Search Engine Optimization: An In-Depth Analysis of its Past, Present, and Future

There has been a great deal of discussion on the topic of search engine optimization (SEO) recently, especially regarding its future. SEO is essentially the practice of utilizing certain keywords, content, etc. within a website, often within blogs or other text, in order to raise certain flags in search engines, mainly Google, to show up in more searches and thus attract more "hits." Many people believe that SEO will go the way of the dinosaur, or that SEO is already dead. However, this is a bold claim, and in order to determine the veracity of it, it is necessary to examine just how SEO communication works and whether or not it is a necessity in the current world of business, or just a passing fad.

The concept of search engine optimization is one that many people seem to struggle with, in terms of comprehension, in the world of business. Many people do not understand the scope or value of search optimization, leaving those who actually properly utilize it to flourish. The textbook definition of search engine optimization is " the art or science of gaining top search engine placement for relevant keyword phrases through making search engines believe your site is more relevant than your competition’s websites" (Buha 2010). This means that SEO is not exclusive to Google, although it is by far its most popular application. The reason that SEO oftentimes goes underappreciated by many businesses, leading to their accusations of SEO no longer being necessary or relevant, is that these businesses oftentimes have never used SEO themselves. A business rightfully should not be able to, as the saying goes, knock it 'til they've tried it. In fact, one article regards search engine optimization as being equally important to making a web site easily usable by the users themselves (Buha 2010). Looking at it this way, it would appear that SEO is the other side of the proverbial coin, with SEO representing one half of a website, and the actual content, for the users, representing the other half. In this respect, search engine optimization is a crucial element of any business - especially when it comes to building an online presence.

However, many other scholars simply do not believe that this is the case. Much of the time, this is because these scholars believe that it is too easy for businesses to essentially abuse the many rules of search engine optimization, resulting in websites that are cluttered with keywords and other Google flags with little other purpose other than to generate hits and revenue through these keywords (Malaga 2008). These techniques are known as "black hat" techniques and oftentimes lead to the banning of a website by Google, or any other search engine they happen to be currently using (Malaga 2008). This creates a sort of war between those who wish to simply abuse the system of search engine optimization, and Google (or whichever search engine they are using), who must constantly be plugging holes in their defenses. Many believe that this constant war makes the concept of search engine optimization unworthy in the world of modern business (Malaga 2008). Another problem with SEO is that these black hat optimizers will, much of the time, simply steal content from the websites of others, replacing only the bare minimum of what would get them in trouble, and essentially stealing traffic and ad revenue from the legitimate websites (Malaga 2008).

The numerous ways that search engine optimization may be abused does not end at simply stealing traffic and ad revenue. Even worse, oftentimes these black hat companies will attempt to actually have other, competing websites banned, often those very same websites that they stole their content from in the first place (Malaga 2008). This puts a strain on search engine optimization that is not necessarily justified. Adding to the deception is the fact that these black hat users are constantly finding new ways to evade Google's vigilant search for them, using methods such as what are known as "on-page" methods, wherein the illegitimate website appears to be original and okay by users, but appears completely different to the software that is responsible for finding new websites to index and rank (Malaga 2008, p. 148). This represents one of the greatest threats to SEO: the unseen threat. Another large threat to SEO is the use of duplicated content. Using duplicated content, as its name implies, is where a website with a great deal of text, rather than writing the text themselves, instead chooses to aggregate the text from a number of other sources, often sources that already have a high ranking in Google (Ledford 2009). This means that users will oftentimes stumble upon black-hat tactics in SEO and not even really know it, which is unfair for both Google and the users themselves. These numerous problems, along with other minor hiccups with search engine optimization, such as the spiders, or crawlers, that are responsible for identifying and flagging content in order for the website to be ranked higher or lower in Google, not functioning correctly, has led many to the conclusion that SEO is dead (Ledford 2009). In fact, many books deal almost exclusively with these minor hiccups in the system of search engine optimization, and there are many of them, and how to rectify them. However, in order to determine whether or not this bold claim is true, it is necessary to look at the other side of the coin of search engine optimization: the side that brings numerous benefits to businesses.

