What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO) is a broad term that describes the steps required to improve a site’s ranking in the natural search results. It can be divided into four specific areas:
- Content – should be unique and specific to allow search engines to associate the site with relevant keywords.
- Architecture – site coding and performance, structure and navigation should be implemented in a way that allows search engines to navigate and understand the site.
- Link popularity – relevant inbound links in order to develop trust within the search engines and reinforce the site’s association with specific topics and keywords.
- Online buzz – how is your website cited in the social media world e.g. social bookmarks, Tweets etc.
SEO History
SEO has had an interesting history and the the early days consisted of high keyword densities and reverse engineering Altavista and Yahoo’s algorithms. The appearance of paid-search, affiliate programs, user generated content and social media have all played their part in moving SEO to where it is today.
SEO Today
2010 and onwards is an exciting time for search engine optimisation and there will be significant impact the SEO landscape as we currently know it. Google recently rolled out personalised search to all users (not just to those who signed up), which essentially made ranking reports obsolete in one fell swoop.