I’ve been immersing myself into the world of search engine marketing lately. One of the very first things I did was “Google” the term: “search engine marketing.” I was simply curious who made the top 10 listings in the industry where they teach you how to make the top 10 listings.

The first listing: Wikipedia’s page for the term “search engine marketing.” Search for “podcasting” and you get the same thing: the Wikipedia page for the term: “podcasting.”

The problem is, neither of those results deserve to be number one. I know what search engine marketing is. I know what podcasting is. If I know enough to type in the term, I know enough to know what the basic definition is. And I couldn’t care less about the history of the term.

I would guess that most people who type in those terms are not looking for definitions or history. They, like myself, are looking for help in the subject. The first listing should be the best “how to” article available, with the next 100 listings being a close second. Until Wikipedia starts listing resources and outbound links to great sites that answer the “how to” question, Google is wasting my time by making them them #1.