SEO is a powerful tool for businesses, as already established, but many do not understand just how powerful it can be. There are a number of more subtle, underlying benefits to search engine optimization that might go under the radar of many businesses. For example, one interesting ability of SEO is the ability to actually monetize the process itself for each businesses' personal website (Green 2003). This means that each website has the potential to market personally to users searching for products or services that a particular website specializes in. For example, a website that specializes in selling teddy bears might appear more frequently as a "sponsored link" within Google when a user types in "places to buy teddy bears" into Google (Green 2003). The underlying concept and techniques behind the basics of SEO still apply here, they are just being modified slightly so that the process can be monetized. It is also a win/win policy since Google also receives money per click, and the website receives more interested buyers and revenue as a result (Green 2003). There are also a number of other ways to monitor search engine optimization. For example, Google utilizes what is known as "paid listings," which are simply short text advertisements that appear on search results listings (Green 2003). These function differently than regular search results because their sole purpose is for advertising and linking the user to a place where they may buy this listed product. Furthermore, it is extremely easy for a website that is not on Google's search network to do so by using what is known by Google as "paid inclusion" wherein a company simply buys into Google's search engine network, so to speak, and may then begin the process of search engine optimization (Green 2003, p. 198).

Another useful strategy for successfully monetizing SEO is to simply pay money to appear higher on the list of search results for Google (Sen 2005). The same article also found that trade experts discovered that it is actually more cost-effective to simply purchase thousands of keywords than to include just hundreds within a website itself, adding a new layer of strategy and profit vs. risk to the concept of search engine optimization (Sen 2005, p.11). Finally, businesses may also choose to simply do nothing, known appropriately enough as the "do nothing approach" wherein a company simply buys thousands of keywords for Google's network and simply waits for website "hits" (or visitors to the website) to roll in (Sen 2005, p.13). This is a somewhat brash and direct approach but is nonetheless effective, and essentially means that a business, no matter their technological proficiency or income levels, should be excluded from Google's network. Google simply provides businesses with too many tools for these businesses to make the argument that search engine optimization is either too expensive or too complicated for a company to bother with.

While the ultimate goal of a business might be profit, SEO brings another advantage that is both its own reward as well as an indirect route to profit: reputation. That is to say, properly utilizing SEO will allow a business to get the word out about their particular business much more effectively. This is because the ultimate goal of search engine optimization is having a particular business stand out amongst others, and having a business's results come up before those of their competition is crucial in standing out amongst a sea of competitors, no matter what the business specializes in. The numbers concerning search engine optimization tell the tale of its effectiveness. One study found that internet users in the United States performed 20 billion searches using major search engines such as Google in 2011, with another 10 billion or more searches carried out in secondary searching sites, such as YouTube, Amazon, and eBay (Kent 2012, p.15). Furthermore, the same study found that a large percentage of initial searches for a website or business (that is, the first time a user searches for these websites) is performed via a search engine (Kent 2012).

Thus, establishing a strong SEO strategy would allow one businesses links to appear above their competitors, giving them a marked advantage over them. Another advantage of this style of SEO is that it is extremely cost-efficient, compared to similar forms of advertising, such as television, magazine, or even other web-based advertising, such as banner advertisements on other websites (Kent 2012). Perhaps even more compelling is the fact that successfully utilizing search engine optimization does not require a great deal of materials and tools in order to perform it effectively. Essentially, all a potential SEO user requires is a computer, internet connection, website, internet knowledge, and either knowledge of HTML or access to a geek with knowledge of HTML (Kent 2012, p.21). Essentially, these factors all add up to SEO having an extremely low barrier of entry, on both a knowledge and financial level, so that virtually any business may at least attempt to take advantage of SEO, although with so many businesses currently utilizing it, the market is a bit packed. However, it is still possible for businesses to thrive in a crowded market by associating certain unique keywords with their business so that they can attract "niche" customers, or customers who are only looking for a very specific product. While this is not exactly an ideal situation, it would nevertheless allow for at least a small amount of additional income.

The sheer popularity of SEO is a testament to its usefulness and longevity. Much of this popularity in SEO, for both businesses and users who use search engines to find them, come about as a result of increases in technology and networking, especially within the world of business. However, many people still believe that search engine optimization is a dirty word, of sorts, because of its close association with spamming (Halavais 2013). This is not the case, of course. "Those who provide SEO services contend that the difference is that their ethical practices preclude the use of deception" (Halavais 2013, p.75). This means that most businesses that utilize SEO have certain rules or codes that prohibit them from using SEO as a simple means of spamming Google with advertisements. This strategy is also ineffective because of the aforementioned defenses in place by Google and other search engines to limit the amount of spamming that businesses may perform using SEO (Halavais 2013). The argument that SEO is simply becoming another arm of aggressive advertising, some would even say spamming, is simply not relevant anymore, as businesses have largely adapted to it in a constructive way, and Google no longer tolerates spamming or overly aggressive advertising (Halavais 2013). SEO, from a business standpoint, simply represents a new and inventive way for businesses to get the word out about their particular product or service by only targeting users who might be interested in their products (i.e., those who search for those products or services on Google or other search engines).

