Optimization for Wolfram Alpha? Right Now There’s No Need.
If you’ve visited the newly hyped WolframAlpha.com site, you probably noticed that it’s not a search engine. Despite comparisons in the media saying that it could overshadow Google with its capabilities, it only takes a few minutes of searching to see this is not the case. Here’s why:
1. You can’t get to other websites. Google classifies relevant sites on the internet and gives you a list, which can include millions of web pages. Wolfram Alpha is “curated” meaning that its data is controlled internally, and not necessarily based on information from other sites.
2. Right now, the site is somewhat hard to use. For some searches, you get an error. If you look up Google, it suggests financial information on the company.
3. Search results don’t lead to a purchase. Every day, millions of people use Google to find sites that sell products or services. Wolfram Alpha is designed for people who want specific information, which is already free on other sites, but perhaps not as well organized. Scientists and academics will undoubtedly love Wolfram Alpha, but it is more of a threat to Wikipedia than Google. This is because Wikipedia information can be edited by anyone, and Wolfram Alpha is based on its own set of data.
4. The current form of the site is not very user friendly. If you type in “real estate” and search, Wolfram Alpha delivers the message “Wolfram Alpha isn’t sure what to do with your input.” The same message in Google gives you results, with ads that are geared to real estate in your area.
For our customers, Wolfram Alpha is not likely to be a factor in SEO at the present time. This is because we primarily serve people who want to be found for products and services that potential customers already want and know about. If you’re looking for a local plumber, you probably don’t want statistics on the number of plumbers in the US and their median wage history. Furthermore, since Wolfram Alpha is not a search engine, it does not read or list other sites on the internet, so nothing you do to your site is likely to attract its attention.
Wolfram Alpha can give a lot of details on the relationships between two different things, tell you what happened on a particular date, and it can calculate formulas. It has a lot of other interesting capabilities geared toward very smart people. Google, on the other hand, has made its reputation by bringing results to the masses, and presenting a nearly infinite number of choices to those searchers. As a search engine optimization company with customers worldwide, our job is to get you listed near the top of search results relevant to your site.
1. You can’t get to other websites. Google classifies relevant sites on the internet and gives you a list, which can include millions of web pages. Wolfram Alpha is “curated” meaning that its data is controlled internally, and not necessarily based on information from other sites.
2. Right now, the site is somewhat hard to use. For some searches, you get an error. If you look up Google, it suggests financial information on the company.
3. Search results don’t lead to a purchase. Every day, millions of people use Google to find sites that sell products or services. Wolfram Alpha is designed for people who want specific information, which is already free on other sites, but perhaps not as well organized. Scientists and academics will undoubtedly love Wolfram Alpha, but it is more of a threat to Wikipedia than Google. This is because Wikipedia information can be edited by anyone, and Wolfram Alpha is based on its own set of data.
4. The current form of the site is not very user friendly. If you type in “real estate” and search, Wolfram Alpha delivers the message “Wolfram Alpha isn’t sure what to do with your input.” The same message in Google gives you results, with ads that are geared to real estate in your area.
For our customers, Wolfram Alpha is not likely to be a factor in SEO at the present time. This is because we primarily serve people who want to be found for products and services that potential customers already want and know about. If you’re looking for a local plumber, you probably don’t want statistics on the number of plumbers in the US and their median wage history. Furthermore, since Wolfram Alpha is not a search engine, it does not read or list other sites on the internet, so nothing you do to your site is likely to attract its attention.
Wolfram Alpha can give a lot of details on the relationships between two different things, tell you what happened on a particular date, and it can calculate formulas. It has a lot of other interesting capabilities geared toward very smart people. Google, on the other hand, has made its reputation by bringing results to the masses, and presenting a nearly infinite number of choices to those searchers. As a search engine optimization company with customers worldwide, our job is to get you listed near the top of search results relevant to your site.
Labels: search engine, wolfram alpha
posted by Patrick Hare at
9:15 AM
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