At its heart, search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a particular webpage.
SEO is complex and ever-changing but fundamentally it is about understanding what people are searching for, the answers they are seeking, the words they are using, and the type of content they want to consume.
It is also vitally important. The majority of online traffic is driven by search engines and if undertaken correctly SEO can pay dividends because good content that ranks for the right keywords can continue to attract traffic over a long period of time.
SEO is continuing to evolve. Google as the clear leading search engine is focusing on the human element of search, product and information discovery. They are looking to understand and better reward those websites that can deliver a good experience for the user.
They want to provide the best service that they can to their users so will be looking to present content that users believe, and trust will answer their needs. This means, Google is trying to understand exactly how we as consumers use language to seek out information and are then adding context and nuance to search queries. This is because with the increase of voice search the terminology employed by people searching for information is becoming more conversational than prescriptive.
Standing out from other brands in a crowded marketplace is always difficult. Research has shown that what resonates with audiences is the message and story you are sharing with them. Marketing is and should be about people. It is about creating an experience and a feeling. How a brand makes us feel dictates whether we will use them again.
Businesses should focus on the production of and distribution of good quality branded content. This helps to build organic search viability and the challenge becomes aligning good quality content to the users intent and consumption.
Brands should seek to embrace the quality of their message because as search engines increasingly look to focus on relevance then marketeers should take responsibility for ensuring the content they produce, the proposition they are offering and the clarity of message they are delivering is relevant to search users.
