Search Engine Optimization

The introduction of the World Wide Web (WWW), 25 years ago, has considerably altered the manner in which people obtain information. Soon after the introduction of the WWW, it was evident that traditional browsing was totally insufficient for internet users to locate the information that interests them. This need was covered with the development of search engines. Today, search engines play one of the most important roles in disseminating content. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a collection of strategies that improves a website's presence and visibility on a search engine's results page (SERP). In other words, the higher and more frequently a site appears in search results, the more visitors it will receive through the use of search engines. The importance of SEO can be understood by the fact that many web sites today receive the majority of their web traffic through a search engine's organic results.

The methods that SEO includes can be divided into four major categories: keyword research/selection, search engine indexing, on-page optimization, and off-page optimization. On-page optimization includes the management of all factors associated directly with someone's website (e.g., keywords, appropriate content, and internal link structure), while off-page optimization includes all the efforts made away from the website such as link building or social signal strategy. Undeniably, the world of search engine optimization has changed and evolved drastically over the years with a shift away from traditional ranking factors towards deeper analysis, and factors such as quality, multi-form content, and social signals. However, even though SEO has changed a lot, it remains an important part of any digital marketing strategy.