Another, more practical method of measuring just how "alive" is SEO is by examining a history of search engine updates by Google, the largest search engine by far. As it turns out, Google is, to this day, still making sweeping updates to its search engine system, and has been since the year 2000 (Google Algorithm Change History 2014). Many of these updates are considerable, such as the most recent update on the sixth of February, which "refreshed" Google's page layout algorithm, which penalizes sites with too many ads above the fold (Google Algorithm Change History 2014). In fact, many of these search engine updates make a number of unseen changes to Google's algorithm but nevertheless have profound impacts on business, especially those that utilize black-hat tactics. For example, an update in April of 2012, known as the "Webspam Update" or "Penguin," adjusted a number of spam factors, such as keyword stuffing, and it is estimated that this update affected 3.1 percent of search queries (Google Algorithm Change History 2014). This may seem like an inconsequential percentage, but it is important to remember that these updates are released quite frequently and that over the course of just a year or two, a considerable number of search listings could be updated in some capacity. With the sheer number of updates and support Google is providing for its own SEO systems, it seems clear that, at least for Google, SEO is certainly not going anywhere.

The final, and perhaps most important, criteria for measuring the lifespan of SEO is to examine just how other businesses have fared by using it. For example, one study found that the most popular and successful websites that were listed on Google were those that had greater than 10,000 page links in total (Evans 2007, p.30). Furthermore, the same study also found that businesses with a larger number of different web sites were also ranked more highly on Google (Evans 2007, p.34). These numbers show that businesses that understand and utilize the basics of SEO, such as including more web sites within a particular business, as well as containing a large number of links for each of those web sites, is a proven effective way to succeed within SEO. As long as this concrete method of success exists, smart businesses will continue to capitalize on it, meaning that Google has no reason to discontinue their various search engine optimization initiatives. To drive this point home, another study found that, within a group of search marketers who examined thoroughly businesses that did and did not utilize SEO, that 35 percent of these marketers “said that algorithmic search engine optimization produces higher ROI (return on investment) than search ads” (Malaga 2007, p.69). Furthermore, just 11 percent of these marketers found that search engine optimization produced lower ROI (Malaga 2007, p.69). This helps to show the power of SEO from a purely objective standpoint, and how there is virtually no reason for any business not to capitalize on it. The benefits versus the risks and costs are simply too great.

As the research and studies have shown, SEO is most certainly not dead, dying, or anywhere close to it. In fact, the growth of internet users, as well as technological steps being taken in the field, meaning that SEO is more lucrative than ever, since more and more people are becoming web-savvy, and thus able to use Google searches. In any case, the belief that "SEO is dead" is completely false. Essentially, as long as Google continues to exist and thrive, so, too will SEO, and it seems clear that Google plans to stay around for the long haul. Businesses who are unsure as to whether or not they should use what could potentially be a dying concept would be wise to at least try to use SEO. After all, as has been evidenced, the barrier of entry, financially and technologically, to SEO is extremely low and gives virtually any business no excuse to not utilize SEO and thrive from it.

References

Buha, Y. (2010). Search Engine Optimization. pp. 1-3

Evans, M. P. (2007). Analysing Google Rankings Through Search Engine Optimization Data. Internet Research, 17(1), pp. 21-37.

Google Algorithm Change History, 2014. Available from: <http://moz.com/google-algorithm-change>. [8, February 2014].

Green, D. C. (2003). Search Engine Marketing: Why it Benefits us All. Business Information Review, 20(4), pp. 195-202.

Halavais, A. (2013). Search Engine Society. John Wiley & Sons. pp.17-57

Kent, P. (2012). Search Engine Optimization for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. pp.33-44

Ledford, J. L. (2009). SEO Search Engine Optimization Bible (Vol. 584). John Wiley & Sons. pp.3-6

Malaga, R. A. (2007). The Value of Search Engine Optimization: An Action Research Project at a New E-commerce site. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), 5(3), pp. 68-82.

Malaga, R. A. (2008). Worst practices in search engine optimization. Communications of the ACM, 51(12), pp. 147-150.

Sen, R. (2005). Optimal Search Engine Marketing Strategy. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 10(1), pp. 9-25.