of the Gilbane talks, states that "Key to the value of any Web content is the ability for people to find it”. In the SEO world this is done by combining organic results and keyword placement - advertising - to improve placement, maintain ranking, and monitor search engine position - results- over time.

While we've been helping our customers improve their enterprise search results, it's hard to convince them that search results are not a problem they can solve once. I've decided to apply a new term to this process - Enterprise Search Engine Optimization, or eSEO. To paraphrase the role of SEO, eSEO is the process of combining organic results and best bets to deliver correct, relevant, timely content to enterprise search users - employees, customers, partners, investors, and others.

For both organic and best bets, the first step is to identify what we call the "top 100" queries. Start by creating a histogram that shows the top terms from your search engine. I hope you'll agree that if the top queries - whether 100, 50, or even 20 - deliver great results, you're on your way to having happy users. Talk to your content owners as you review the histogram, and ask them to identify the best result for each.

Once you have a list of queries and results, start the two step process: tune the search engine using its native query tuning capabilities. This will impact the shape of the histogram, and over time should start delivering better results. The bad news is tuning like this doesn't position all of your top terms, and it would be silly to try to micro-manage the results for each. That's why search engines have best bets.

When you feel pretty good about the curve through query tuning, it' time to start setting up best bets - the "ad words" of eSEO. Limit the number of bests bets to one or two at most - but remember that you can use other real-estate like the rightmost column of the screen to suggest additional content. Some guidelines for best bets:

• Use one or at most two best bets
• Don't repeat a document already at the top of the organic results
• Make sure your best bets respect security

Once you have tuned your search engine, and set up best bets for the most timely and actionable result, you're ready to roll it out. But then the ongoing part comes in: you need to review your search activity and best bets periodically. Usually, we'd suggest once a month for a while, then perhaps quarterly thereafter. You may find seasonal variations, and if you're not watching you'll miss a golden opportunity.

In Summary

1. eSEO is just as critical as SEO

• Lost time and revenue
• Legal exposure

2. Watch for trends over time: Search is not "fire and forget"

3. Make sure SEO doesn't impact your eSEO

• Use fielded data that web search engines ignore for your tuning (i.e., 'Abstract' rather than 'Description'.

This will get you started; but because your queries and your content changes over time, it's a never-ending story. Some companies - ours included - have tools that can help. But no matter what, hang in there!

s/Miles

Comments

[website optimization services]

Great post! I am looking forward to read your blog.

==Thanks much! A bit quiet as we are joining with a larger company but well still be here!

/s/Miles

[Anonymous Mouse]

I've always used the 80/20 rule to select the most relevant queries; worked fairly well.

Also, I suggest development of a strong framework for query log analysis (Hadoop, Pig, etc.). Too many companies do tuning right the first time, but then forget to continue the process because it is either cumbersome or due to the lack of resources...

In my opinion relevancy should not be overlooked in an enterprise setting and this is one area where big companies should learn from e-commerce world. Review. Optimize. Repeat.
===
Once again AM scores... thanks!
/s/Miles

[Jerold Hawkins]

Excellent blog post! As an Enterprise Search Analyst for Ford Motor Company, it comforts me to see others out there with a grasp on eSEO. More and more Fortune 500 companies are becoming cognizant of the positive outcomes of effective enterprise search engine optimization. Keep up the good work!

Cheers!
==
Thanks for reading our blog and thanks for commenting, Jerold! The feedback tells us what we're doing right!

[search engine optimization firm]

SEO really helps increase business profit. the more advertisement or exposure to the company, the more the company will become popular from their products/services.
==
yep - and we think eSEO will do the same by helping deflect costs, improving productivity, and hopefully decreasing risk. Thanks!

Miles