The way we use the internet has changed in countless ways over the past couple decades. SEO is no exception. As one of the most important aspects of your marketing plan, it’s a good idea to be as knowledgeable on the subject as possible. Here’s a little breakdown to get you acquainted.
Beginnings
With the development of search engines in the early-mid ’90s, webmasters found that greater visibility in search results was advantageous to their business. In 1996 the concept of “search ranking” was born from Google‘s PageRank, an algorithm determining the importance of a web page by the quantity and relevance of links to and from that page, as well as its keywords. A year later, the term “search engine optimization” was popularized to describe the process of improving a page’s rank by optimizing the quantity and quality of its links and keywords, or a number of other strategies.
Then and Now
Since the outset of SEO as a concept, the number of search engines available to the public has increased drastically. So has the diversity of content types, such as visual content, audio, or industry-specific “vertical” searches. These factors, in combination with the game-changing emergence of social networking, have led to an overall shift in focus toward critical understandings of user personas, the importance of user experience, and other intuitive factors that become powerful when combined with hard data. This idea of diversity in many contexts will continue to influence the way SEO evolves.
What Lies Ahead?
It will become increasingly important to stay vigilant regarding the types of content users are searching for vertically, what engines they are using, and what platforms they are searching from. The growth and importance of mobile SEO is only getting started, and the prevalence of spam and harmful SEO practices between competitors are also rising issues. In the face of so much variety and competition, business owners everywhere will benefit from building a unique, high-quality experience for the user which is specialized to their needs and context in measureable and actionable ways.
We at CAYK are here to offer our skill and expertise to any aspect of your digital or traditional marketing plan. Anything from a direct marketing campaign to an overhaul of your blog or website, we’ll be with you every step of the way. Give us a call at (403) 456-0072 today!
