Google History: Distorts Search Results (Warning for SEO experts)

A growing sector in web development nowadays is the SEO “expert”. 

With the blossoming effects of social networks and rapidly developing online presences, many people consider themselves SEO experts because they can gain visibility for your site.

One could argue, that’s exactly what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is, making sure your site gets visibility. 

I’m going to stay neutral on that subject, but say that SEO should generate organic traffic to your site through cooperation with modern search technologies.  Proper SEO shouldn’t be a Boom and Bust scenario, but a constantly growing user base.

With all of these new SEO experts comes a group of individuals who are NOT skilled in all the fundamentals on the internet.

Google History
One warning I wanted to throw out there, is Google distorts search results for users based on sites they have clicked on previously.  Take a look at Google History, and you’ll see what I mean.

Google History takes your previous browsing behavior and organizes it.  That information is used to tailor your search results, and I’m sure for Google to customize their search engine performance overall.

When doing SEO you frequently search for a few search terms every day, and may click on the results you like. 

SEO experts should know that the results they see may differ wildly from the rest of the world. 

All SEO experts should use “neutral” browsers without Google Toolbar installed such as Firefox or Safari (yes, it’s available on the PC too — and it works pretty well) to test the search placements of their clients. 

Additionally, if you have hired an SEO expert, be sure to cross reference their results with searches on indepedent computers.  Your SEO expert may say your site is now “top 5″ when it is in fact only in the top 20.  This is because their computer is biased based on that user’s history.

Tags: Firefox, Google, Google History, Google Toolbar, History, Safari, SEO