SEO: How It’s Evolved and Why It’s Important Now More Than Ever

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has always been the pillar of digital marketing. Almost every business website needs to implement SEO tactics to ensure that they can be found online. 

Basically, SEO aims to put your website in the spotlight of the search engine results pages (SERP). Doing this can boost your online visibility and site traffic, which can translate into plenty of business opportunities. Did you know, however, just how much SEO has changed over the years of its running?

In this article, we’ll cover how SEO has drastically evolved through time and why it’s important now more than ever.

A Glimpse of The Past

The internet has been around since the 1960s as a concept developed by the US Department of Defense. It has grown and evolved into complexity with interconnected networks and growing data and information.  

Several early versions of search engines had been developed throughout the 1990s. These include the famous ones—Archie, Gopher, and Windex engines. Many businesses took advantage of these engines in creating business revenues.

The inception of SEO was a response to the birth and use of search engines. Businesses soon began to create content and improve their websites to get a good ranking in the search engine results. The SEO guidelines back then may not be as complex and robust as it is today—but its importance still remains.

What SEO Entails Now

Today, SEO has grown to be a complicated process, as it entails optimizing your website (technical SEO), writing relevant content with appropriate keywords (on-page SEO), and building backlinks for site authority (off-page SEO.)

The SEO ranking system has become complex, as search engines such as Google and Bing have developed more solid ways to crawl and index websites through their algorithms. They have determining factors that will influence their decision for SEO ranking. 

For the most part, these ranking decisions include user experience, relevant pieces of content, internal and external backlinks, site aesthetics, overall functionality, and a whole lot more.

Why SEO is Important Now More than Ever

If you’re wondering why SEO is crucial now more than ever, it’s because almost all businesses—whether big or small—are now employing SEO tactics. They are all striving hard to implement their SEO and competing for the top spots in SERP. 

If you haven’t started your SEO efforts, your business may eventually get left behind in the industry. Even if you have already implemented your SEO, without proper utilization, it may be hard to catch up and get ahead of the competition at this point.

How to Boost Your SEO Now

Should you be considered improving your SEO, there are numerous ways to approach it. If you’re wondering how, then take note of the following:

• Content: Consistently publish pieces of content on your website. Make sure they are valuable that can resonate well with your target market. Conduct keyword research and incorporate these phrases or words on your content.

• Site optimization: Regularly optimize your website by having the user experience (UX) in mind. UX entails a user-friendly web page, a well-structured and visually appealing interface, fast loading time, easy navigation, use of calls-to-action, and a mobile-optimized site.

• Backlinks: Start to build backlinks, whether internal or external backlinks. Be sure to link only to high-quality sources.

Conclusion

SEO continues to become a powerful digital marketing tool, and there are no signs of stopping or slowing down. From a simple SEO tactic, it has evolved into a complex marketing strategy given Google’s ever-changing algorithms, the advent of technology, the rise of AI and machine learning, and a whole lot more. 

As almost every business now employs SEO, you have to find ways to boost your SEO strategies in order for your website to stand out and get ahead of the competition. Be sure to follow some of the valuable tips outlined above—that can make all the difference!

We’re a full-service digital marketing company in Edmonton providing digital solutions such as SEO, website design, and even business consulting. If you need help in boosting your SEO in Edmonton, get in touch with us today!