What is digital trust
and why should you care?
Before we talk about
DIGITAL TRUST, we need to examine trust
as an interpersonal issue, then using the insights of trust between people, we
need to understand how a search engine may use these trust issues between different
digital entities.
The big issue that we
need to come to grips with, is SEMANTIC TRUST between different digital
entities, and how this impacts on the SEOVI (Search Engine Optimisation Value
Indicators), which are carried across with hyperlinks between different digital
platforms, as well as the semantics and
related context of the content at each end of the link in question.
So what do you
Understand about interpersonal trust?
This is a very loaded
question, and everybody that I have spoken to during my research on the issue
of interpersonal trust, has come up with
a different answer, using their own personal life experiences as a guide line
for their answer. There is no right or
wrong answer here, as different culture groups, different religious
communities, and different social classes all have their own rules and
evaluation processes when dealing with trust.
People of the same
groups will always trust each other before trusting an outsider, and past
history of interpersonal conversations
and interactions between individuals and groups or communities, will always have a big influence on trust
flow patterns. The difference in social standing and educational status
between two individuals will also have a very large impact on the relationship
and trust flow issues between them. People
of higher social status such as teachers, lawyers, managers or law enforcement
officers will usually be trusted before ones peers or those lower down the
social ladder. Known persons would normally be trusted before unknown individuals, and family will usually be
trusted before outsiders.
Now trust itself is a
very delicate thing, and it does not just suddenly have a very high positive
value without a long track record of positive interpersonal interactions. Just one minor breach of trust, be it a true
breach of trust or only a percived breach of trust, can cause a total collapse
of all trust between two individuals.
Once the trust between two individuals is broken, it takes quite some
considersble effort to repair the trust factors between them, and the breach of
trust is not easily forgotten, though it may or may not be forgiven.
When any breach of
trust is not forgiven, these two individuals may never have a trusting
relationship of any nature again, and the individual who stepped outside of the
trust zone and breached the trust between them may also have a host of new
problems, The agrieved party may or may not inform other members of their
commuity, and many others of the wrong doing, as well as requesting others to
also adopt a bad trust attitude to this
specific individual.
Search Engines
Search Engines have
evolved over the years and are constantly looking at new and novel ways to
improve the quality of their SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages). During 2015
Google, as well as other search engines started using digital trust, as well as
related SEMANTIC trust issues as SEOVI (Search Engine Optimization Value
Indicators) in more aggressive ways.
Digital trust is like
standard human trust in many ways,
except that there is no intuition, such as that when people look into the eyes
of those who they are evaluating from a trust perspective, and then base their
trust flow issues on GUT FEELING, either positive or negative. Search engines do not have the luxury of
being able to eyeball information in the same way that we as humans eyeball
each other. That does not mean that search engines do not have tools and
algorithms that evaluate information from a trust perspective, because many
search engines have worked hard at developing AI (Artificial Intelligence) specifically to evaluate all online content for a large number of different
trust signals.
Links used to be the
primary source of digital trust, until the Black Hat Search Engine Optimization fraternity worked out how to game links through the use of link
farms, and thin content, with many identical pages in the same website. Google then developed trust factor algorithms
like PANDA and PENGUIN which carried punitive implications for those on the
wrong side of the trust equation. Both Penguin and Panda have built in forgiveness factors, but they
do not forget about your transgressions, and keep your web site listed as a
past cheater within their trust tables and associated data bases. The
forgiveness factors are directly linked to your SEO cleanup efforts by doing things such as removing thin
content, duplicate content and irrelevant links from your pages, and following
the recommended procedure to have inbound links either removed or added to your
"DISAVOW FILE" .
Links are still vitally
important, and the REL = XXXXXXX HTML attributes carry many extra high value
SEOVI (Search Engine Optimization Value Indicators) along with them when used
in the right manner. It must be remembered that search engines nowadays look at
both ends of the link, and evaluate the content on both sides (out bound link
and inbound link) as well as the SEMANTIC relationships and context matching
issues, for both sides of the link, among many new SEOVI.
