Something About SEO History
In the early days of the Internet, specialized programs called search algorithms looked at websites for key terms and embedded links in order to catalog and index them. The term search engine optimization (SEO) arose in the late 1990s after webmasters began recognizing how to quantify and use catalogued and indexed information to get their websites found. As they still are today, keywords and key phrases were the essence of effective SEO.
The objective of SEO is to get your website ranked high and eventually be at the top of search results. Most users look at only the first, and maybe the second, page of results—and many look at only the top results on the first page. When search engines compare two websites that offer the same or similar services, a site using SEO on each page will appear much higher in the search results than one that does not. Of course, sites with paid ads will rank even higher. But SEO is a fundamental way to get your website found and keep it relevant without buying ads.
In 1998, something new came on the scene: Google. Its advanced search algorithms created relevant results for users—while weeding out irrelevant results and spam—relying on factors still used today: keywords, a page-ranking algorithm, hyperlink analysis, meta-tags, and site structure. Google has continued to evolve, and now it is the most reliable and widely used search engine in the world. It not only produces customized results based on users’ browsing history, but offers Pay-Per-Click ads, site analytics, multiple user apps, business pages, social networking, and more.
In What Way Can SEO Help Your Business Rise?
- Meta-titles. This behind-the-scenes coding tells the search engine the title of each webpage—every page should have a unique title.
- Meta-descriptions. More coding tells users upfront what the business is about with snippets of relevant information—every page should have these descriptors.
- On-page optimization. Headlines, subheads, blog posts, internal page links, captions, and so forth in your site content use specific settings, formatting, and other functions to ensure an effective page-ranking strategy—website copy writers and web designers work together to develop content using keywords and key phrases in the text and in the coding.
- Off-page optimization. Marketing articles, directory submissions, press releases, social media profiles, and more provide insights into how often other users and websites mention or link back to your already optimized site.
Besides SEO, see how you can use YouTube to get more customers, clients or patients.
