SEO, which arose in popularity following the advent of Google and other online search engine modules into the popular public conscience, has held a somewhat bad rap in the ‘ease of understanding’ department. This inaccessibility to its conceptual bases for the lay public, an issue which nowadays can be curtailed through watching televised productions on this subject with a CenturyLink TV plan – among other such subscription offerings, subsequently led to the consolidation of an entire field comprised of search marketing professionals holding important positions within virtually all commercial and non-profit settings.
A Brief & Palatable Overview of SEO
The varied inter-related practices of Search Engine Optimization all base their functionality on the search engine algorithms of the web platforms which they seek to ‘exploit’ – in an attempt to improve the SERP (search engine results page) rankings of particular websites.
This field, as such, has never been officially endorsed by Google or any other search engine; although company engineers (in elaborate annual conventions) have always encouraged webmasters and website developers to follow common ranking conventions in broadly the same manner that they continue to be executed by SEO techs.
A Few Pointers…
- Till date, the global and loose community of SEO analysts has collectively compiled a series of over 200 ‘ranking factors’, which based upon their continually conducted skirmishes with their search engines of choice (primarily Google, as it dominates almost 80% of the search engine online market), have proven time and again to be indicative of algorithmic indexing and rank-allotment criteria.
⦁ When considered from a holistic standpoint, SEO-specific ‘tweaking’, when implemented on website (on-page/off-page) content, and development-concerned page front & back ends, proves pivotal in getting newly established online platforms to rank well; with a competitive advantage over their competition.
SEO – Positives and Drawbacks
The different features of the SEO process are inter-linked and overlapping, and so what might be considered as a positive for most individual spectators can end up looking like a drawback to some specialized commentators.
⦁ On the plus side (and in terms of its suitability for a business’s marketing operations), SEO implementation is a free process; a characteristic which accounts for it being categorized under the ‘organic’ promotional category. Its application can be learned by just about anyone familiar with the basics of the Internet, through elaborate online journals that are dedicated for the purpose. Some experience or proficiency in coding, content writing and graphics work (which together comprise the three main ingredients of any website development & promotional endeavor) certainly helps.
⦁ On the downside (though the jury is still out on whether this facet really is a negative), SEO takes time and a lot of link-building effort to manifest itself fruitfully in search engine rankings. For this reason, if you’re looking for some quick promotion of your online products or services portfolio, then you may need to consider running a paid campaign on Google or social media to get an instantaneous response from your targeted audience groups.
If you’re not an avid reader, and prefer to conduct your learning sessions on this subject through some audio-visual stimulation, then consider watching the recent (2017) SEO: The Movie production from Ignite Visibility. The said documentary film, which can be watched through CenturyLink TV, presents the story of the SEO industry from its humble origins to the economically lucrative situation it finds itself in today.
Why does SEO Appear to Be So Scary?
From the outside, and particularly for someone not used to dealing with the technical robotic-sounding jargon that is typical to the I.T industry, SEO and its professional expositions can seem like a veritable mouthful. Some experienced search engine techs unabashedly contribute to this confusion by exuding an air of exclusivity around their persons and their teams, in order to (perhaps egotistically) preserve the mystique of what they’re doing.
As has been alluded to above, all SEO professionals essentially depend upon search engine platforms for their working telos. Without the said algorithmic structures, they would lose the very purpose behind their everyday operations.
SEO techs, to their credit, spend many years in learning the myriad of ranking factors (referenced above) on their fingertips, and thereafter becoming skilled in deploying them effectively; in order to distinguish themselves from some of the novices in the field. Afterwards, they take great pains in cultivating and transferring this knowledge to a new breed of search engine technicians.
As a corollary of their painstaking efforts, they have a tendency to monopolize their expertise in the hands of a few – and so they may not be as forthcoming when asked to dispense with all of their trade ‘secrets’.
First Things First
SEO intrinsically requires keeping continually updated with search engine algorithm updates, so as to keep sight of any ranking factors that may been rolled back, added anew, or downgraded/upgraded in importance.