AS an example if the
REL = AUTHOR attribute is used properly
within the HTML
structure of your online content it should
point to the Authors bio page, and have links to all other areas where
the specified author contributes within the online environment are listed, and
include but is not be limited to the following list:
·
any
Social media profiles that this individual may own
·
Social
media business profiles where this individual is a contributor, owner or
manager
·
blogs
where this author contributes as a guest author
·
web
sites where this author is a copy writer, or where his / her work is shared
and distributed.
·
communities,
groups and forums where this individual is active in some way, like a
moderator, an owner, a manager or a major contributor.
This allows search
engines to build a vast trust base, in the form of a trust table, which would
allow the search engine to compare all online content associated with this
individual author and then form an opinion on this individual authors trust
factors and knowledge base, giving them individual trust scores for a host of
issues ranging from subject matter to personal representational issues and inter
personal relationships with other authors, publishers and general contributors
to the online environment amongst the more important SEOVI (Search Engine
Optimization Value Indicators)
Trust between
individual pieces of online content is a complicated issue, where things like
authors, publishers, contributors and information consumers (actual viewers)
are all evaluated for semantic relationships as well as a host of other network
related issues. The relationships between the platforms where each side of the
link is hosted are important variables here, and the expansion of the
conversation is the primary issue at stake.
If the search engine determines that there is no semantic linkages
between the two linked pieces of online content, then the trust factors may be
negative, depending on the inclusion or not of the NO FOLLOW attribute .
This is an important
issue that needs to be clearly understood by your marketing team, which should
be recommended by your SEO team, and implemented by your design team. Any non
related links need the attention of the SEO team, who should have a clear
marketing brief discussing the purpose, aims, objectives and intentions of the
content in question, so that they can do thorough keyword and target market
research. Most websites and blogs carry
advertising and marketing links that are not directly related to the online
content that they are housing, and these may need to carry the NO FOLLOW
attribute, and possibly also the NO INDEX attribute, or perhaps only the NO
INDEX attribute, so as to give search engines very clear signals of the focus
area and topics that your online content is offering the public at large.
These two attributes
are very powerful trust generators, as they indicate to a search engine that
the linked content is not related to the IN-PAGE content, and it should be
standard IPSEO (In Page Search Engine Optimization) PRACTICE to include the NO
FOLLOW and NO INDEX attributes in all advertorial links, except those which
promote the services, information or
products contained within the page itself.
In 2013 just before Google introduced the HUMMING
BIRD algorithm they tried to encourage the use of the REL= AUTHOR and REL =
PUBLISHER HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) attributes. The way that Google
went about this was not well reprieved within the online environment, and very
limited number folks actually used this extremely powerful SEOT (Search Engine Optimization Tactic) At this stage of
the game, in 2013, Google was getting
quite good at identifying individual digital entities, and they needed a tool
to help them identify publishers and authors a lot faster than they were.
The Black Hat Search
Engine Optimization crew picked up on this and abused the REL = AUTHOR and REL
= PUBLISHER attributes to achieve better rankings for stuff that should not
even be indexed in the first place. Google then advised folks that they were no
longer making use of these two HTML attributes, and took steps to punish folks
who they caught out abusing the REL = AUTHOR and REL = PUBLISHER attributes
within the HTML code of links. These two
HTML attributes are however now used extensively to build trust factors between
online content and specific contributors to online content, and those who break
the trust through making use of BLACK HAT SEOT's are labled as cheaters who
deserve to be lower down in the trust table.
The impacts of this are HUGE If you
are not using the REL = tags in all hyperlinks within your HTML code you are
losing out on a vast pool of trust factor signals that would enhance your
search Engine Optimization in many different ways, from the added author and
publisher trust scores to the added tread depth of semantic footprints
associated with the NO INDEX and NO FOLLOW attributes
The depth of a semantic
footprint is dependent on the digital trust factors associated with the
semantic context of each page that is linked to from a specific page (outbound
links) as well as the semantic context of all inbound links. The digital trust
scores between the in-page content of two linked pages is one of the primary
factors that influence the depth a a semantic footprint. You need to remember that SEMANTIC TRUST is
just one element of the many diverse issues that make up digital trust.
