Search engine optimization or SEO is just one of many fascinating aspects of digital marketing. The term SEO is also often used to describe digital marketing in general. The industry has evolved alongside the World Wide Web.
In this article, we offer you some interesting information about the development of SEO, which is still evolving today.
How has SEO changed over the years
SEO focuses on helping your website get the exposure it needs so your target market could easily find you.
When we say exposure, it means appearing among the top results of a search engine such as Bing, Yahoo, and Google – especially Google.
Consumers these days would often turn to search engines for almost anything they need.
It’s a convenient and easy way not just in answering certain questions they have in mind, but also in finding a certain product or service.
If you’re a business offering such a product or service, a strong online presence would definitely help you get those consumers’ attention, and in marketing, attention is everything
Yet, how do you know your business would be appearing on the top results of what consumers are searching for? That’s where SEO comes in.
The Birth Of SEO
Albeit some argued that the story of SEO began around 1997, it was also believed that the launching of the world’s first website in 1991, was the year of SEO’s birth.
Since Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, published the site for European nuclear research agency CERN, a lot of other websites followed, spurring the need for structure as well as ease of access. This led to the creation of search engines.
Experts in the search marketing industry pointed to Bruce Clay as the father of SEO. He was an internet marketing specialist, and he was bestowed a lifetime achievement award.
The Early Days
The sky was the limit in the early years. There were no stringent rules. To rank in search results, webmasters only had to stuff their site pages with keywords, even hiding a few in the site’s code or within the invisible text. Some also resorted to hacking practices and spammy links.
In 1996, Larry Page and Sergey Brin started working on BackRub, which would turn out to be the biggest search engine and named in reference to backlinks.
It eventually became what it is known to this day – Google, a play on the word googol. Google’s rise to fame was due to its ability to provide searchers with the most relevant results by calculating the significance of a website according to the pages or links that lead back to the original site.
Even in the year 2000, SEO was yet relatively simple, a time when getting ranked by Google was relatively easy. Keyword stuffing was still a great way to rank on search engine results pages.
It’s safe to say that Google has developed considerably since those days. They actually penalize sites where keywords are excessively used while rewarding sites that include natural-looking keywords.
Talk to expert SEO companies in Adelaide or wherever your business is based. They can show you how they can put your website on page 1 of Google search results, which is every company’s goal.
Quantity Over Quality
In the early days, Google recognized content in terms of quantity, and SEO companies created as much as they could in an effort to obtain improved rankings within specific Google searches.
Things have changed a lot since then and now, Google is able to recognize good quality content and rank it appropriately. Google’s algorithms are now designed to notice quality content and SEO companies employ the best content writers to gain Google’s attention.
Improved Bandwidth
As the Internet speeds got faster, this enabled the posting of hi-res content, allowing advertisers to create rich, HD content.
This was something that would have been impossible during the modem days. Broadband is now available worldwide and with 5G in the pipeline, speeds will increase ten-fold, which changes the nature of digital marketing.
This led to the online consumer expecting high-resolution video and images, while computer hardware and software-enabled more complex applications to create 5-star content.
Mobile Friendly
As there are literally billions of smartphones in the world, it is essential that your site is optimized for mobile devices. If we go back a decade, the mobile device was not as developed as it is today. Nowadays, mobile devices have new and advanced features.
When a mobile user arrives on a site that is not mobile optimized, they cannot make sense of the content and would find another website where they can find what they need. This is something you want to avoid.
Localized SEO
It is only in the past few years that SEO has focused on localization and with so many businesses that have localized customers, any SEO work needs to address that.
It is pointless trying to reach people who will clearly not require your services and localized SEO uses several strategies to focus on geographical locations.
As the Internet evolves, so does SEO and due to an ever-changing digital arena, SEO services need to be ongoing if you want to achieve long-term goals.
If you would like an SEO company to assess your online profile, all it takes is a Google search and you can be talking to SEO experts that have the know-how and resources to boost your online presence.
SEO Is Here To Stay
There are a few voices whispering from their corners of the internet world, warning about the inevitable demise of SEO. However, that may not yet happen anytime soon.
The surge in the number of stores frantically joining in the already vibrant online marketplace, along with the growing internet activities fuelled by the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, show the more pressing need to get noticed by the market companies are targeting, something which SEO would be very useful for.
With all the noise of companies vying for the attention of consumers, SEO would be just the tool to get yourself out there and draw in as much traffic to your website as you can from the consumers who would actually find your content useful.
SEO increases your chances to make a profit, as the visitors you’re drawing into your website despite tough competition could potentially become valued clients.
I love the name of your blog. It really shows your passion about marketing. Quite helpful post for the evolution of SEO so far.