How Discovery Is Different Than Search

Ken's Blog

Matt Cutts, while discussing the new Google Blogsearch...

http://blogsearch.google.com/

... brought up a really interesting point.

Discovery is different than search.

With Stumbleupon and other Social Media, including BlogSearch (which folks will RSS-subscribe to, to get political feeds or whatever), it's more about discovery. You "stumble" onto interesting new sites.

But when folks search, the vast majority won't use BlogSearch (only the small percentage of super-savvy and techs, but we have to remember the mass market). They'll use Google. If they are searching for news-type articles - or I should say if that's what Google thinks they are searching for - they'll include a couple of news sources in the Top 10 of their "Universal Search" results, just as they would include some images or videos if they thought those were relevant.

But when surfers use Stumbleupon or Delicious or subscribe to Yahoo! Buzz...

They discover new sites.

Naturally, you've got the 80-20 covered with Socialize It!. But I just thought I'd pass along an interesting point that kind of crystallized the difference for me.

Search vs. discover.

Either way, as I said, we're covered.

The goal of Socialize It! is to help other people share your content. By making each page easy to stumble or share with other social sites, the effect is multiplied greatly. And honestly.

And you, of course, are even more motivated to create superb content. Because the better your material, the more value it delivers with originality and zest...

The more likely it is for your visitors to want to share it with others.

And then you just let the viral spreading and new discoveries happen, without tricks or spam. The bees will carry the pollen of your superb content far and wide.

And while Socialize It! will bring more direct traffic than inbound links will, remember the overall long-term gain...

Your off-page Search Engine criteria improve.

An improved Site Reputation will, slowly but surely, push many of your site's pages up in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), not just for your targeted Specific Keywords but for Long Tail keywords, too.

All the best,