9 comments

Who does Google favour most in SA?

by Werner deBruin

2007/05/08

Today during my daily expedition on Google, I found that I’m still Google’s favourite Werner de Bruin. Well, basking in my own glory, I thought to my self: “Self, where would I rank for only my first name?” The results came in and out the window. Not even in the top 100!!!

I didn't really expect to rank anywhere - about 80% of the top 100 pages use Werner in the domain name. So maybe I should setup my own website? Coming soon…

Alright, so with my ego passed out on the floor, I looked for other Google favourites – favourite TV Series (M*A*S*H), favourite Cartoon (Cartoon Network), Motor Car (Cadillac), Website (Wiki). Idea – what was the favourite best optimised website on Google (W3.org)? Let’s tweak it a bit…

So, in South Africa, who does Google love the most?

And the Top 10 were:

Very interesting line-up... Let’s look at the stats:

Website	PR	# Inbound links	# pages indexed
Mail and Guardian	7	6,000	66,700
South African Government	6	2,310	202
University of Cape Town	8	1,940	219,200
CSIR	7	812	10,900
University of Witwatersrand	7	641	53,000
Independent Online ZA	7	71	225,000
News24	6	1,420	64,300
ANC	6	618	12,600
University of Stellenbosch	7	487	116,000
Ananzi	6	981	3,780

** Please note that the list was not just sucked from my thumb, but generated from the results of the best ranking websites on the ZA data centre for Google on 7 May 2007.

Interesting information, but some more research is required, so we’ll be adding instalments to our research on GottaQuirk this week:

top

9 comments Muti

Muti

Make a comment

Comments

So what this shows, and should be picked up on by people at independant online, is that there is a massive scope for a linkbuiilding / seo campaign. I wonder if they even know it will increase their media revenue.

Posted by Smith on 2007/05/09

That might be the case; but after some investigation, I few surprising stats popped-up....

Keep watching this Space...

Posted by Werner on 2007/05/09

Yummy, keep it coming. WOuld love to see what you've found Werner

Posted by rafiq on 2007/05/09

So how about this for an irony -- at M&G Online we have never ever done a single spot of formal SEO.

Posted by Matthew Buckland on 2007/05/11

lol - that might be true Matthew. Well done.

But take note that the results are purely based on web authority (according to Google).

But imagine the possibilities if M&G Online actually did some SEO...

Start spreading the news....

da-da-dadada-hm-hm-hm-New-York-New-York!!!

Posted by Werner on 2007/05/11

so do you guys want to help us with an SEO strategy?

Posted by Matthew Buckland on 2007/05/15

You are using pointless searches like a drunk man uses a lamp post, for support rather than illumination.
Back up your statistics with fact, sources, so other people can see for themselves if what you are saying is true. Instead, you seem to be blurting out random numbers.

Posted by Aubrey on 2007/05/15

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was pointless. It’s not a search to determine the best optimised or even best website on the net. It’s merely to see which sites have the most authority on Google.

If you take into perspective that although IOL is only ranked 6th on the list, they do rank #1 for the search term online news, where as news24 is 2nd and M&G 3rd.

This goes to prove that although they do have lots of authority on the web, that there’s no replacement for good old Search Engine Optimisation…

Posted by Werner on 2007/05/15

Aubrey, what does a drunk man needs most, illumination or support & stability?

Posted by Wins on 2007/05/17

top