© 2021 UCT/ GetSmarter All Rights Reserved MODULE 4 UNIT 1 The evolution and benefits of SEO Table of contents 1. Introduction 3 2. What are search engines? 2.1 How do search engines work? 2.2 How search engines rank pages 4 4 5 3. The evolution of SEO 3.1 Google’s algorithm updates 3.2 Benefits of SEO 6 7 9 4. SEO ranking factors 4.1 Search engine considerations 10 11 5. Conclusion 12 6. Bibliography 12 © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 2 of 13 Learning outcomes: LO1: Define search engine optimisation (SEO). LO2: Explain how search engines interact with websites. LO3: Discuss why SEO is so important for your website. 1. Introduction Imagine this scenario. On a Monday morning, you arrive at work and decide to research what shows are currently running in Cape Town. You do not have a newspaper, nor do you subscribe to any “gig guides” on the web. Where to next? Imagine you open your browser and search “buy tickets for a show Cape Town” in Google. Immediately, search results display, with Computicket appearing at the top of the list. Figure 1: Computicket is top of the search results. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 3 of 13 Ask yourself the following questions: • How did Computicket make it to the top of the page, above all other websites? • Is Computicket what you are looking for? • Where does the descriptive text under the search results’ headings come from? • What do you do next? These questions are important when thinking of the purpose of a website; to reach existing and current customers. It is your virtual office. When people search for specific keywords related to your product, service or business (as in the example above), the aim is for your website to be at the top of the page, or somewhere on the first page at the very least. No paid search tactic will help you achieve a high ranking in a search engine, but there are organic techniques that will help you optimise your website’s content and improve your popularity with search engines so that your website will be visible to online users. 2. What are search engines? Search engines, like Google, Yahoo! and Bing, are specialised kinds of databases containing software programmes (called spiders or robots) that discover sites on the web and then order them based on relevance to a particular search query. Search engines continuously crawl the web using these spiders to index information in their database. Information is also crossreferenced between websites (created by links) to create a spider web of information in search engine databases. 2.1 How do search engines work? As search engines crawl websites, they use special mathematical formulas called search algorithms which help organise, file, and rank information in order of relevance to a particular search query. Each search engine uses different search methodologies and will therefore not necessarily return the same search results. In order for search engines to know where to file websites, they need to be able to access the content of the website. Imagine that there was a system that could read the text in books in a library (before the emergence of eBooks) and tag each book with relevant keywords. When someone searches the library database for “African cooking books”, all relevant publications appear in the search results. Yes, library databases do add keyword tags to each book in their database, but this is a manual process and takes time to update. Search engines work on the same premise, with the algorithms functioning to automate and speed up this process (Jones et al., 2011). © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 4 of 13 Figure 2: How search engines deal with a search query. 2.2 How search engines rank pages There are three key processes in delivering search results to you by using Google, for example: 1. Crawling: Does Google know about your site? Can Google find it? 2. Indexing: Can Google index your site? 3. Serving: Does the site have useful content and is it relevant to the specific search query? A common search pattern query might look something like this: Figure 3: A common search pattern query. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 5 of 13 3. The evolution of SEO The problem with many websites is that they are not search engine “friendly”. This relates to aspects such as Google being unable to find the “title” or “description” of your site (which means it doesn’t know what your site is about). The links on your website could be broken, pages might not be filed correctly on your site, or your navigation may not be optimised for search engine spiders (also known as robots or bots). All of this may lead to your site being missed in search results. This is where search engine optimisation plays a role. By making small modifications to parts of your website, your website’s user experience and performance in organic search results may increase dramatically. The term search engine optimisation (SEO) was coined when the concept of search engines emerged in the early 1990s (when search providers like Ask Jeeves and Lycos were started). At its infancy, SEO had no structure; people simply added popular keywords to the meta tags of a site, even if they were unrelated to the