Much is being said about Findability strategies for brands and websites. But what does it really mean to be findable? Findability could be defined, in its essence, by one straightforward phrase: The best way to find a user is to be found by him. In theory this can sound simple, but not in practice.

Morville (2005) point out that “Findability precedes usability. You can’t use what you can’t find”. Many marketers desire to have the ideal web design solution for their company, accompanied by an appropriate information architecture and usability structure. Of course this is important to be considered when having an online presence, but along with that, strategies to increase the users capability to find the websites they seek as well as being able to find relevant content within the pages must be put in practice.
There is a big difference between a customer’s behaviors when impacted by online media vs. mass media. For instance, when you are watching the television and a commercial break is on, the message that you receive turns to be totally invasive. In the web, things work in a different (although not opposite) way.

As much as a banner or pop-up ads can be invasive, the user usually accesses the url of the brand he/she is willing to see: they open a favorite browser and type the brand url or search for the brand name in a query box. That’s were we meet the concept of findability.

This strategy is connected with the keywords that are used to find the website, and they can present an excellent performance in search engines, as long as you know how to use them. The ideal scenario for a brand is to be among the top results in the search engines’ ranking. But you shouldn’t count on only this strategy for achieving results. There are other tools – such as web advertisements – that can be used to impact the consumer in several web locations. That’s why the digital strategic planner needs to think about the whole picture, in the whole digital project, and not only in website itself.

Findability strategy can be designed using frequent SEM tactics, Public Relations practices and keywords usage. Analyze the most researched keywords and find out which of those best suites with your website and brand. Simple keywords like Kitchen and Books – commonly researched words – can only increase traffic in the website. Findability concept is about increasing qualified traffic, to find people who are really interested in the brands, products or services that a company is offering. In this strategy – and in the whole digital project – it is always good to keep in mind that it is better to have 10.000 accesses with 5.000 conversions than having 100.000 accesses with 500 conversions.

Surely the more people access the website, the higher are the chances to increase conversions. But it is good to keep in mind that it won’t make a big difference to bring someone to Canon’s website if he is looking for an iPhone. He MIGHT want to change his digital camera, but in that moment he just wants a new mobile Phone.

Working with Sponsored Links is also a good tactic for Findability. Be somehow present in big web portals, such as MSN and Yahoo!, or in niche-sites related to your brand content; participating on social media groups and discussions and knowing how to have blogs talking about your brand spontaneously.

Summarizing, the findability strategy means to be present on the web. The more qualified persons/websites you can find that are talking about your brand, the better you will be on search engines page ranks. Remember: It’s not because your brand reached the top that your job is completed. When it comes to keywords and positioning in the web, you have much more competitors than you think, hence daily work is required.

Tags: findability, online strategies, SEM tactics, usability, UX, web design company

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 12:53 am and is filed under Internet Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.