Week 7 IT 203 Information Technology for Management

Student 1

Methods for Search Engine Optimization

            Search Engine Optimization is the process of designing web content to maximize its ability to rank high on a search engine. A higher ranking will allow the web page to appear higher in the search engine results page (SERP). The assumption is that a higher ranking will lead to more exposure and increased traffic to the web page. This was also true when businesses relied on phone number business directories, like the Yellow Pages. Some businesses would consider the first letters of their business name as it determined the order in which it appeared in the directory (Zelcer, 2019). On the web, traffic coming from search engines is desirable because it does not cost anything, such as advertisements, and allows for the organic discovery of the web page.

SEO Brief History

            In the 1990s, the first methods of SEO involved simply sending the URL of the website to the search engine. A web crawler would then retrieve a copy of the web page, which would then have its contents analyzed by an indexer to determine how to index it. Early versions of indexing algorithms relied on the keywords that webpage creators would use in the meta tag. This allowed for manipulation and abuse of how the indexer perceived the webpage and determined its ranking (Pringle, Allison, & Dowe, 1988). This is called spamdexing. Search engine companies have since been trying to adjust their indexing algorithms to optimize accurate results while resisting webmasters that try to gain an unfair advantage artificially.

Google

            In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google that utilized an algorithm that focused on inbound links to a webpage to determine its ranking or PageRank (Brin & Page, 1998). PageRank determines websites with more inbound links to be more substantial and relevant. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. Ranking Websites as a Factor of Inbound Links. Website B is considering stronger due to a higher number of links coming from other websites.

            Eventually, this system also became manipulated by services that provided exchanges of links and created fake websites as a way of farming links. Search engine providers began to keep hidden their methods to counter index manipulators. Google has since implemented many different strategies to provide more timely, accurate, and relevant search results. Some of these include custom searches based on user browsing history, analyzing all users’ search history to provide more timely results, and punitive measures to discourage efforts to manipulate search results. In 2013, Google introduced natural language processing, which analyzes search terms for context to increase relevant search results.

Methods

            SEO methods can be divided into white hat SEO and black hat SEO. Black hat SEO refers to trying to game the system by searching for ways of taking advantage of indexing algorithms. Typically, these methods are eventually fixed, and negative consequences from search engine providers make this, at best, a short-term strategy (Patel, n.d.). White hat SEO refers to optimizing webpages according to the search engine companies' guidelines to increase ranking. This essay will focus on white hat SEO.

            The factors that increase a webpage’s rankings include having high-quality information. Search engine crawlers will “read” and analyze a page to determine content quality, relevance, and originality. As mentioned before, the number of inbound links and the quality of the webpages that link to them will also be considered. Also, user engagement with the site is analyzed by observing if the website satisfied the user or if the user returned to the search page to look for other results. Today, search has shifted from the desktop to mobile devices, which factors into webpage rankings, which requires webpages to be designed for a mobile device, which typically has a smaller screen with a touch interface.

            Optimizing the web page design for SEO is summarized in the following seven points and is visualized in Figure 2.

1. Bot Accessible: Search engines are able to reach and index the webpage.

2. Quality content: Content on the webpage is unique and relevant. Search engines check for cheaply copied webpages (often used for black hat and non-informational purposes) that would otherwise decrease the search results' quality.

3. Keywords: Users use keywords when searching, and so the webpage must have the right words to match the users’ intent accurately.

4. Smart User Interface: Webpages should be quick to load and intuitive to navigate. A creative design increases its value.

5. Shareability: The content is desirable to be shared, which increases its exposures and cross-links. Many pages include share links to popular social media apps.

6. Metadata: It should be complete, providing information about the webpage and a compelling site description. This also includes the webpage title and keywords,

7. Multi-Device Accessible: Webpage has multiple designs customized to the device and web browser that it is accessed from(Moz, n.d.).

 

Figure 2. SEO Optimized Webpage. Search engines look for these qualities in a webpage.

References

Brin, S., & Page, L. (1998). The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine. Proceedings of the seventh international conference on World Wide Web (pp. 107-117). Stanford: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.

Moz. (n.d.). The Beginner's Guide to SEO. Retrieved from MOZ: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

Patel, N. (n.d.). SEO Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2020. Retrieved from LPatel: https://neilpatel.com/what-is-seo/

Pringle, G., Allison, L., & Dowe, D. L. (1988). What Is a Tall Poppy Among Web Pages? Proc. 7th International World Wide Web Conference, Brisbane, 369-377.

Zelcer, A. (2019, 5 16). Five Reasons You Should Optimise Your Business Name. Retrieved from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/333150