Digital entities
Digital entities are a
strange mix of all online stuff. Some digital entities are stand alone
entities, but most are actually a
collection of other digital entities rolled into a new digital entity as a
group. Each and every HTML page within
the online environment is a complex digital entity. some examples of stand
alone digital entities are
·
PDF documents
·
images
·
music
files
·
videos
·
text
documents
·
social
media posts
Most web pages and blog
posts are considered to be both stand alone digital entities as well as complex
digital entities. This may sound
confusing, but needs to be interpreted from the perspective of a search engine,
and not us as humans. As an example a
book is a stand alone entity, but it consists of typed pages that are bound
together, which can be separated or torn loose.
When the pages are torn loose the book looses value, and may not make
sense to future readers as some information will be missing. It thus follows
that the pages need to be joined at the books spine, other wise the book has
little value. In the same manner all the
components of a web page can not be seperated from the page, as they may not
make sense on their own.
People who can be
identified, through their online contributions as authors are also considered
to be digital entities, which are a collection of all their identifiable digital
contributions which can come from a number of sources, including but not
limited to the list below
·
blog
posts
·
web
page copy-writing
·
social
media profiles
·
social
media posts
·
forum
posts and contributions
·
comments
in social media posts
·
comments
to blog posts
·
in
app consumer education matters
The various sources of
information that link an author to specific content, such as but not limited to
the list below help the search engine to build a trust graph of authors,
showing their expertise and niche areas of interest, along with trust levels, which
are used extensively by Google, and possibly all other search engines as well.
·
A
blog post discussing online content which the author contributed to, with a
link to that online content, where the author is listed as a contributor,
preferably using the REL = AUTHOR TAG within the HTML code associated with the
hyperlink (LINK)
·
A
social media post by a business page where the author is listed as a manager, a
contributor or the owner
·
A
social media post by the authors profile within a group, a community, or a
forum discussing the content in question with a link to that content
·
An
article or social media post by a third party which explisitly defines the
author as a contributor to the content
in question.
·
A
social media profile page, aweb page or a blog page listing a profile of the author as an author of online content
through the REL = AUTHOR method , where links to blogs, websites and other
relevant online content contributions by the author is discussed.
Just as authors have
trust graphs and related info stored in a data base by search engines, so to do
PUBLISHERS. These trust graphs for
publishers are considerably larger and more complex than the trust graphs for
authors, and carry considerably more weight within the Search Engine
Optimisation equations. Publishers and
authors are also linked up, and a single publisher may have many diverse points
of publication, which include but is not limited to
·
many
websites
·
numerous
blogs
·
a
plethora of social media profiles within different social media platforms
Authors may write for
more than one of these different publication points, as well as other
publication points for other publishers. This allows search engines to gather
more data and have a deeper understanding of the semantic linkages between the
different publishers and diverstity of authors.
This understanding is enforced and complemented by the semantic trust
that is developed over time between all these groups and many other digital
entities.
Digital trust is built
up over time where search engines keep track record of many different issues,
and use these in complicated algorithyms to develop many individual trust
facors which are later worked on and
processed by a final stage trust
algorithym that has feed back loops into
both the early stage search algorithyms and the final stage search
algorithym where the search engines SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages) are
generated from the search engines data bases.
Digital trust is thus a
very important part of the current (Jan 2016) Search Engine Optimisation
equation which you as an information provider need to manage and where possible
manipualte through careful well managed cross platform marketing.
cross platform
marketing is a form of content marketing, where you market social media posts,
posted in one platform, in a second platform, so that the orginal
content marketing post can aquire larger trust factor signals, and in turn push
these larger trust factor signals through to your original online content in
your blog or web site.
