This just fell into my inbox:
For those of you who are able, please join me for an art opening at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 2 from 7-10pm.
Exhibition Project Room “Homestead”
Soap Factory
520 2nd St. SE
612-623-9176
Paintings open up the artist’s Minneapolis family-built home like a dollhouse detailing playful family lore in the form of romanticized objects and candid snapshots. Lovingly dedicated to Evelyn Schiele.
Painting detail: “Prospect Park” mixed media on canvas, 2006
Artist PJ Brunet writes Knowing Art from Austin, Texas. He graduated from the University of Florida with a
BFA in Drawing. Email: pj at knowingart.com
Many people come to KnowingArt.com by way of a question. How to tell if… How do I… If the search engine can’t find you an (exact query match) answer, then the search engine will take a guess at where you might find your answer. Because a search engine can’t think for itself, you might be surprised by its recommendation.
Maybe there’s an answer to your question, but your question has never been asked before. Or maybe your question has been asked, but no webmaster has had the foresight to present your answer along with a corresponding question. Maybe the same question was asked and answered before, but using different words. The words used actually mean nothing to the search engine. The search engine is mostly just matching the words in the query with words in the web pages in its index.
If you provide content online in some form, realize that question words are important. I have a hunch that the search engines appreciate content rich with questions. Who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, why’s, etc. If people are asking questions that relate to your products/services, you will want to ask these questions on your website too. What if your competitor has the right questions or the right question words–and you don’t? You lose. You need query language (that relates to your topic) in your page somewhere. Otherwise, you’ll never reach the people that do the queries you’re interested in. Start thinking in questions and use questions in your website. Then check your server stats and study the queries as they come in. Was I right? Do you have more queries in question form now?
People are looking for answers. It’s up to you to answer them. With questions. Consider variations: Who is, Who’s, Whose. You might also ask yourself: Will simple language work better? You bet. Young people especially talk to search engines with an informal voice. If you’re asking for an informal answer, wouldn’t you ask an informal question? Likewise, serious topics get more serious queries.
People talk to their TV. People talk to their computer too. As if it’s smart enough to talk back! Ask.com realized this fact and built an entire business out of it. Artificial Intelligence or “AI” has probably made some progress in the last 20 years, but most sane people gave up on the idea that computers will think for themselves someday. But, even if computers can’t consciously answer questions, people will continue to ask them questions anyway.
So when you’re ready to improve your topic’s findability in the search engines, you’ll think of questions as the answer, or rather, questions as answers! I hope that answered your question.
Artist PJ Brunet writes Knowing Art from Austin, Texas. He graduated from the University of Florida with a
BFA in Drawing. Email: pj at knowingart.com
