It’s important to keep in mind as you’re surfing the Internet that nothing is automatic. Nothing is powered by magic. Coincidences are rare. The smattering of webpages that people view every day, or return to often, or follow links to, particularly the major ones that employ hundreds or thousands of people, are virtually all businesses. Each is highly intentional about increasing traffic, keeping eyeballs on the screen, drawing clicks to one place or another, or some combination of those or a dozen other metrics. The more traffic a website can bring in, the more information it can compile about its users, the more money that company stands to make.
So with all this incentive, what are companies doing to compete for views? How do they “win”? A significant development in this area is the expansion of algorithms, which refer to, in this case, pieces of computer code that make a decision or recommendation based on customer inputs. Algorithms are very complicated “If___, then ___.” machines. An example is the OKCupid “matchmaker” algorithm, which takes personality and lifestyle inputs from individual profiles and outputs matches or suggestions. Another might be the algorithm that makes your Facebook newsfeed appear in an apparently random order; Facebook has figured out what you click on, what you want to see, and what will keep you on their site.
The effect of algorithms is that these interested parties, companies, websites, anyone trying to profit from the Internet, end up controlling the exchange and appearance of information on the Internet. Imagine a political debate broadcast on TV where the network could cut out segments and display whatever it wanted. No one (except those at the debate) would be able to say that the televised version wasn’t accurate. In the same way, our experiences online can be inaccurate, with all kinds of algorithms affecting what we actually see. As a business owner, you have to navigate the widespread effects of algorithms online to reach your customers. Here are two takeaways for business owners:
- Consider that many people are used to having websites track their information, and are often happy to trade a reasonable amount of personal information for some benefit, like personalization or a free download.
- Many users expect a website to be putting their favorite content in front of them and only showing them what they want to see, whether they know it or not. Your web presence should keep this in mind: reach your customers where they already are and where they want to be.
At bizmktg.com, we have over 20 years of experience working with businesses of all kinds to reach more customers online. Call or e-mail the marketing machines to learn more: (800) 808-0249 or info@bizmktg.com.
Read more on algorithms here.
