Re: Bad order of Postgres links in Google search results and how to fix it

Any feedback on this?

The problem persists, a few minutes ago I explained to the new user who
cited some part of the doc and sent me a link to the manual, that 9.1 is
very, very old version – obviously, again, Google was used to find that
link.

On Fri, Jun 22, 2018 at 2:09 PM Nikolay Samokhvalov <samokhvalov(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> 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"
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=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:
>
> 1. https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/functions-string.html
> 2. https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/functions-string.html
> 3. https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/static/functions-string.html
> 4. https://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/static/functions-string.html
> 5. http://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-string-functions/
>
>
> 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 outdated data (fresh example: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:
>
> A. "mysql string functions"
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=mysql+string+functions>
>
> 1. https://dev.mysql.com/doc/en/string-functions.html
> 2. https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/string-functions.html
> 3. https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/string-functions.html
> 4. https://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_ref_mysql.asp
> 5. https://www.w3schools.com/sql/func_mysql_substring.asp
>
>
> B. "mariadb string functions"
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=mariadb+string+functions>
>
> 1. https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/string-functions/
> 2. https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/built-in-functions/
> 3. https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/locate/
> 4. https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/like/
> 5. https://www.techonthenet.com/mariadb/functions/position.php
>
>
> C. "mongodb string functions"
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=mongodb+string+functions>
>
> 1. https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/method/db.collection.find/
> 2. https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/text-search/
> 3. https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/operator/query/
> 4. https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/query-documents/
> 5.
> https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/full-text-search-in-mongodb--cms-24835
>
>
> 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 <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/manuals/>
> and archived <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/manuals/archive/> manuals
> for PostgreSQL users. You can read the release notes
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release.html>, and view a
> listing of books <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/books/> written about
> PostgreSQL.
>
>
> I propose:
>
> For each major PostgreSQL version, a separate version of manual exists:
>
>
> - most recent production-ready version
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html> (10),
> - the list of currently supported versions
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/manuals/> (9.3 – 11 beta),
> - archived <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/manuals/archive/> manuals
> (6.3 – 9.2).
>
> Also, you can:
>
>
> - read the release notes
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release.html>,
> - view a listing of books <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/books/> written
> about PostgreSQL,
> - work with PostgreSQL wiki.
> <https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Main_Page>
>
>
> 4) Inside manuals, I would reverse the order of versions mentioned and
> would make "current" upper case. Now it is:
>
> This page in other versions: 9.3
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/static/index.html> / 9.4
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/index.html> / 9.5
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/static/index.html> / *9.6* / current
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html> (10
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/index.html>)
>
>
> I propose:
>
> This page in other versions: CURRENT
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html> (10
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/index.html>) / *9.6* / 9.5
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/static/index.html> / 9.4
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/index.html> / 9.3
> <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/static/index.html>
>
> ===
>
> 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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