content of the website. While adding keywords to metadata and selecting keywords to optimise content on a website is legal, many people went overboard and abused SEO tactics. Keyword stuffing was rife. Websites were submitted to thousands of search engines so that robots and spiders could crawl and index them. Invisible text and doorway pages (fake hidden pages used purely for search engine spiders) were used. SEO spam – adding more HTML text content on a web page and overloading the text with keywords – was also very popular. The human eye can’t see these extra keywords, but search engines could and as a result will likely rank these pages higher in search results. This meant that instead of seeing the most useful content, less relevant pages with artificially inflated search rankings might appear on the first page of a search. There were many HTML tricks to hide text and boost keyword density, but search engines were not sophisticated enough to detect many of these scams and so websites got high rankings very quickly. Note: This is termed black hat SEO (after the evil black-hatted cowboy in classic Western movies). It is the use of illegal and unethical means to achieve a short-term high search engine ranking. Finally, in 1998 Google entered the search market arena, marking the beginning of a new era for SEO. Google declared war on spammers, and removed websites that used black hat techniques from their index (also known as blacklisting). In addition, it changed the rules of SEO dramatically by introducing the concept of backlinks to rank a website. This was in place of simply analysing the content on a web page, which is far easier to manipulate (for example, by adding hidden text). The concept of analysing a website’s backlinks was based on Google’s link algorithm called PageRank, which assigns a numerical weighting to sets of documents on the web, measuring their relative importance in terms of the number of external websites that link back to them. Today, SEO has moved to a new age of sophistication. Search engines have come a long way in combatting spam, and while black hat SEO still exists, it is not a viable strategy for any © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 6 of 13 legitimate business that wants to gain long-term visibility on search engine results. The SEO process involves processing large quantities of data, mathematical calculations, and analysing and regularly monitoring websites for their relative keywords. It is important that everyone, from a small business owner to a marketing executive, understands the essential tasks of SEO (Jones et al., 2011). 3.1 Google’s algorithm updates Google continuously updates and tweaks its search algorithm – up to 600 times per year. Most of the changes are minor, but they also implement major updates that affect many websites. The most noteworthy updates Google has made in the last few years are Caffeine, Panda and Penguin. • Google Caffeine: In 2009 Google rolled out a major update called Google Caffeine. The update featured new search architecture that enabled the search engine to return search results faster and more accurately, and to include up-to-date results from news and social media websites like Twitter. The Caffeine update was concluded in June 2010. • Google Panda: Panda is the codename that was given to Google’s project in which a number of updates to their search results ranking algorithm were made. The project started in February 2011. The main goal of Google Panda was to weed out any overoptimised websites with low quality content and those that provided poor user experiences. As part of the update, many new ranking factors were introduced to the algorithm while other previously important factors, like PageRank, were decreased in importance. • Google Penguin: In April 2012, Google announced its Penguin update. This algorithm update focused on decreasing the ranking of websites that make use of black hat SEO techniques or violated the guidelines of Google’s Search Console. Sites that had previously made use of keyword stuffing, unethical linking techniques, and duplicate content were penalised. Together the Panda and Penguin updates worked to ensure that quality websites that provide value added content and good user experiences rank high on the search engine’s result pages. • Google Hummingbird: In September 2013, Google rolled out an update called Hummingbird. The focus of this update was “conversational search”, which aims to understand the meaning behind the keywords being searched for. According to Annie Ellicott (2014), Hummingbird is described as follows: At the heart of Hummingbird is a general shift of Google’s search algorithm to include signals about context, intent and semantic signals (natural language interpretations of a query versus a strict definition according to a keyword “exact match”). Your search history, social signals, related searches for © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 7 of 13 people, places, events and so forth will continue to influence your search results more and more. • Google Pigeon: Another update called Pigeon was rolled out in July 2014. This was a major update that impacted local search results rankings. Google