From time to time Gogle looks not so much like a search engine – a lifeless tool meant to process users’ queries, – but more like a Terpsichore whose movements make people hold their breath and watch her with awe. Actually, Google has performed its enchanting/inconceivable/troublesome (odd ones out) dance since 2000, but each time it’s something matchless and unpredictable, regarding both the date of upgrade and the results.

Such intriguing issues as technical background, Matt Cutts’ explanations, notorious updates like Jagger and PageRank jumping have been already studied inside out on the Web, so, let’s keep aside mere words and concentrate on another topic: each user knows that dancing is Google’s nature, but has anybody ever wondered what dance does it perform exactly?

Looking through the related forums I classified people’s opinions according to the list of dance style categories.

So, this time Mr G., the honored artist of the World Wide Web scene may be dancing:

• seductive tango. Many webmasters are quite amazed with the results of January update, as after the Google Dance their PageRank got a noble deep-green color, and their ranking looks more tempting:

“One of my blogs had been PR2 for the past 3 years – now it’s up to 5! I feel good, ta-da-dam…”

• well-ordered minuet. Strange enough, but despite all Google’s delays (e.g. in October 2007, as well as October 2005, when PageRank hadn’t been updated for six months or so), some website owners still believe in the systematic character of Google’s movements:

“Google is updating regularly – up and down. From inside sources I’ve learned that the next changes would be made April 14th 2008.” Oops.. Seems like they were wrong?..

• chaotic rave. Meanwhile, lots of users don’t see any order in what Google makes on the scene, considering its behavior as strange and intended to mess the minds of webmasters:

“Hey folks, something truly weird is happening with Google. Yesterday my PR went from 0 to 2 – I did expect it because of my links – but several hours later I checked it and saw PR0 again… Anybody knows what’s the hell goin’ on?”

• rapid and breathtaking jig. All spectators are shocked with the crazy rhythm Google has chosen for its performance. Actually, most people don’t like the “mezzo allegro” tempo, giving the preference to “moderato” and “dolce”:

“The current update has come too soon, but you never know what to expect from Google.”

• meaningless chicken dance. While some webmasters are getting mad about the color of their PR bar, others reject the very idea of its importance, treating the update philosophically:

“Really people, PageRank doesn’t matter in SEO, so don’t be worried about it. Just focus on your SEO.”

• other versions. Do you know other dances Google is good at?

Image by Petra

The one who cuts often
is a barber, a butcher, –
or a great writer.

Haiku

Have you ever wondered why most people would prefer a story to a multi-volumed novel? Why O’Henri is easier to read than Charles Dickens? And why on earth your brilliant content didn’t bomb as you’d expected it to?

You may think people on the Web ignore long posts because they are focused on making money rather than on reading. It’s a double error. First some topics require truly detailed descriptions. Secondly readers hate wasting their time not so much on long pages, but on boring ones.

The thing about brevity is that you keep only the most significant words, cutting out everything occasional and far-fetched. As a result, your copy becomes fast-paced, and your idea – quite clear. But that doesn’t mean you should simply cut every second word/sentence. As the above haiku says, a writer must know where and what to cut exactly. By the way, practicing this ancient Japanese style can be very useful, as it teaches to organize thinking.

All in all, if you’ve just realized your writing isn’t as excellent as it had seemed before, try these 4 steps to short writing.

1. “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.”

Blaise Pascal

First of all keep aside the idea that writing short phrases is easy. Just try – and you’ll see: it’s a drudgery (at least when you start).

Think through your topic and jot down a few sentences or word combinations that express your idea the best. Unless you write a press release or a newsletter, you don’t have to answer the notorious “5 W’s and How”, but make sure you gave the reader all the necessary details.

2. “It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”

Robert Southey

Now it’s time to cut. Replace, when it is possible, lengthy expressions with simple ones and compound words with monosyllabic ones. Write short. But pithy. Don’t get upset if you can’t find the exact words at once – it will come with experience (provided you work hard, trying on dozens of words, and not just waiting for your inborn talent to show).

3. “The only problem
with Haiku is that you just
get started and then”

Roger McGough

… and then you find out that half a page is already written and you haven’t come to the point yet. Work on the overall text structure. Such parts of narrative as introduction, body and conclusion weren’t invented by cruel school teachers to make people’s life hell. Make sure your copy is well-structured and logical. Once again – cut all unnecessary words or even paragraphs. Don’t feel sorry for them – they only put a spoke in the wheel of your creativity.

4. “The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.”

Author Unknown

Do practice. Once you’ve caught the basics of short and pithy writing, try your strength. You can perfect your skills by describing your thoughts and emotions in one-sentence stories, six-word sentences and haiku – a classic Japanese verse which includes only 17 syllables. Polish your style and become a brilliant writer.

They say, brevity is the soul of wit. And I’d add that wit is the heart of author’s income. Isn’t it good motivation for improving your writing style?

A brilliant person is brilliant in anything. Take Einstein for example. There are many outstanding scientists who remain completely unknown for the masses, because their field of study is very particular, and 90% of people will never be educated enough to catch at least the basics.

When it comes to Albert Einstein, it’s quite another matter. The genius’ wonderful ability to clarify most complicated concepts in plain humorous English gained Einstein the reputation of a wise, self-ironic and pleasant person, contributing much to the popularization of his ideas. Though not related directly to copywriting, Einstein’s maxims are universal and can be applied to the art of content creation as well. Bet he’d make a great blogger Just try on his 5 selected ideas, and become a five times more successful writer.

1. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

There are tons of articles accenting the importance of simplicity, but some authors still believe the longer and heavier sentences they write, the more competent they sound. If you agree with this, there’s an excellent bullshit generating tool online to help you appear a real expert. Anyway, be ready to face it: this kind of stuff is often hard to read and unlikely to be published (unless you do it yourself). Try and express your ideas in a simpler way so that even newbies can catch your point. Don’t put a spoke in your readers’ wheel, – choose simple words and syntax.

2. You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.

Actually that’s my favorite citation. No one could put it so clear and briefly as Einstein did. The rule of thumb is: the more complicated the object is the easier your explanation should be. Do remember your target audience and how much it is familiar with the object. A typical example is a story in which a little boy came to his dad and asked how to write the figure “8”. “That’s quite simple, my boy. It’s the same with ∞ turned to 1/2 π” So, be as clear as you can while talking about your ideas, especially if they are innovative, or if your audience doesn’t have an appropriate background.

3. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

Of course, if a person knows letters and can write, he/she is able to read as well, however, some authors neglect reading, justifying themselves with something like “I‘m not a reader, I’m a writer.” The fact is that if you aren’t interested in anything, thinking your genius is all-sufficient already, you’ll be surprised how soon that magic spring of your creativity will dry. Develop your curiosity, be thirsty for knowledge and always slake this thirst. Visit the sites of your niche, read blogs and participate in forums’ discussions. If you have a website, it’s a must to know the best sources in the niche, keeping up to date. Moreover, there are a great deal of truly good writers on the Web, and you can get inspiration from their brilliance and professionalism.

4. A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.

Try to look at your writing from outside. Imagine you are a severe editor who never puts up with mediocrity and dilettantism in writing, let alone illiteracy or inclination to tautology. Do you like your own work? Or maybe there is still something to be changed? However you can’t rely only on yourself, especially if you are a beginner. If you know someone who can edit your work, or at least review it, don’t hesitate. Other people, provided they are well-educated and familiar with the topic, can be very helpful while editing.

5. The only real valuable thing is intuition.

If you follow these Albert Einstein’s techniques properly, there will come the day when you needn’t spend hours on cutting and editing, you will find the right words, syntax or topic by intuition. There is only one way to develop you intuition as a writer: you should improve your skills constantly, writing at least several sentences every day and reading the articles of pros. Remember that intuition is grounded on experience. So, take your time to gain it.

Meanwhile, whatever comes, don’t forget about another Einstein’s maxim:

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

With the development of search engines one shouldn’t be an Eton graduate to find the necessary data on the Web. However, like anything in the world, search can and undoubtedly has to be optimized. After all, Google develops constantly and expects users to take advantage of its advanced options, not to shelve them as if it were something quite useless. Using some of Google’s search techniques, a sophisticated surfer can spend considerably less time on search than a newbie, who simply tapes the keyword and has to comb out multiple web pages before she comes over the needed info.

So, paraphrasing a famous tongue-twister, how many search results would a searcher search out, if a searcher could search searchingly? You can check it by yourself applying the following simple search optimizing tactics.

1.To improve the results Google automatically excludes common words, like “what” or “instead”. If these words do matter for your search, you should enclose them in quotation marks or put “+”.

Example: [“how to increase traffic”] [traffic +increase]

You can also use both of them to specify what kind of information you need exactly.

Example: [“increase traffic” +tips from pros]

2. To narrow the search you may want to eliminate some irrelevant results from the SERPs. Supposing you want to know more about cancer treatment, but drop only on horoscope descriptions in a very frustrating way. Optimize your search with the help of the “-” sign.

Example: [cancer -zodiac]

Note: When you add “+” or “-” signs, make sure they are preceded by a space.

3. You can also resort to the “OR” search to get alternative results. The only thing is not to forget to write it in uppercase, otherwise Google treats it like a meaningless keyword.

Example: [hotels Bern OR Geneva]

4. According to Googlers, one of their best developments – the “tilde” search – is undeservedly ignored by most Web surfers. However, this operator can be quite useful while searching synonyms and alternatives rather than exact terms. Thus, looking for a cheap car, you will be directed not only to the websites containing this keyword, but also to those which also sell cars at low costs but use different keywords, for instance, “affordable cars” or “used cars”.

Example: [~cheap cars]

5.Another helpful Google search operator is the “*” search. Did you like the tasks like “fill in the blanks” at school? Today Google can do them for you. Most people use the asterisk instead of another Google’s option – Q&A. Thus, you can find what you need by entering the beginning of the sentence, followed by “*”.

Example: [radium was discovered by *]

This option can be used as well to keep the search within the standard 10 word limit in case you are looking for a long sentence.

Example: supposing you need a strophe from “La Marseillaise”: “Arise, children of the fatherland/The day of glory has arrived!/Against us, tyranny’s/Bloody banner is raised.”
To find this very sentence you can type [“Arise, children ***/***** arrived!/Against us, */Bloody ***”], and Google will give it in full.

Note: Don’t forget about the quotations marks.

6. If you want all keywords to figure in the title, start your query with [allintitle:]. In case you type [intitle:], the document will contain the first keyword in its title, and the rest will be mentioned anywhere in the text.

Example: [allintitle: ancient Roman poetry] [intitle: poetry of ancient Rome]

The same thing is with URLs. Entering [allinurl:] or [inurl:] you can find the domains which contain the searched keyword.

7. Some people on the Web enjoy using rather complicated words, like “prestidigitator” or “syncretism”, while the rest of the community are at a loss about their meaning and feel like being defective not to know such “common” expressions. The solution is to use Google’s glossary. Just tape [define:] and the search engine will provide you not only with the definition but also with useful links to the sites related to your keyword.

Example: [define:tiara]

The next time you enter the Google search page, recollect these useful tips to save your time for more important things.