Wikipedia defines Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
Using Google as the gold standard, Organic Rankings are located just below the top where 2-3 Google Ads typically appear, shaded in yellow at the top. There are usually 10 per page. The first page lists the top 10 most relevant organic results for the particular term searched. So organic rankings are the earned rankings as opposed to the Ads you see above and to the right of the organic results.
Organic Rankings are the most important, as opposed to the Ads. With time, online searchers have become increasingly savvy, and recognize that the ads are paying to be on page 1, whereas the organic results are there because the search engine’s algorithm has determined that these results merit the ranking, and the visibility that comes with the ranking, based on relevance and relevance alone. In fact, fully 85% of all Google searches result in an organic click and not a sponsored click (ad).
Organic Rankings now include more than websites. It can include videos, blogposts, articles, social media postings, social bookmarking content et al. This is due to Google’s move to Universal Search, which effectively broadens the content that is searchable and rank-able organically. Therefore, the content generated by website owners and Internet Marketing Companies becomes increasingly important and relevant to the process of SEO.
Organic Search Results are also changing due to the increasing implementation of Personalized Search. Google, for one, is using information it gathers from your personal search behavior as well as the geographic information obtained through your IP address, unique to all computers, to generate personalized organic results. This is based on Google’s belief that garnering and indexing your information is just as important as doing the same for all online web content towards providing the best search result. This has been met with great objection, resistance and ridicule from many in the online community of all stripes. In general, the objections revolve around the point that “search” implies no slant above and beyond the specificity of the search term to begin with; so personalizing it based on factors beyond the search term itself is thought to be outside of real search.
With all these factors in mind, ultimately organic search engine rankings are driven by CONTENT more than anything else. Google works to insure that the searcher is getting the most relevant result in return for the search conducted. Content is the key differentiator. Internet Marketing is solely dependent on the quality, relevance and, yes, quantity of content to differentiate one website from another. Organic Rankings are affected by many things including on-site optimization, off-site optimization, syndication, social bookmarking, and social media optimization. However, none of this is possible without the consistent, ongoing and unending stream of content; it is the lifeblood of all Internet Marketing Services, traffic, and website conversions.
May 21, 2009
