Lower Back Exercises and the Internet Debunked
Sep 6th, 2007 by Jessica Dawn
Today I did a Google search for lower back exercises. If you are familiar with searching on Google, you’ll know that “lower back exercises” (in quotes) and lower back exercises (no quotes) will deliver slightly different results when you enter them into the search engine. The reason I did the search is because I like to check out other fitness sites and blogs around the web, it makes me better.
Unfortunately, what I found today was kind of a let down. I guess I just expected more from Google and the Internet since things are so advanced these days, but what I’m about to share just goes to show you that you can’t trust everything you read.
If you type “lower back exercises” into Google, the second site listed, which is the site that is supposed to have second highest relevance on the Internet, will show up. This little link was the source of today’s let down.
I clicked on the site, assuming I would see some really fantastic lower back exercises and maybe even learn something. No way…4 out of the 10 exercises shown are not even lower back exercises, and a few of the exercises given have a very high risk to benefit ratio, especially if you are trying to do any type of rehabilitation for your back or have previously experienced back injuries. I was totally disappointed and it made me mad!
This type of thing really bothers me, basically because I know there’s a lot of unsuspecting people who want to learn about fitness and specifically lower back exercises, but instead they get directed toward this site (which I won’t share my true feelings about). The reason this site is rated so highly in Google is because the site owner has done a great job optimizing it for certain keywords that are searched on a regular basis in Google, NOT because they are an authority on lower back exercises.
It just goes to show that you have to check the credentials of the source your referring to and take your time in trusting them (including me). There is no way I would take fitness advice from this site. The unfortunate thing is that this is just one of many sites out there giving half true information to the unsuspecting public…I wonder how many more sites like this are online???
p.s.
If I ever post something you don’t understand or would like more information about, please let me know and I’ll do my best to clarify it for you. I am very experienced in the fitness industry, but I certainly don’t know every single thing there is to know about it and sometimes I am wrong. So please, don’t be afraid to ask questions or call me out once in a while.
From an internet marketing viewpoint I think this is a very serious issue. So many people do searches and probably assume that because the site is listed by Google there is some sort of automatic endorsement and could follow the recommendation to buy, act or whatever just because of the high ranking. I’d never stopped to think about this before - if I didn’t find what I wanted I just moved on but how many people who don’t know what they’re looking for just accept what they read?
Ya, I know. Even internet marketers don’t know the difference because a lot of them are experts in marketing, not in the subject they are discussing. They actually use other high ranking sites as references just like everyone else and the issue compounds.
What are you going to do though?
Jes