The Evolution of SEO

• SEO,
• On-Going Process

An On-Going Process

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) the work carried out to websites to help search engines understand a site's content and to help users find your site, has undergone significant changes over the years, transforming from a simple keyword-focused approach to requiring more advanced strategies.

As search engines have become more advanced, SEO techniques have had to adapt and SEO has become a continuous rather than one off process.

Early Days

In the early days of SEO, search engine optimisation was relatively simple. It consisted mainly of including keywords in headings, paragraphs including italicising and bolding keyword text; and using relevant meta tags.

Links between websites were also a factor in ranking a website. It was possible to build almost any link (even low quality links worked) and practically guarantee that a site would benefit from it, especially if the anchor text contained the keywords you were targeting.

As the number of websites and competition increased, it became harder to rank in Google and other search engines.

Miserable Failure and French Military Victories

In the early days, some SEO'ers realised it was possible to influence how search engines evaluated links and anchor text to make a statement or play a prank.

A technique known as "Google bombing" where multiple links were pointed to a webpage meant that in 2003 a search for "French military victories" prompted a top result which led to a parody page stating "No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found" and instead asked "Did you mean: french military defeats".

Possibly the most famous example of Google bombing was created by critics of a certain American president. For three years, until January 2007, searching for "miserable failure" on Google gave a top result that led to the official White House biography of George W. Bush.

The Panda, the Penguin, E-A-T and Local Search

Google has had over 500 search quality algorithm updates over the years. Here are just a few of the major core updates:

• In 2011 Google launched its Panda algorithm. It demoted sites with inferior quality or duplicate content. It encouraged content creators to produce better quality content that was aimed at their audience rather than an attempt to influence search engine rankings.
• The 2012 Penguin update was a major overhaul to the way Google evaluated backlinks, increasing the required quality and relevance of the links needed to count towards ranking. Websites of good quality looked to link to other quality sites, while links to poor sites carried less weight in determining a site's ranking.
• The Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) metric was introduced in Google's 2019 core update which focussed on the quality of website content and whether pages offered original, substantial additional value information and originality, reporting, research or analysis with clear sourcing and evidence of the expertise.
• A Local Search update was announced in 2021. Local based businesses understand the importance of appearing in search results for location-based queries. Optimising your Google Business Profile plays an important role in improving visibility in local search results. Local results are based primarily on relevance, distance, and prominence.

Change Driven By Technology

SEO also had to adapt to the growing use of tablets and mobile phones.

Initially, websites did not cater to smaller mobile screens. With the introduction of responsive web design, the search engines favoured mobile-friendly sites, increasing the chance of finding user friendly results when searching via a mobile. Additionally website speed, mobile-friendliness, user engagement, and relevant content became important factors in improving a website's position in search engine results.

Other technological changes like Siri and Alexa voice search have also driven improvements in search algorithms. Voice search allows search engines to provide relevant results by considering the context and meaning behind search queries.

Search engines can now incorporate an understanding of what users are looking for, enabling websites that align with the user's intent to rank higher in search results.

Tougher Than Ever

When Google was founded in 1998 there were just under two and a half million websites. Today, with over 192 million active websites, competition to rank well in search engines is tougher than ever. It's no longer a case of pleasing search engines by putting some average content online, gathering some links and leaving it to do its job.

Ranking well in search engines now requires a technical approach that demands constant on-going adaptation and an understanding of user intent.

Some of the current best practices include:

• Technical website optimisation for search engine clarity and improved user experience, whatever device is accessing a site.
• Writing high-quality, optimised, informative, and engaging content on a regular basis.
• Building high-quality backlinks from reputable sources naturally.

SEO plays a crucial role in helping businesses increase their online visibility and improve sales. To be one of the better performers takes more effort than ever before.