claims this update provides a more useful and relevant experience for users seeking local results. • Google Mobile-Friendly: In 2015, Google updated its mobile search algorithm to include mobile-friendly factors. Sites that were mobile-friendly were labelled as such, ranking higher on mobile devices’ searches than sites that were not. This update was aimed at increasing the likelihood that mobile-users would find highquality results that were optimised for their devices. This algorithm was updated again in 2016. • Penguin 4.0: At the end of 2016, Google announced a major Penguin update – almost two years after the first Penguin update. They suggested the new Penguin is now real-time and baked into the "core" algorithm. • Intrusive Interstitial Penalty: In 2017, Google started rolling out a penalty to punish aggressive interstitials and pop-ups that might damage the mobile user experience. • Mobile Speed Update: In July 2018, Google rolled out the mobile page speed update, making page speed a ranking factor for mobile results. Google reported that this only effected the slowest mobile sites, and that this update did not result in any major shifts in mobile rankings. • “Medic” Core Update: In August 2018, Google confirmed a core algorithm update. While not intended as a “niche” sector update, it had a large-scale impact on websites in the health and wellness vertical. (Moz, n.d.) It is important to monitor Google’s algorithm updates, especially in relation to SEO. Stay up to date with Google’s Inside Search, which reflects recent updates to algorithms and features. Visit How Search Works: From algorithms to answers to see the story (as told by Google) of how search works today. You may also be interested in reading more about how RankBrain is used by Google. Terminology: Search engine marketing: Includes paid and natural search engine activities. Search engine optimisation (SEO): A marketing technique used to increase the visibility of your website so that people can see your site at the top of organic search results. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 8 of 13 Meta tags: HTML code that describes the website to a search engine. Search engines use the content of these tags to help them organise websites in order of relevance to a particular query. Keywords: Specific terms used to search for something on the internet. Some keywords are more popular than others and will generate more search engine results. Keyword stuffing: Loading a web page with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in search engine results. An example of the unethical use of keywords is to mention the same word or variations of it many times in the meta description for a website or even in hidden places on the page itself. 3.2 Benefits of SEO If your website is not on the first page of search results, you are unlikely to get many visitors from any search engine. If you do not rank well with Google, you will most likely not rank well with other search engines either, since most other engines use ranking algorithms with similar logic in order to rank websites in results pages. Consider these stats from Bond (2019): • There are more than 3.5 billion Google searches a day. • The number of searches done on mobile devices is higher than searches done using desktop computers. More specifically, 52% of global internet traffic is mobile devicebased. SEO is a long-term marketing technique that will bear fruit if you approach it with determination and patience. With the right skills, knowledge and resources, SEO could be the simplest and most important marketing tactic for achieving increased traffic and ultimately increasing your return on investment. If a website incorporates SEO techniques correctly, and it links to other SEO compliant pages, the entire site’s algorithmic relevance goes up. The higher the relevance score, the better a page is positioned in the search engine results pages (SERPS). Below is a list of SEO benefits: • Non-biased: SEO only generates natural (organic) listings and is perceived to be nonbiased. According to Standberry (2019), 37% of all search engine clicks are on the first organic listing that appears in the search results. • Return on investment (ROI): SEO has a better ROI than many other marketing mediums. The only “cost” spent on SEO is the time spent researching, calculating and analysing data, but the return can be considerable. • Less fraud: There are no bidding wars or click fraud. This is because SEO is organic and therefore a good SEO ranking cannot be bought. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 9 of 13 • Brand presence: SEO helps build an online brand presence and long-term positioning. Search engine rankings are relatively stable compared to PPC, and SEO is cheaper and works over a longer term than other marketing strategies. • Flexible: Through an SEO campaign, you can reach a large audience of people. Your organisational strategies can inform how you optimise your website to meet the needs and requirements of your choice. • Measurable: SEO success can easily be quantified by tracking key conversion goals and analysing relevant statistics. • Targeted: Converting visitors into customers is one of the essential goals of SEO. You are able to derive the source of specific traffic through your website and report on which keywords are generating the most traffic. More targeted traffic equals more sales. (Jones et al., 2011) The points above should convince you of the importance of SEO. Now, after determining its benefits and why it is a crucial digital marketing tool, have a look at the factors that influence SEO ranking. 