Search Engine Optimization is the buzzword when it comes to business development, digitally.

But understand why to optimize is very important. Think about it, ‘why’ do people search? The answer is simple because they are seeking an answer to their why, what, how, when.

Remember Yellow Books? Yeah, today’s search engines are the Yellow Books of yesterday? Yesteryears more of.

So, think about search engines like digital Yellow Pages, people are searching for answers to their WH- questions. They are looking for services, products, addresses, recipes, comparison studies, research papers, someone’s social profile, and on and on. You get the drift.

So, understanding the ‘search intent’ is the most important aspect of optimizing for search.

An SEO expert or marketer leads a user from

• Attract and create awareness
• Engage and acquire user attention
• Acquisition and conversion

When we search for anything online, we come across a lot of links. We click on the links we think would best answer our curiosity. We read through the best article or posts and if it’s related to commerce we acquire or purchase it. This is what is called a users journey or consumer journey.

Now, it sounds simpler than in practice. A marketer or SEO expert has to tackle a lot of variables at play throughout the user journey, like the search engine used, the medium of search, the devices used, etc.

And with the advent of new technology with passing minute, the marketer or SEO expert has to consider the device on which a user initiates his search and acquires his results. Search has gone beyond desktops to laptops to mobile to smartwatches, to speakers, and now even home appliances. Smart glasses augmented search and the likes are the future. Did you know there’s a technology in motion where you can do a search just by thinking about it? Yes, that’s the future of search!

A search marketer has to be aware and realize how their user is searching for data online and even offline. There are a lot of influences that affect a user’s intent of a search and so modern marketer has to plug all those holes.

A smart SEO expert focuses on:

• The user intent and persona
• Quality of content the marketer provides
• How to influence a user through various channels
• Technical optimization (oh yes, there’s more to SEO than you might think)

SEO or a search marketer mostly focuses on attracting a user, creating an environment of engagement and then conversion.

The goal of search engines is to help a searcher accomplish their task. Over the years there have been numerous search algorithm updates that have essentially tried to understand the intent but it is still an ongoing task.

Today there is a lot of buzz going around amongst developers about single page application websites which are created by frameworks like Angular, React and Vue, etc. but new optimizers who are just beginning their journey and education need to understand, along with developers, that those frameworks are not yet search engine friendly.

Also, friendly advice, get over keyword stuff and meta-tagging. That boat has sailed long ago. There’s more to optimizing now, so you are only good if you dive deep into this ocean.

So what are the best SEO practices, you ask?

Along with content focus also on:

• User interface
• Accessibility to CTA
• Page speed
• Social influences
• Analytics
• Technicalities of optimizing the backend of a webpage
• Rendition of a webpage on different devices
• Paid search

An SEO has to work on development, user experience, content strategy, promoting, influencing, information structure, delivery, and paid mediums.

So, next time while updating a webpage or even a website, take into consideration the above factors. Many times an organization wants to change their website or switch to a new CMS system, and suddenly they notice a drop in their visitors, having an SEO and having them work alongside the development team would help a great deal.

What’s the future?

Search has evolved a lot from where it began, algorithms have changed over time, what used to work may not work today but one thing shall remain the user intent. The search was mostly always based on textual content but with advancements in technology, it is slowly seeping into video, audio, images, etc. A smart SEO or marketer would be better off focusing on those turfs too along with the usual best practices.

My prediction: From what I read and hear, audio and video transcription is going to be big and so it shall influence your search traffic.

In closing, you want to optimize for search engines because you want to create awareness, about your product, your services, your existence.

If you would like to consult further feel free to reach out to me.