Example of cross
platform marketing.
1) you write a blog
post and be sure to use the REL = AUTHOR attribute in a link to your author bio
page within the inpage content.
2) you write about your
blog post on your FaceBook page with a link to the specific blog post
3) you tweet about your
blogpost, but use the link to your Facebook post as the destination URL
(Uniform Resource Locator or web address)
4) you write a post in
linked in discussing your blog-post, and include a link to
·
your
tweet
·
your Facebook post and
·
your
blog post
·
You
write a Facebook post discussing your linked-in post with a link to your linked
in post.
5) you tweet about your blog post but use the linked in post as the destination URL
Note here that you need
to list your social media profiles and all places where you contribute within
the online environment in your author Bio Page.
You need to take some time here and do all the home work... be sure to
include every where that you have an active social media profile as well as all
the blogs and web sites where you are an active contributor. Your profile page which is accredited with
author status through the REL = AUTHOR attribute needs to be well maintained
and current at all times, remembering the query freshness issue.
The main purpose of
cross platform marketing is to improve your OPSEO or Off Page Search Engine Optimization scores and trust factors within the online environment for all
your content. Cross platform marketing
is the best way to grow your online trust factors, so be sure to remain on
topic and reply to all comments on your social media posts, as well as comments
on your blogs.
Replying to comments
within your social media posts and having on-going conversations within the
comment streams of other authors or publishers who discuss semantically similar
topics to your web sites and blogs is seen in a very favorable light by most
search engines. By showing an interest and keeping the conversations active you
increase your trust factors within the search space considerably.
These issues of keeping
the conversation alive and active within the social media space can only be
seen and used by search engines when your profile is public and you post to the
public domain. Most search engines only
have permission to see your public profile, how ever if you are a Google User
and are logged into your Google account, then you will get a very different
approach, as Google will then personalize your SERP (Search Engine Results
Page) using your
·
Google
plus profile
· G-mail
contacts
·
Google
drive documentation
·
blogger
profile and any blogs that you may own or contribute to
·
Google
sites, where you may have created, both public and private
·
any
other Google service that you may use.
These are all used to
evaluate your trust factors, with a primary concern for your SEMANTIC TRUST
FACTORS which will be used to determine your authority as an author, and your
feilds of expertise where you may need some recognition as an expert or not.
Digital trust is a very
complex issue, where there are many different parties invloved in supplying
trust factor signals, which are interpreted, scored, ranked and then transferd to a data base for future
use by the many different algorthyms which are run to determine a match between
a search query and a specific piece of online content.
Links, both out bound and inbound are the primary
sources of all trust factor signals, and as such both sides of the link are
evaluated in a number of different ways to determine a host of SEOVI (Search
Engine Optimisation Value Indicators) which are then processed to determine a
new set of variables where the different areas of digital trust, such as
semantic trust, network trust, context trust and many others are carried forward
to other algorithyms.
Digital trust is
divided into many components, some are burried within your in page content,
while others are connected to the context and semantics of your Off Page Search
Engine Optimization efforts.
It thus follows that digital
trust is a very powerful Search Engine Optimisation value Indicator, that you
need to manage and manipulate as best you can.
To be able to manage and manipulate this digital trust is no easy task.
One needs to keep in
mind that SEMANTIC TRUST is one of the larger trust elements within the digital
trust stock pile that accumulates over time.
Keeping your digital trust stockpile in order, and ensuring that the
negative elements within your digital trust stockpile are constantly weeded out
is a task that should not be taken lightly.
Here we are talking of addressing PANDA and PENGUIN type issues, as well
as addressing your reputational issues through well policed repuation managment
strategies. These actions of removing
the bad influence factors, all add to
the digital trust factors for all your online content where ever it may reside.
All you need to
remember is that trust takes time to develop and grow, but is instantly
destroyed by a single breach of protocol, or the use of Black Hat Search Engine
Optimization tactics.
