The evolution of SEO: past, present and future
- Written by The Times
Today, Google is synonymous with search engine optimisation; they are the most widely used search engine in the world, with hundreds of millions of people relying on Google every day to answer their questions, to help them do everything from find their nearest dry cleaner to figuring out the best time to travel to Bali.
But this hasn’t always been the case. Google’s victory in the search engine wars runs concurrent to SEO evolution - it’s a symbiotic and intertwined relationship developed over many years, through many technological phases and one that is constantly evolving.
The definition of SEO has remained largely the same over this time; SEO optimisation is getting your online content in front of the audiences you want to see. There are plenty of strategies to do this but overall it's creating useful, relevant and easy-to-navigate content on your website to ensure that people on the internet can find it and use it.
SEO in the past
The early days of the internet, back in the early 90s, saw an exponential growth in the number of websites; companies who previously had no online presence (because there was no “online") built websites to promote themselves. The abundance of information on the quickly growing world wide web needed organising - and we needed a tool to sift through it all. Enter search engines.
The early days of search engines and search engine optimisation were unruly - there were quick and dirty solutions to get your website to the top of the search page, which was ultimately unhelpful to the end user.
Google came along and created an algorithm that rewards high quality and useful content, and so became the most used search engine because it gave us the best answers to the questions we asked it. Companies, businesses and individuals with websites quickly fell in line, and search optimisation became what it is today.
The current state of SEO
SEO evolution is constant; the algorithm is constantly updating and Google will penalise websites who try and optimise their search results by cheating the system.
Today, SEO optimisation is focused on the user experience; businesses are creating high-quality content that positions them as experts in their field, along with ensuring their websites, apps and online shop fronts are a seamless and user-friendly experience for their customers. While this no doubt leads to happy folks online, it’s also a key part of capturing the attention of Google’s algorithm.
Future SEO evolution
Keeping up to date with the thousands of changes Google makes to the algorithm is tricky, and best left to SEO optimisation agencies - like Blurn - who offer a suite of SEO optimisation services. You can learn more about them here https://blurn.com/au/digital-marketing-services/search-engine-optimisation-seo-services/
The future evolution of SEO will see the further integration of artificial intelligence to make searching more intuitive, and quicker and provide deeper insight into the questions you’re asking. Instead of just providing links, Google’s AI tools currently provide you with follow-up options, even asking questions that help refine your search. This capability will only continue to grow in the future.
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