How Search Engine Optimization is Impacting the Way We Look Up Information on the Internet

A simplified way to look at search engine optimization

Lets start off with a simple hypothetical scenario. I decide that I no longer like the cleaning service I use on a weekly basis for my apartment. The logical move is to conduct a Google search for “cleaning services in College Park, MD.” This search is going to provide thousands of different links to sites, some relevant, some not so much. However, what I and everyone else who conducts the same search will click on is basically a guarantee. According to Eric Siu of the search engine journal, out of the 100 billion global searches conducted each month, 35% of users will click on the pages located in the first, second, or third positions. Furthermore, “75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.”

These stats, among many other factors, are what attract companies to search engine optimization (SEO). In its most basic definition, search engine optimization is maximizing the number of visitors to a website by ensuring that the site remains high on the list of results returned by certain searches. Whether the company is adept in fulfilling your needs is not necessarily a factor in whether it will be listed at the top. According to Dan Kaplan, founder and CEO of Periscope UP, a SEO firm in Baltimore, MD, there are over 200 different factors that go into ranking a website. Search engine optimization works to capitalize on as many of these factors as possible, and get your site to the top of the list. An important fact to note about search engine optimization is that most of the people that it affects have no idea that it is taking place. Up until a few months ago, I just assumed that the best links were the ones that went to the top of my search. Thus, the strategy walks a fine line between an ingenious strategy and an unethical form of stealth marketing.

Professor Hank Boyd on how technology has paved the way for search engine optimization:

Search engine optimization trumps social media in terms of driving traffic, for now

Social media is portrayed by mainstream media as the most effective way to promote something or someone. However, search engine optimization has achieved much more success on a consistent basis. According to a study by Outbrain.com, search is the number one driver of traffic to sites, beating social media by 300% (insert pie charts). In addition, social media was much higher in terms of bounce rate, which is the frequency with which a reader leaves a site. The explanation for this lack of effectiveness for social media is that people do not necessarily go to Facebook or Twitter to have content marketed to them. As the pie chart below illustrates, social media is still attempting to gain legitimacy as a driver of external traffic.

sources of external traffic towards websites

With search engines, the user is looking specifically for certain products or services, thus they are more likely to stay engaged and click on more links. Despite the lack of effectiveness of social media as a whole, Facebook and Twitter are both present in the top twenty traffic sources to pages, coming in at number four and eight respectively. These results indicate that over the coming years we should see a rise in popularity for using social media as a traffic driver. With social sharing and the ability to link content freely, people may turn to social media to get their information.

Devices are seen as the wave of the future for search engine optimization

Predicted volume of Desktop searches vs. mobile searches

When asked about the topic, Dan Kaplan said that “mobile completely changes the way we search,” and “by 2015, half of all searches will be on mobile devices.” This comes as no surprise to anyone who owns a smartphone. These days, instead of estimating how many grams of fat are in my Panera bread sandwich, I can simply look it up while I’m sitting down to eat it. Or better yet, when I'm in the store deciding if I'm getting a good price on a pair of shoes, I can go on my phone and compare prices from hundreds of stores in a matter of minutes. The possibilities are endless with mobile devices, simply because we are virtually never detached from technology. The way we search for content on a mobile device is quite different than the way we would on a desktop pc or laptop. Since we are typically on the go and need timely responses, the probability that we will click on the top link skyrockets. Beyond that, having a relevant title to the search is crucial, as we will most likely go for the link that seems to fit our need the most. Thus, it is that much more important for sites to be at the top of the results, or at least on the first page.

Professor Boyd on the importance of changing your approach to advertising for mobile devices:

So where does search engine optimization go from here?

For something like search engine optimization that has to continuously adapt in order to stay relevant it is difficult to truly predict what will come of it in the future. However, one thing is for sure: just like the internet, SEO is here to stay and will have a huge impact on how we conduct business. As technology advances, so too must the strategies SEO firms use. One thing that we can almost certainly expect to see is the integration of social media within search engine optimization, as opposed to the two acting as competitors. This is especially the case for mobile devices, where Facebook, Google, and any other web service is only a touch from your finger away. In the next coming years, we should see impressive technological advances in the way we search for information on the web.