Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been around since the mid-90s and was often thought of as a bit of a dark art, crucial in website ranking but not universally known. However in recent times there has been the misconception that SEO should be common knowledge and something practiced by anybody loosely related to digital marketing. So we asked ourselves here at USdigital, is SEO as important as it once was?
The SEO market has grown strongly since its conception with individuals working freelance and digital firms both practising the art in unison. SEO has been incorporated into all aspects of digital marketing strategies and it is common to find large companies including in house SEO teams. However, the results for SEO tend to be a longer term investment. Results can take weeks and even months to begin to show effect and are often adversely affected by Google’s algorithm updates. Working with PPC and other forms of marketing such as email and social campaigns tend to show results a lot quicker. Be it responses, clicks, impressions or any type of interaction, these results will tend to show quicker. Patience is essential in SEO best practice.
Yes it is important for anybody associated with digital marketing to understand the basics of SEO. But this does not mean that SEO is not a complicated intricate business that still requires well trained experts. It can be easy enough to gain short term results through SEO via quick, cheap tactics but the long term implications of this can be extremely damaging. If they are against Google’s policies the damage can be long lasting and profound. SEO knowledge should be known throughout any digital environment but it is still as essential as it ever was and should be run as such.
Digital Account Executive at US Digital with an avid interest in SEO and all things Digital Marketing. I’ll be updating you with any news on Google Algorithms and latest technology updates.