Bad order of Postgres links in Google search results and how to fix it
| От | Nikolay Samokhvalov |
|---|---|
| Тема | Bad order of Postgres links in Google search results and how to fix it |
| Дата | |
| Msg-id | CANNMO++kxJmaaB7X6hq_8SqcEruySZrF=UkcPm-EG1JCKVascw@mail.gmail.com обсуждение исходный текст |
| Ответы |
Re: Bad order of Postgres links in Google search results and how tofix it
(Nikolay Samokhvalov <samokhvalov@gmail.com>)
Re: Bad order of Postgres links in Google search results and how tofix it (Greg Stark <stark@mit.edu>) |
| Список | pgsql-www |
Hi,
I propose:
It is very annoying that it most cases, Google search engine result page (SERP) orders links to Postgres documentation so that older versions go first and sometimes the most up-to-date version is not even listed on the 1st page.
For instance, if I try to google "postgresql string functions" (in Chrome's incognito mode to have less bias; try it yourself but keep in mind that results may vary depending on your region, settings and search history) it currently shows me links in the following order:
etc, and current (Postgres 10) documentation doesn't even present on the 1st page of SERP. (Well, it does, but only PostgresPro's Russian version https://postgrespro.ru/docs/postgrespro/10/functions-string.html – and it's not because I speak Russian – I by purpose didn't give Google any signs to suspect that; I suspect it's because PostgresPro's page has better SEO weight than corresponding official English page).
This is the very confusing situation – I hate clicking "latest" each time I use Google to get some Postgres info, and, what is much, much worse, less Postgres-experienced people even don't suspect that they work with very outdated data (fresh example: https://twitter.com/will_in_wi/status/1009813068346519552 – notice Postgres version IN URL, it's 8.2, from 2007).
Here is a quick look at SEPRs of the query "XXX string functions" for other open source database systems:
In all 3 cases, we observe that the 1st position is being held by a version-free link, which is still relevant and shows information for the current, most recent production-ready version (e.g., for MySQL it's 8.0 and the links for previous versions – 5.6 and 5.5 – go, with version hard-coded to the URL).
This is very convenient and the most user-friendly situation and I think all Postgres user would benefit from it and the daily amount of confusion in this world would be much less if we somehow influence on Google SEPR to make it place results for the most recent and production-ready version to the very top.
But how?
Postgres documentation has hardcoded links and the special link with "current" word in URL (current main documentation page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html). But why it isn't being used by Google and as the main one? The reason is that PostgreSQL website doesn't consider it as the main one. Any time I go to https://postgresql.org/docs/ or https://www.postgresql.org/docs/ and try to achieve any documentation page I don't get "current" word in URL – I need to choose version myself, so I definitely get version in the URL.
This leads to the situation when people refer to documentation pages with hardcoded version in URL, when they write articles, tweet or discuss anything in social networks (what is very imporatnt for Google and ranking of pages nowadays) or chats or forums.
What I propose:
===
1) On the main page (www.postgresql.org) refer to the current documentation (URL = https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html) to allow me to get there with just 1 click. This step will give great weight for this page and spread good weight among deeper pages with "static" keyword in URL. It will also – as well as the next steps in my proposal – encourage people to use "current" URLs in their discussions/articles/posts everywhere.
2) Anywhere where the list of documentation versions is given, to the "CURRENT" version to the top, emphasizing that this is the "main" one at the moment, using the entry URL with "current" keyword and using exact version only for displaying purposes, not in any URLs. Example: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/manuals/ – the URL leading to the version 10 documentation should have "current", not "10"
3) On the page https://www.postgresql.org/docs/ allow users to get to the "current" documentation as quickly as possible, without additional thinking and clicking. Now I see the word "current", click it expecting to see the documentation already but see the list of versions again because it leads me to the mage https://www.postgresql.org/docs/manuals/. I would rephrase it so the word "current" would have URL https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html). In general, I would redesign this page to make it more UX-friendly.
The current version of its main, central part:
This section contains current and archived manuals for PostgreSQL users. You can read the release notes, and view a listing of books written about PostgreSQL.
For each major PostgreSQL version, a separate version of manual exists:
- most recent production-ready version (10),
- the list of currently supported versions (9.3 – 11 beta),
- archived manuals (6.3 – 9.2).
Also, you can:
- read the release notes,
- view a listing of books written about PostgreSQL,
- work with PostgreSQL wiki.
4) Inside manuals, I would reverse the order of versions mentioned and would make "current" upper case. Now it is:
I propose:
===
Once these steps are done, one cannot expect immediate results from Google. Some time (months or, for some cases, even years) needs to be passed before SEPRs for most popular queries will be properly reorganized.
I can try and make the corresponding patches myself once the consensus is achieved here.
Nikolay
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