Search Engine Marketing - Be a good Librarian
It amuses me how the web reflects real world situations and practices that have become enhanced through digitalisation. When you compare your City Library with the information that the online world offers, there are similarities. The Library stores nearly everything within separate containers of media (books, Cds, Newspapers, ect.), it has a strong database so that the resources are categorised and easily found. The Library Database could be compared to a Search Engines Database of websites, with an added level of detail because individual pages can be found.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can be perceived as reversing the process of the Search Engines categorisation. Understanding what people are searching for and providing them with the best resource possible to gain Search Engine visibility. It’s almost like what a Librarian would do if helping a customer, listen to their needs, clarify any misunderstandings or ambiguous terms, then try to find the best book or resource possible.
Often people struggle with describing what they want or they do not know the common related terms. Through any form of marketing you should always keep this in mind. People may not describe exactly what they are looking for; they will use terms and phrases that are familiar to them. Remembering this will help with all your marketing efforts and it particularly helps with your websites marketing. I expect a common technique when working in a library is to ensure that you clarify exactly what the customer wants before trying to provide a resource.
Another area is when your customer does not understand your specific terms and phrases. This occurs when people get used to their internal jargon and common abbreviations, then when talking to their customers they forget to explain things clearly. As an example, I have looked at the Southampton Library website and seen that they have updated their web catalogue. There is no link to where this is or how to access it and any explanation to exactly what is a ‘Web Catalogue’. An effort has been made but unclear communication is not valuable. So although Librarians maybe good at helping you find the resource you need, but they may also forget to explain their own common terms to you.
Sometimes people feel clever because they use jargon, when all they are doing is confusing a large percentage of the people they talk to. When working with my Online Marketing clients I try to clear up confusion. Internal Jargon and abbreviations may save time, but should never be used externally or on online without explanation.
Have a think next time you are searching or planning to publish online. How would a librarian approach this? It may help you find what you are looking for, or place your content where people will look for it.
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