Search Engine Optimization

While search engine optimization (SEO) has evolved and changed since we first became aware of how websites rank on search engines (back in 1995-1999), the fundamentals have not changed. Ultimately, search engine algorithms are engineered to deliver diverse, relevant content to searchers and researchers. Searchers and researchers include people and bots – bots are generally programmed and directed by people. The bottom line is that if you want to get found by search engines then you need to practice empathy and user centered design (UCD). You have to put yourself in the place of your target audience, understand their thought process, figure out what they seek and how they seek, and then reverse engineer your content and information architecture (IA) to reflect these search methods. It takes a little bit of social reverse engineering and an understanding of how search works and continues to evolve. In addition, we need to understand how technology continues to evolve, particularly the Internet of Things (IOT) and intelligent speakers and personal devices.