4. SEO ranking factors Search engine rankings continually change the way web pages are ranked. For SEO, the goal posts keep on shifting. One of the factors that Google uses to rank web pages is their famous PageRank algorithm, developed by their founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. PageRank uses the logic of academic citation: an academic paper that is referenced by lots of external sources is likely to be more credible than a paper that is referenced less often. Every page of a website has a PageRanking based on Google’s algorithm. This ranking is updated every time Google crawls the web and updates its databases. The golden rule is to follow best practices and the guidelines set down by Google in their Search Engine Optimisation document. Once you have the basics in place, you can then expand your SEO strategy to include more advanced techniques. There are excellent resources available to allow you to learn more about SEO and to guide you in implementing best practices for your website. Regular research is done worldwide through one of the leading SEO companies in the world, Moz, an excellent resource for all things search optimisation. For instance, visiting Search Engine Ranking Factors will give you great insight into what SEOs worldwide believe is the best formula to use for optimising your website. Some of these factors include user-friendliness, white hat SEO (using tactics that align with search engine terms and conditions), and securing visitor information with SSL (Secure Socket Layer) © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 10 of 13 Certificates. Of course, many changes happen during the course of each year. For instance, Google updates their algorithm between 350 and 600 times a year. Below are a few elements summarising factors to be considered for good SEO as well as how the industry views the future of search. Figure 4: Search Engine Ranking Factors. View the original version of the table at https://searchengineland.com/seotable. 4.1 Search engine considerations There are endless factors to consider when delving into search engine optimisation. In developing your SEO strategy, you need to factor in multiple elements, including keyword selection, site architecture, content development, and linking strategies. It’s also important to factor in the competitive landscape, SEO business analysis and reporting. The following is a visual representation of what you should generally consider before you start implementing an SEO strategy. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 11 of 13 Figure 5: Factors to consider in developing an SEO strategy. Note: If you are serious about optimising your website to improve its search ranking, make sure that your marketers work closely with your website development team, as SEO is a very technical skill. You can also speak to a professional SEO service provider, who can give you additional coaching as well as monitor your website on a regular basis and provide monthly reports on your SEO status. 5. Conclusion SEO is a vital tool for any marketer. It’s imperative that you understand the concept and what affects SEO, so that you can leverage the power of the web and ensure that your brand is visible to potential customers. 6. Bibliography 87Interactive. 2016. Full Service Internet Marketing Agency. Available: http://www.87interactive.com/ [2018, March 2]. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 12 of 13 Allen, R. 2018. Search Engine Statistics 2018. 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Evolution of the search engine optimisation concept in the world of internet marketing. Available: http://ezinearticles.com/?Evolution-of-Search-EngineOptimization-Concept-in-the-World-of-Internet-Marketing&id=4671967 [2018, March 13]. Moz. 2017. Google's algorithm change history. Available: http://moz.com/google-algorithmchange [2018, March 13]. Moz. Google Algorithm Update History. Available: https://moz.com/google-algorithmchange [2019, October 24]. Nextsbd. 2015. Ultimate benefits of SEO. Available: www.nextsbd.com/seo/benefits-ofseo.php [2015, April 2]. Search Engine Land. 2019. Periodic Table of SEO Factors 2019. Available: https://searchengineland.com/seotable [2019, October 24]. Standberry, S. 2019. 45 Benefits of SEO and Why Every Business Needs SEO. Available: https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/seo-benefits/ [2019, November 1]. Sullivan, D. 2003. Where are they now? Search Engines We’ve Known and Loved. Available: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/study/2064954/where-are-they-now-searchengines-weve-known-loved [2018, March 13]. © 2021 UCT / GetSmarter All Rights Reserved Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344 Website: www.getsmarter.com | Email: info@getsmarter.com Page 13 of 13
