Search Engine Optimization

Introduction


Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to the optimization of a website in order for it to appear at a high rank within the organic search results. (Forbes, 2018) SEO is becoming increasingly important to organizations as in the contemporary digitalized world, the first step consumers would take before purchasing a product is conducting a search online. Search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing analyse the content and ranking of websites before matching them with search terms and displaying a list of results. Therefore, if an organization’s website is optimized for search, they would appear high among the search results and customers would be aware of them. This would lead to increased opportunities to acquire customers, achieve a competitive edge and increase revenue. On the other hand, if an organization’s website is not well optimized for search, they would lose the aforementioned assets. The causes for the above are that many consumers are only drawn to the golden triangle in searches and rarely look beyond the first page of results.




Figure A – Source: http://seoseoservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/googles-golden-triangle.jpg


However, despite its significance to the success of organizations in the modern world, in the Sri Lankan marketing community, SEO is yet to become a primary focus or a popular topic. For example, upon googling “Best hotels in Sri Lanka”, the top five start hotels such Cinnamon, Hilton and Taj Samudra do not even appear in the first results page. This takes place as marketers are under the impression that as SEO is a new concept and none of their competitors engage in it, they need not engage in it yet either. The number of clients and revenue lost because of this circumstance would be tremendous. Therefore, marketers should begin to shift their focus towards SEO, be educated regarding all the SEO strategies and implement the most suitable strategy for the organization.


Review of Literature


(Zhang & Cabage, 2016) have stated that there are three main strategies used for SEO and they are content creating, link building and social sharing. The study aimed to find the most effective strategy out of the three. The methodology used to do so was, finding three equally content rich websites, leave one as it is, implement link building along with content in the next and implement social sharing along with content in the last. Afterwards, Google Analytics was used over a period of eighteen months to determine where each website stands. The website which only used content was outperformed by both the other websites. The website which used link building achieved the highest rank, traffic and this took place eventually over time. The remaining website generated the quickest traffic over time but started slowing down immediately. To criticize the above findings of (Zhang & Cabage, 2016), it is evident that the presence of good content inclusive of proper keywords, headings, tags and a URL is going to be quite helpful in becoming recognized by search engine algorithms. Link-building through many other platforms such as the organization’s social media platforms and reputed websites recognized in the industry. This would make the website seem more credible in the eyes of the customer. Social promotion done for the website uses a human approach instead of a machine approach and enables the website to be discovered by many it otherwise never would have had the chance to reach. Therefore, as all three strategies provide different advantages for the website, it becomes evident that they should be used in a complimentary manner.


(Baye, De los Santos & Wildenbeest, 2015) argue that the level of awareness of the brand of the website also plays a major role in generating traffic. The authors further state that this happens at two levels. The first level is direct and is in accordance with the human approach. It refers to people clicking on a website if the brand name is well known and reputed. The second level is indirect and is in accordance with the machine approach. It refers to websites gaining points and being ranked higher if it gets many clicks. Investing in activities that increase brand awareness is important as it would help the SEO strategies to be conducted in a speedier manner. The presence of the spill-over effect can also be an advantage of doing so as the increase of brand awareness is directly linked to the increase of revenue.




Figure B – Source: http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/08874417.2016.1183447#



Conclusion and Implications for Marketers

As per the above discussion, it is evident that crafting and implementing a SEO strategy in an organization is not an easy task as it requires expertise in both marketing and Information Communication Technology. Therefore,

·       The best option for a marketer who wishes to optimize their website is to hire a skilled professional and provide the necessary details, as marketers cannot immediately be well versed in the google algorithms, key word architecture and link-building.

·       Implement the three SEO strategies; content, link building and social promoting simultaneously as they are complementary strategies.

·       It is also important that marketers remain conscious regarding the other type of search results, paid advertisement, and implement a Pay per Click campaign. Organic search and paid search often go hand in hand. Therefore, it would be helpful to simultaneously launch a paid advertising campaign to kick start traffic generation in a speedy manner.

But finally, SEO will assist the organization in gaining a long term advantage in a cost effective manner.

Articles Reviewed


Zhang, S., & Cabage, N. (2016). Search Engine Optimization: Comparison of Link Building and Social Sharing. Journal Of Computer Information Systems, 57(2), 148-159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2016.1183447

Baye, M., De los Santos, B., & Wildenbeest, M. (2015). Search Engine Optimization: What Drives Organic Traffic to Retail Sites?. Journal Of Economics & Management Strategy, 25(1), 6-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jems.12141

Works Cited


7 SEO Trends That Will Dominate 2018. (2018). Forbes.com. Retrieved 2 February 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/12/26/7-seo-trends-that-will-dominate-2018/#7b1c4ba3139e


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