***This slidedeck accompanies my guest post on the Distilled SEO Blog: http://www.distilled.net/blog/seo/weird-google-result-case-study-fave/ Go there for full info!!

1. CASE STUDY
The Mystery of a Simple Google Query
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 1

2. <english accent>
Hey Dan! The other day I accidently
typed “fave” instead of “facebook”
and got this weird result. You should
write a post about it!.
</english accent>
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 2

3. OK
[SUCKER]
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 3

4. The Results.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 4

5. Wait. What!?
Did [fave] just return some weird
facebook page?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 5

6. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 6

7. Yup…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 7

8. Let’s Dive In!!!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 8

9. First - Think in questions:
Why Does What Should What Could
This Rank? Rank Instead? Rank?
How Can I What’s Search
Is This Unique
learn from Volume for
To Facebook?
this? “fave”?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 9

10. ORGANIZE INTO THREE PARTS
1. Is this worth researching?
2. WHY do things rank like that for “fave”?
3. What can we learn from this?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 10

11. Part 1 - Does It
Matter?
•Volume
•Intent
•Competition
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 11

12. Search Volume for [fave]
12,100 EXACT MATCH
United States Searches per Month!!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 12

13. Why do I say United States?!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 13

14. THIS.
Fave means Beans in Italian.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 14

15. Nothing else substantial for “fave”
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 15

16. Intent.
What are all the reasons someone
would search for [fave]?
• Is it a REAL word?
• Is it a brand name?
• Is it a word in another language?
• Is it a misspelling?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 16

17. Misspellings happen for three reasons.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 17

18. Common Misspelling culprit #1
• Thought it was correct (stupidity)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 18

19. Common Misspelling culprit #2
• Know its incorrect but just lets spell correct get it (lazy)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 19

20. Common Misspelling culprit #3
• Finger slipped (user error)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 20

21. Proving Misspellings
More mobile searches for “fave”
=
fingers slipping.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 21

22. Yup.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 22

23. [Aside] You may have noticed I found
some other weird search terms…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 23

24. faceno
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 24

25. daxevooj
(all consonants one letter to left)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 25

26. Yiut
(instead of youtube)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 26

27. Ok… back to work… 
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 27

28. Google Suggest - spell corrects “fave”
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 28

29. Google suggests [facebook] from
[fave] even in Italian
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 29

30. More Proving Spelling Errors:
[Fave] vs. [Facebook] Historic
SearchVolume
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 30

31. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 31

32. I’m confident there’s no other
compelling reasons people would
search for [fave].
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 32

33. Part 1 - Does It
Matter?
Volume
Intent
Is there Competition?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 33

34. 2,770,000
pages
indexed
from
facebook
with the
word “fave”
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 34

35. 42,000
pages
with
“fave”
in title
and
URL!!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 35

36. “Competition” seems pretty high…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 36

37. High Search Volume
+
SingularIntent
+
High Competition
Justifies Part TWO…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 37

38. Part 2 - WHY Do
Things Rank The Way
They Do?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 38

39. SEOmoz SERP Analysis Tool
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-best-kept-secret-in-the-seomoz-
toolset
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 39

40. The Anomaly.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 40

41. Look Deeper.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 41

42. -->Export to CSV
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 42

43. Remove identical metrics…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 43

44. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 44

45. Could four Google plus shares make it
rank highest??
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 45

46. Let’s find out.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 46

47. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 47

48. I asked for plus 1’s of the page which
was ranked 2nd
All I needed was 5
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 48

49. Got 7, Nice.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 49

50. And… 36+ hours later?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 50

51. No change.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 51

52. Arrrrggg…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 52

53. DON’T.
GIVE.
UP.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 53

54. Something is causing it to rank higher.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 54

55. We can all learn a lesson from this guy.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 55

56. Keep. Looking.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 56

57. “facr” is behaving.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 57

58. Facebook
does not
rank the
same page
for “fave”.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 58

59. Still
nothing
for “fave
the
band”.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 59

60. Still nothing!!!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 60

61. Finally!!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 61

62. Nothing special about the page its self.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 62

63. So, let’s recap.
The Fave page doesn’t rank
well within Facebook.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 63

64. It doesn’t have an exceptional amount
of activity (likes, discussion, content)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 64

65. I feel ya.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 65

66. Even BING is ranking this page!!!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 66

67. Then, I remembered something…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 67

68. The 2nd result is a Canadian Magazine.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 68

69. Does Google.com favor US pages?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 69

70. Does Google.ca rank things
differently?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 70

71. Nope.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 71

72. Same results in Google.ca
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 72

73. But…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 73

74. For some reason my SEOquake SERP
overlay started working…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 74

75. Look closely…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 75

76. ONE LINK
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 76

77. I click the #1… and…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 77

78. SEMrush Link Data
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 78

79. ONE link from nj.com domain.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 79

80. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 80

81. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 81

82. Page is indexed
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 82

83. Link is followed
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 83

84. That ONE link is enough to push it to #1
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 84

85. @dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 85

86. Thus:
•Slightly better on page optimization – URL and Title Tag
•Being on the Facebook domain
•Having at least one external link
•Being a band (closest thing to an “entity” for “fave”)
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 86

87. #1 Ranking
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 87

88. Part 3 – What can we
LEARN from this?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 88

89. 1. Set Up Clean URLs on your facebook page
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 89

90. Its called a “username” in facebook
Log in to business page and go to “edit info”
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 90

91. Remember:
Update existing Facebook link URLs
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 91

92. 2. Obtain links to your facebook profile page.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 92

93. Do you want this? #FAIL
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 93

94. Or this? #WIN
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 94

95. Is Zappos just lucky?
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 95

96. Nope.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 96

97. Linking Domains to Facebook Page
facebook.com/zappos - 213
facebook.com/endless - 4
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 97

98. 3. Obtain links to other social profiles
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 98

99. 4. Be Relentlessly Persistent
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 99

100. I have yet to find an unsolvable
ranking/indexation anomaly.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 100

101. Keep a wide variety of SEO tools
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 101

102. Don’t be paranoid.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 102

103. Check your data.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 103

104. I don’t even usually USE that
SEOquake SERP overlay (but should!).
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 104

105. Didn’t even know SEMrush
had link data.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 105

106. 5. When it really counts, don’t depend
on just one source of link data.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 106

107. Use this search if you have to…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 107

108. Sometimes it takes only ONE LINK
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 108

109. Contact Us Me
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 109

110. @HOUSEonFOX
Saving Lives
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 110

111. @dan_shure
Saving Websites
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 111

112. Wait Don’t Go!
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 112

113. Actually, this is more fitting…
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 113

114. A BONUS TIP
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 114

115. With this kind of search volume
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 115

116. Start a business with the word “Fave”
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 116

117. You could be rich like this guy.
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 117

118. @dan_shure
@dan_shure // evolvingseo.com 118