In this article, I am set to examine how things have changed from past to present and how it will change in the future.
Keyword Dynasty - Once Keyword Tag Was the King
Those were the days when ranking in search engine was much easier than was guessing the outcome of a football match between Brazil and Honduras. And like sports bookies, all the SEO spammers started taking shortcuts by stuffing the keyword tags for every possible term under the sun. But this frenzy didn’t last long, and lately Google put a break on that. Now, keyword tag is not at all important for SEO. There are many similar changes that have happened in the years that have gone by, which we will examine in the following paragraphs.
Search Industry Dark Age (1997-1999)
1997 could be seen as the year when search engine optimization started taking the shape of the SEO that we know of today. But in the beginning (1997-99) SEO meant submitting your websites to different search engines.
Back then ranking was quite easy. It was a golden era for spammers. To rank well in the major search engines of the day all you had to do is submit your website to major search engine, and stuff your content, meta tags, HTML comments, etc. with all possible keywords.
The search engines also did not have enough brain power to fight spammer who used to stuff pages with hidden keywords. The spammers either made the keyword too small for human being to see it, or they make them hide in the background, and cheated the search engines. The only search engine that remained unaffected by such tricks was Yahoo, as humans were used by Yahoo to index websites.
The search engine soon became smart enough to catch these tricks, but spammers were always devising new tricks to stay ahead in the game, and then came another innovation.
Search Renaissance: 1 Click = 1 vote
The search engine of mid-1999 was more close to the search engine we know today. The concept of “average user experience” was tossed on the scene and now each website was seen through this lens. The keyword-based ranking took a hit, and now the website that gets more visited for the searched keywords started to get higher ranking.
The new search algorithm started click tracking. As an effect of which, after each click on a URL in SERP (search engine result pages) the URL got higher ranking. This was not taking search engine anywhere. The spammers were faking clicks, which lead to another development.
Search Democracy - Influence and Link Popularity (People Power)
Another “off page” factor was added to the algorithm that combined with other existing on-page and off-page factors this new kid, link popularity, started deciding which site should go on top and which website should not appear anywhere.
The idea to use external page as ranking factor for a website was borrowed from the “reference” principle used by libraries and archives (regular ones). Each inbound link was now seen as one vote, and the website that got more inbound links (more votes) got higher ranking.
The search engines believed that the website that gets many links must be authority in its niche, so it should be rewarded with a higher ranking. But little they know that by giving external links so much power they are inviting spammers. Soon link farms started cropping up, and so did low-quality link wheels with multiple spokes. Spammers exploited the cross-linking factor and make it big in the search engines.
The strategy has been in use until very recently, but search engines woke up to realize what is going on behind their backs, and soon new algorithm update came which took “link popularity” factor to the next level.
Meritocracy and Link Popularity
Seeing the growing number of link farms and misuse of its “link popularity” factor, the search engines elevated the game. They added one more layer to the “link popularity” factor. Now, not all inbound links are treated equal by any search engine. The links that are coming from authority sites like Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, etc., got more value then link coming from just another website. In the same league the links from government websites (.Gov websites) or educational websites (.EDU websites) are also most valued in the eyes of search engines.
This time search engines have played smart, and utilized their everyday knowledge to improve the result they show to web surfers. They know that getting fake links from the authority websites will not be easy, as bribing government and institutions for backlinks is not possible – well, I know there is a way out of this as well, but search engines do not have any way to stop that.
What Happened To Keywords?
I might have not talked about the development of keywords alongside the development of search engine ranking factors, but keyword was always important, all through the years, and it is still equally important. But the nature and usage of keyword has changed.
Now, keyword stuffing has been declared unfit for search engine ranking, and hiding keywords using HTML tricks has also been blacklisted.
Major search engines have published their own webmaster guidelines, where they have mentioned that having keyword density of more than 5-7% in any kind of content will make the content unfit for listing. Now proper usage of keyword in a way that it adds value to the experience of average user has become the norm.
Keyword Metamorphosis
Of late, the nature of keywords has also changed, and a new type of keywords, LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords has come on the scene. LSI keyword, which could not be seen earlier, now has taken up a major position.
Search engines believe that every field has a set of words that writers use to create content, and which users use to search for them. They are also aware of the keyword hierarchy of a field and those of related field. For example, if a piece of content (article, press release, newsletter, etc.) is written about math book then the piece will definitely have words like school, classroom, notebook, physics book, or anything pertaining to school and education. These are the words that built context, and are classified as LSI keywords by search engines. We will see more of LSI keywords in time to come.
Big 3 and Their Impact on the Industry
Google, Yahoo, and MSN (now Bing) are the three search goliaths, and no discussion of the search industry could be complete without mentioning them. They are the creators of the rule, and they are the guardians of the Internet and user experience. From time to time they create rules that not only keep the spammy websites at the edge of the Internet, but which also guards searchers’ interest. It has been a goal of search engines since the very beginning.
As early as in 1996, two students of Stanford University stared to toy on a search engine called BackRub — a search engine that had unique quality to analyze “backlinks” pointing to a website. The guys involved in the project were Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and later in 1998, this unique search engine — with many other innovative features — was rechristened as Google — the search giant that we all are aware of.
Yahoo
Yahoo dates back to 1994 when people were still groping with the idea called the Internet. It started its journey as a web directory, and for long time it remained the only human-powered search engine. For yahoo, search was secondary to its directory listing and content features on its portal, but before the whole world could bid adieu to 2002, Yahoo realized what colossal mistake it was doing.
Its “modern day” search journey began by acquiring one-time favorite search engine of the world AltaVista and AllTheWeb in 2003. This purchase was followed by gulping down Overture in July, 2003. And on February 17, 2004, Yahoos dropped Google as its search provider in favor of in-house search engine. But guess what, the damage was already done. Google was already every searcher’s pet.
MSN (alias Bing)
Microsoft was a big goliath in the computer industry, so in no way it would not launch a big search engine of its own, after all it was going to be “the thing”, and how Bill Gates could not notice it.
Right?
Wrong! Microsoft was big in PC, but never realizes the true potential of the Internet in general, and search in particular. Although it had its search engine MSN Search up and running in 1998, it never paid any attention. And onto that its search engine was not powered by Microsoft, but by partners like Inktomi, Overture, and Looksmart.
On July 1st of 2004 Microsoft for the first-time launched its search technology, which was dumped on January 31st, 2005 to accommodate search technology form Yahoo. Yahoo search was dropped on May 4th, 2006, following which on September 11, 2006, Live Search came into existence.
After a little more than three years, live search was discontinued, and on June 1, 2009, Bing was born. Big brought a huge change in the way we search. For instance, if you search for SEO, Bing will throw you related phrases like:
- SEO Services
- SEO Services India (It depends upon your geographic location)
- SEO Company
- SEO Company India (It depends upon your geographic location)
- Search Engine Optimization
- Affordable SEO
- SEO eBook
- SEO Hyderabad (It depends upon your geographic location)
Future of SEO
So, what will be the future of SEO? Will it die in oblivion, or will it evolve and find out more tools to fight the battle. How will it respond to the ever-changing algorithms?
SEO will remain there, the nature may change. The look and feel of SEO of tomorrow may be different from what it look like now. SEO will change according to the changing nature of SERP and search engine’s algorithm, but it will remain there.
How Future Is Going to Look Like?
You will see more of map optimization, and video optimization in the time to come. You can already see the tip of the iceberg around. Local search, personalized search, real-time search, and vertical search will seize the industry’s attention. Mobile search will also join the party, and so will video and other optimization. LSI keywords will be used more and more to make a content look relevant to search spiders.
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