Israeli advocacy on Google

During the war, most of the advocacy activities are done in the international media and social networks - much less of that is done in Google. And this is despite the fact that most people in the world go to Google when they want to understand something new that they didn't know.

There is a reason for this: promotion on Google works much slower than on the networks, and its results are also less guaranteed. But today the situation is different: there is a chance that this war will last a long time - so that promotion in search engines will have time to have an effect. In addition, in the continuation of the war, the messages of Hamas will stand out more (because they will have more pictures of dead children, and they will be more recent) and therefore Google is a good place for perspective and balance.

In this article I want to give you some ideas on how to promote our message in the largest and most important search engine in the world. I will start with the practical tips, and then give the theory to those who want to understand in depth.

1. What is needed to help Google promotion:

Anyone who can write content on existing websites, but especially those who have their own website or manage another body's website. And the strongest is the one who has the ability to write or manage a website of an academic body (extension like ac.il or .edu, etc.)

Even those on social networks can help - especially on Twitter and LinkedIn (less so on Facebook and Instagram). Tips below.

2. Links: as many as possible, and as high quality as possible

Links are the currency in which Google search engine results are paid (explained below), therefore if you include links to pro-Israel sites on your website or in posts you publish on the networks, you strengthen those sites. So even if you have a business selling furniture or you run a laboratory for growing bananas at the Technion, look for a reason to write an article to which you can push a link to Israeli news sites in English (and if you have such sites in foreign languages even better!)

Who to promote? Israeli news sites in foreign languages.
A partial list:  The Jerusalem Post, YNET in English, haaretz
It would also be good if you link to the articles I write on advocacy issues To make them stand out to those who are looking to help us.

For the advanced: if it works out and you like the content of the article, make sure that the words of the link are related to the news (for example, instead of making a link calledClick here" Better a link called "Israel at war'. do not get along with? Not bad. You will still put the link.

3. Content: as much as possible, and as much quality as possible

Content is the fuel on which Google works, so your links should come from a page with quality content. Try to make sure that the article from which you are extracting the link is at least a few hundred words long, written in orderly sentences and in standard language (Google is smart enough to understand when it is messed up).

There are tons of rules for quality promotion on Google, and you are welcome to read about them here, but for now just write quality content - and then get links out of it.

Tip for administrators: it is better to exclude from relatively central pages (otherwise it will take time for Google to find them).
You can also extract new links from old pages

4. Links from social networks

This is the fastest impact on Google - but it can harm your promotion on the social network.

It's fast because Google likes to follow trends in the networks, so when you share on the social network a post from a website that links to an Israeli pro website, you convince Google that the website is reliable and the article is relevant.

the problem? Outbound links work better on Twitter and LinkedIn. The reason is that Facebook does not like outgoing links in its posts, because it causes people to leave Facebook. Therefore, outgoing links harm your profile. For this reason on Facebook and Instagram it is better to make a link to the hashtag (for example #hamasisisis or #freepalestine)

Twitter and LinkedIn are much more generous in this aspect, so links there are a great idea.

5. And one last thing: check that your site does not promote pro-Arab sites

I discovered here on the website old articles I wrote in Tzuk-Etan in which I referred to Al-Jazeera. I removed the link and replaced it with a screenshot of the Al-Jazeera article I referred to.

Check that your website does not have links to Arab news sites, or to government bodies that are anti-Israel.

A few words of theory: how Google promotion works

Of course there are whole books on the subject. But here is the explanation in brief:

Google ranks the results of your searches according to several indicators, the main one of which is how authoritative your site is. Google decides which website is authoritative by counting incoming links. If you include a link to this page on your website (which, as mentioned, you should do because it will help spread this message!) then Google will treat this as a vote of confidence on my website.

It is important to understand that not all incoming links are created equal. If the link comes from a website that is itself authoritative, then it is much more important. For example, if you point here a link from a blog you just opened and it has two articles, this is a small donation. And if the New York Times or Oxford University writes about me, it will be a great contribution. Google also checks the quality of the referring text.

There is a lot more to explain, but I will do that after the war.