The Evolution of SEO

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Charles Darwin

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the practice of improving the visibility of a webpage within a search engine, the position a result appears in the search engine reflects how high the user traffic through the site is.

For a business having an internet marketing strategy that builds on their reputation management will most likely begin with an SEO strategy.

At the risk of offending some readers SEO is evolving – mostly because of lies told. To date Search Engines have done a fabulous job of showing results and finding relevant content to ever increasing need for information.

But as the content online has increased, so has its manipulation, there is less and less a sense of “organic growth” and more and more a feeling that the content is “optimized” or manufactured and manipulated.

So the goal that SEO has of trying to enhance the experience of the internet user is now somewhat at risk – as is the reputation of businesses who manipulate the SEO results. How does your business evolve and continue to use SEO in a genuine way. Search engine sites have become savvy to the keyword stuffing and over doing SEO content, continuing with old strategies could harm your reputation.

How can your business stay ahead

Social Media – jump on the bandwagon and create a Facebook page for your business. People are less guarded and more open to communicate and share ideas and feedback in the social media environment. It creates an organic feel to your business and helps your SEO.

Stay Professional – this comes back to the “SEO’ed” content and the “lies” – often unintentional and more just an exaggeration rather than out and out lies. But keeping your content, links and relevance real, genuine and fresh will go a long way to keeping your business high up in the search results.

Using Tags – These are key words you reference in your articles, blogs and general content posted online.

Keep Up to Date – Be aware of changes in the SEO field and ensure your strategies can change if they need to. It sounds basic – but it is important to constantly monitor where you rank on the search engines, read the comments and feedback that are posted and be able to move with the times.

Many businesses are now facing the question of how to continue to interact with clients and are Facebook “Likes” more important then search result “Links”. It is hard to see search engines disappear but perhaps there will be shift to search engines becoming more social.