ziizoo blog

Like Amazon or Google, search results on ziizoo are a function of a lot of things. While the precise algorithm is our own secret recipe, we thought we would share these five easy tips on how to improve your placement in search results.

1. Availability The single greatest (and easiest) thing you can do to improve your placement in search results is to log-in. We heavily favor tutors that have set their status to “available”. Remember you do not have to be physically staring at ziizoo.com to be logged-in. You can have ziizoo open in a separate tab or window so you can surf the internet while staying logged-in.

2. Feedback In these early days, a single rating can help separate you from hundreds of tutors and multiple ratings almost guarantees a spot on the first search result page. One way to get some quick feedback is to participate in the 60 Minutes for Free promotion so students have a risk-free way of trying you out (but make sure they leave feedback!).

3. Profile/Credentials Next to logging-in, the easiest way to be found is having a rich summary description and adding all your academic credentials (including your high school!). Students are more likely to believe you to be an authority (and so will our search algorithm) if you have extensive academic background (as opposed to leaving that section blank).

4. Tags Students can’t find you (and neither can our Google search appliance) unless you have tags (and the more the better). While most students search on generic terms like “algebra”, many also search on more refined terms like “algebra II” or “quadratic equation”. Be sure to round out your profile by adding tags to your tutor services page.

5. Digital Locker Content All session transcripts are automatically stored in your Digital Locker, but you can round out your locker (and improve your placement in search) by uploading relevant documents in your Digital Locker - things like solution sets, syllabi, essays or anything else you think a student would search on. Update your Digital Locker by clicking here.

Need more help? Check out the Faculty Lounge section of our blog for other best practices.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Robert's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.