[IxDA Discuss] SEO and Usability

[Adrian Howard]

On 1 Feb 2008, at 03:20, Christine Boese wrote:

> It also may belie user dissatisfaction with the navigation systems  
> of sites
> they really want to use, in spite of getting lost or not finding  
> what they
> may even know is there.
[snip]
> What if the real reason people do it is interface frustration?

True. I had exactly this sort of problem recently where Google found  
a page I couldn't find with the standard site navigation.

However, what I've been seeing is that with some users this behaviour  
becomes generalised. Since there are lots of bad sites out there, and  
searching for things with Google works, it becomes the weapon of  
choice, rather than the last resort.

Like Diarmad I've seen more folk use Google to navigate sites. I find  
it quite interesting since they usually end up completing the task -  
just not always using the site being tested :-)

Just one more nail in the coffin of "web site" as a useful concept.

Cheers,

Adrian