In this video interview SEO pioneer and expert Bruce Clay discusses how behavior-based search affects how you need to optimize your website for maximum traffic. Behavior-based search, says Clay, involves a modification of a search result for a query based upon a prior query. Google assumes that prior searches reflect the intent of your search and will focus search results based on that assumption. So query #1 is used to bias query #2. Queries #1 and #2 are used to bias query #3, etc. The classic example is a search for the word “hammer.” The top 3 results are for an art museum, a vitamin, and a bowling ball. But if you search for “tools, equipment” and then “hammer,” you get different results. Thid puts a burden on my website to use other words besides “hammer.” To get the most out of behavior-based search, when you select keywords to optimize for, include longer-tail keywords, common queries by the community of your target audience. Bruce Clay is the founder of Bruce Clay, Inc., one of the leading search engine optimization firms internationally, celebrating their 15th anniversary in January 2011. They offer training; the Search Engine Optimizations for Dummies book; speaking at conferences; one-day training at SES, SMX, and AdTech; SEO; PPC; analytics; branding; and social media. This interview was taped at the Search Engine Strategies Chicago conference, October 2010.
