Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has developed a sour reputation over the last 10 years and, in many ways, rightfully so. Many have even suggested that SEO is dead - an outdated digital marketing tactic no longer valid or necessary in today's brand-saturated world.

But SEO is not dead. And it isn't a bad word, either.

“We search for hope more than fear, science more than fiction. We search for things we love, and for greatness. We search to make sense...We search to remember. We search to be inspired. ”

When led with transparency and integrity, and with taking care of your brand and its audience as the top priority, SEO can be one of the most powerful ways to drive brand awareness, customer acquisition, and ROI. Take these two statistics, for instance:

• Over 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine.  - Search Engine Journal

• 85% of searchers click on organic, non-paid listings. - Search Engine Watch

This means that of all the millions of web users, 93% of them are using a search engine to find what they need. What these searchers encounter are two types of search result listings--paid and organic--and 85% of the searchers click on organic listings. This leads to an epic battle for top positions in Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), otherwise known as "rankings," which is decided entirely by Google's incredibly advanced algorithms.

The good news is that Google's Mission Statement ("...to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.") and their "Ten Things We Know to be True" Philosophy are set to promote extraordinary innovations that provide unimaginable value to its users.

To do this, Google's early search engines ranked websites based on link metrics- a simple way to determine the importance or popularity of webpages, but also easy to manipulate once clever web developers and marketers got involved.

Two decades and many, many algorithm overhauls later...

Google no longer simply 'ranks websites based on how many links they have pointing to it,' but instead considers (possibly) hundreds of different ranking factors. Everything from website performance (i.e. page speeds and visitor time on site) to the quality of content your brand generates to social engagement to how long you've had your domain. Google is able to interpret all of these different metrics to gauge how relevant and how important your brand's website is - which then translates to how well you're ranked in their search results.

Google's advanced algorithms are able to understand context and user intent like never before, and they're only getting better at it. For that reason, it is critical to understand that SEO is not a one-time project or service, but rather an on-going effort / philosophy about how your brand is presented online. Lastly, take caution against any of SEO "expert" or agency who promises quick results, especially through any type of "SEO set-up" or one-time project. These types of projects are very outdated and simply do not work in today's digital marketing and SEO world.

We partner with and empower brands to not just 'do SEO' or implement a handful of technical fixes - instead, our goal is to educate and enable teams to understand, collaborate on, and integrate ethical SEO tactics and strategies throughout the organization.

Are you ready to improve your brand's organic search visibility?

Contact me for a complimentary assessment of your brand's digital presence and SEO opportunities.