Droid: iDon't Understand Search Engine Optimization

The fact is that the people who did this have no idea, sure they can create fancy flash, but they are ignorant of almost everything else about the web.

If he was worth anything, he should have figured out five searches that Verizon would want to rank high on, but don't because they're doing it all wrong. For an expert in the field, that would be simple, right?

All of these subjects are covered in their Flash and they have content for but Google can't index or link you to any of it. So instead of Verizon owning these terms, which they easily could be, you're taken to 3rd party sites on the internet.

Even in their first result of "Droid" their misuse of a meta description (it's way too long) means you get 0 relevant information in the result Google displays.

Search Engine Optmization is closer to standards compliance than it is to snake oil. Most developers are just too lazy to do it. Or they grant it the same amount of thought that was spent on the comment above. As an SEO Account Manager most of my job is cleaning up these messes and client education so they don't get ripped off by SEO shysters or lazy developers.

As for the craptastic Droid Flash site, it doesn't validate and is a nightmare in terms of usability and accessibility. As stated in the article, it won't even work on a Droid phone. It still ranks because just like anything else, you can concentrate resources in certain areas and make up for shortcomings in others. AT&T has abysmal customer service, but they spend enough money in other places, like iPhone exclusivity deals and FCC lobbying, that it doesn't matter. You're seeing something similar, here.

Verizon can give the big finger to standards compliant, accessible web design because they've spent enough money on a traditional marketing and PR campaign that the URL has hundreds of thousands of incoming links with the keyword "droid" in anchor text. That page could be blank and it would still rank for on a "droid" SERP, that doesn't mean there's no such thing as SEO or that it's a "good" website.

The description of Droid from Google:

"Get to know Droid a little better. Droid Does the Network. Droid is exclusive to Verizon Wireless, the most reliable network available."

This tells me Droid is Verizon, but nothing else. Two of three sentences are useless. When I search for iPhone:

"iPhone 3GS is a GSM cell phone that's also an iPod, a video camera, and a mobile Internet device with email and GPS maps."

iPod, video camera, mobile Internet, email, GPS. If I don't know what an iPhone is, I do now. Meanwhile, a personal test I've run suggests the average college student doesn't know what Droid is, and this search doesn't help.

Subdomains for the Droid link:

    {nil}

    Buy iPhone
    Features
    Downloads
    Support
    Apps for iPhone
    A Guided Tour
    How Tos
    Software Update

I think parts of SEO are bullshit same as you, but this article made some great points and it bugs me that you're getting upvoted for saying something that had nothing to do with the article's point.

"Get to know Droid a little better. Droid Does the Network. Droid is exclusive to Verizon Wireless, the most reliable network available."

If you didn't know what the Droid was, what would you think it was, and why would you care?

If you're not a VP of Marketing at Verizon, you're not going to like that copy.

It's getting harder and harder to claim that SEO is snake oil. Companies like Yelp and Mint have been built on SEO -- it's how they can out-market Citysearch and Intuit. Simple and standards-aware design and factual copy get you 90% of the way there; that last 10% is the difference between a solid site and a $170M buyout.