{"id":1850,"date":"2023-04-03T12:05:38","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T18:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canopyadvisory.com\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2024-04-24T14:45:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T20:45:56","slug":"do-we-design-websites-for-people-or-for-google-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopyadvisory.com\/do-we-design-websites-for-people-or-for-google-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Do we design websites for people or for Google in 2023?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you think this is a ridiculous question, you should definitely keep reading. If you think this is a tremendous question, you should definitely keep reading.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in the early days of the internet and search engines, the dynamic was very different. The search engines were trying to gather the requisite information needed to provide humans with the information they were requesting. And YES at one point – there were – Search Engine(s). Not just one 800 LB Gorilla – with over 70% of the search engine market share – that no one quite knows how to manage or compete with.<\/p>\n

Around 2015, the paradigm shifted, to where the search engines, namely Google, began providing tiered information on their own accord. By this point, they had so much data from all of the trillions (yes trillions) of searches since 1998, that they could literally compile a list of whatever said searcher required. Without being concerned with what humans are actually searching for. Google began answering the question before it was asked. This method is tremendously efficient, but also bone-chillingly scary. Let me retype that since social media and such have made fruit flies seem like extremely focused creatures in comparison to us.<\/p>\n

Google began answering the question before it was asked.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What does this mean?<\/p>\n

Well, for website designers and other neighboring services, it\u2019s a pretty big deal. And incidentally, if you were to adopt this principle, it\u2019d be a pretty big deal for you and your business as well.<\/p>\n

(Disclaimer: I don\u2019t like this idea one bit. I only know it to be true.)<\/em><\/p>\n

So let\u2019s boil this down a bit. What am I blathering about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once upon a time, we focused our efforts on designing \u201cyour\u201d website for your direct customers or the end user. What would the client want to see on this page? Who is your target audience? What kinds of images would they like to see? Even what colors would be best for your target audience? While some of this process still lingers like a fading remnant from the past, much of this is somewhat irrelevant today. But we still work on these aspects for a select few direct visitors to your site and for the general aesthetic.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a designer at heart so it STILL makes me feel good to see a well-designed website. BUT, increasingly, it isn\u2019t nearly as important as it once was.<\/p>\n

How is that possible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, Google has a long list of parameters that make up a \u201cgood\u201d website and that\u2019s the list that strong website builders and developers concern themselves with these days. And it mostly consists of CONTENT, CONTENT and more CONTENT. Also, seemingly ridiculous elements like page names, headlines with proper keywords, sitemaps and oh yeah, content.<\/p>\n

The way that Google understands your site is in the content itself. While you may want to call a product or service page one thing, Google wants you to call it whatever a person is searching the most. This type of keyword-intent matching has led to many websites using odd-looking titles that don\u2019t always read \u201chuman\u201d, but they match up with what people are searching in Google.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jeff Romero, Octiv Digital<\/em><\/p>\n

There are a ton more aspects but you get the idea. I don\u2019t have any documented proof of this but my belief is Google would actually like the internet to resemble an online newspaper rather than a vivid, interactive magazine. Google\u2019s parameters continue to reinforce simple design, short pages, small files and FAST load times.<\/p>\n

Google continues to behave more and more like the school that\u2019s trying to cut the art department because they don\u2019t see the value.<\/p>\n

Getting back to the main conversation:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We now focus heavily on that long list of Google parameters rather than the end user. Google will decide WHO sees WHAT and we want Google to appreciate your website so they\u2019ll show it to as many viewers within as many searches as possible.<\/p>\n

The end user sees what Google decides. And, due to some amazing branding, company positioning and a level of product dominance scarcely seen in the annals of human history\u2026 The end user accepts the list that Google provides as the closest thing we have today to – Gospel – for WHATEVER they\u2019re searching for!<\/p>\n

So to review, the order of this process goes something like this:<\/p>\n

Provide professional mockup of strong design for said client – client approves after some back and forth:<\/p>\n