If you read last week’s blog you know Honey Candles® is celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. We’re pretty stoked about that. I’m telling you that we have been around since 1994 because we think that’s quite a while. We’ve been around so long we have gone through a few websites and published several catalogs. We have also invested significant time and effort in research and product testing. We’ve had three different marketing people that have dug deep and gotten information on soy wax, palm wax, paraffin and a substantial amount on beeswax. We published that information on our website and in our catalogs. I’m not sure why but a number of beeswax websites are starting to sound like ours. Is it because there are only so many ways you can tell people about beeswax and it’s all been said? Or is easier to just not be original and use other people’s hard work? We're not sure but I do know a few years back an individual ordered our candles, had a good look at them (and our website) and started their own company. We found out about it after the fact and there’s nothing we can do about it – but it is discouraging. Or maybe I should go with the old adage – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
It’s especially frustrating now that Google gets involved. They are pouring through our writing looking for plagiarism. How does Google decide who snitched what? Does the rightful originator get to have the high edge ranking while the other website gets bumped? I kind of don’t think so. I think we all get tarred with the same brush. If you are reading this and understand things differently please set me straight. Comment on the bottom of this blog.
These are unusual times. I remember writing in school and loving it. I think it’s amazing that at this point in my working life (I’ll be honest here retirement is not miles and miles away) that I get to write and write about things I love (and I have come to love beeswax candles).
Back to the unusual times. Writing when I was in school was nothing like it is now. I don’t think Mr. Hannah, my mentor and English teacher would ever have imagined how it would be writing for a website. When I write you a blog, besides content, I have to keep SEO in mind - Search Engine Optimization. I have to keep Google (or Bing etc.) happy. My keywords determine whether or not you find what I write on Google. So it doesn’t matter that we have the best handmade beeswax candles made in Canada – it’s about did I use the keyword (or combinations of keywords) in my text that you used to find beeswax candles. That determines whether you actually find the best or not – it’s whether I used the right keyword or I asked the question that you might have asked. The question part comes with the latest change at Google and what they think matters. I am starting to feel important now – because if I don’t give a darn about the words you might reasonably use, or I don’t consider the question you might ask, you are going to miss a chance to get the best beeswax candles. Google changes the criteria as well about once a year it seems. We have been through panda, penguin and now hummingbird. That’s right – that’s what the Google algorithms are called and they are supposed to be spam fighters and your assurance of quality writing. I don’t believe this always directs you to the best content. It’s those keywords and questions again and ‘something’ that is still a mystery for me. If you want to know more about this go ask Google about panda, penguin and hummingbird.
What I want you to know is that things aren’t always as they seem. Somewhere under the surface you could be manipulated. If our keywords don’t mesh with yours we might just miss each other. And that’s a shame. I suggest that you go deeper in your searches on Google. Don’t be lazy. Don’t stop at the first few entries on Google or even the first page. I guess I would just have to recommend that when you are looking for the best beeswax or natural candles just put beeswax Honey Candles into your Google search. Then you know – you got ‘em.
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