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We've got plenty of Google on Code Review — enough to burn. But how much does Code Review appear on Google? This is an important question, because

  1. Google drives traffic to Stack Exchange
  2. ???
  3. Profit! (or Graduation!)

Out of curiosity, I searched for fizzbuzz on Google. Were there any hits leading to Code Review?

Not within the first 30 pages.

We do know, however, that Google does index us frequently, and that we do appear on the first page if more distinctive words are added to the search, such as fizzbuzz brainfuck.

What are some other search terms that successfully point to us? Examples:

Considering that the posts on Code Review is by nature less searchable than, say, Stack Overflow, should we make an effort to SEO our content?

What might be good search terms to try to target?

What techniques might help our rankings? Catchier titles? More systematic tagging? More descriptive text with each question? Answers or Tag Wikis that are so good that people will want to link to them? Some kind of promotion campaign?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Search for something related to a question that went hot and is fairly obscure, it'll come right up on top. Hot questions being linked to from everywhere else in the network should do a lot for their SERP. Could capitalize on these somehow maybe. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dagg
    Jul 25, 2014 at 8:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ I searched for "google apps script manage calendar from spreadsheet" and my question showed on the second page. YMMV. \$\endgroup\$
    – RubberDuck
    Jul 25, 2014 at 11:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ I think titles play a major part. Try googling "vba repository pattern" - CR comes up 2nd. I did a similar search a while ago with "rock paper scissors lizard spock" and CR was in the first page IIRC. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mathieu Guindon
    Jul 25, 2014 at 16:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Mat'sMug make sure you're searching without being logged in and without cookies, like in an incognito window. I didn't see CR in the first 5 pages for the RPSLS query (didn't bother looking past that). \$\endgroup\$
    – Dagg
    Jul 25, 2014 at 16:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also note that the content in almost all of the RPSLS results mention Big Bang Theory. Google's algorithm may have decided that RPSLS has something to do with BBT, and if you mention RPSLS without mentioning BBT then you are probably talking about something other than the RPSLS everyone else is talking about. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dagg
    Jul 25, 2014 at 16:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ I repeated both searches mentioned in the comments this time I used an incognito window and results were practically identical. Again, YMMV. \$\endgroup\$
    – RubberDuck
    Jul 26, 2014 at 16:15

3 Answers 3

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One of the best ways for a website to bump up in the search results is to have other websites link to it. So, I feel that one of the easiest things for us to do spread links back to Code Review.

The "share" button at the bottom left hand corner of each question and answer doesn't just provide a URL for referencing internally. It also provides social media share buttons. So, if you notice an interesting question, share it. If you have a blog, mention CR on it.

Speaking of referencing questions internally, be sure to keep SEO in mind when you're linking. When you link, don't write [this question](...) about SQL injection. Instead write this question about [SQL injection](...). Credit to @DaggNabbit in The 2nd Monitor.

When browsing other Stack Exchange sites, if you find any type of question that is looking for optimization (or clean code, or anything we can review), let them know we're here. If it's on StackOverflow, obviously let them fix any bugs, but leave a comment like, "As soon as you get your code to work, bring it over to Code Review so we can help you polish it out!"

Not only do we increase our search engine visibility, we increase the number of potential users. That's what I call .

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    \$\begingroup\$ make sure to add a link to CR when you comment about them post here when they have their code fixed. the links are what make the connection to our site stronger (more webbing). \$\endgroup\$
    – Malachi Mod
    Jul 28, 2014 at 19:39
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I'd like to make it a goal to have Code Review land within the first three pages of Google results for sql injection. We already get plenty of questions from baffled programmers, and we should be able to capitalize on the anxiety out there, especially among PHP programmers.

We're already on the first page for sql injection review. IT Security currently has a hit on page 10. Can we do better than that?

One thing we should do is write a comprehensive guide to prevention in our Tag Wiki.

Another thing we can do is use keywords as headers like this answer did. The bold text that results from using one, two, or three hashtags (#) actually results in SE marking up the HTML with Header tags. (<H1>, <H2>, & <H3> respectively.) Even better, as suggested in the comments and in chat, is to get the words "SQL Injection" into the question title. Of course, without vandalizing anyone's question.

Any other ideas for promoting our search results for "sql injection" would be welcome. Comment below, or edit this post — it's Community Wiki.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Find an sql injection question that went hot with a lot of views and change the title to just "sql injection." \$\endgroup\$
    – Dagg
    Jul 25, 2014 at 8:24
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These are the things that we need to do:

  • Blog posts talking about the code and the program it helps create
  • Share questions and answers on
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Twitter
    • In chat on text based MMO's
  • Link the Questions and Answers anywhere and everywhere you can
  • Increase traffic to CodeReview

We need to make ourselves center of the web (our portion of it any way)

Her daughter is named Help I'm trapped in a driver's license factory.

The page that holds this comic get's put on the second page of a Google Search for "SQL Injection" (I know it was on the first page for a long time as well) because it is linked to on many blogs and linked in SO Answers and shared on Facebook and Google+ (and Twitter I am sure) and because of the traffic of the xkcd.com website itself.

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