Why is SEO Important?

When you originally mentioned learning about SEO's in our first Saturday lecture - to be completely honest I had never really heard of that term or knew exactly what it referred to. After reading the chapter and the lesson it all became so obvious to me. The concept that Colin Warwick talked about in the chapter where his company was originally 44th on a google search result, and now a blog, which he writes in reference to his company, comes up as the 4th result when typing in "Signal Integrity" is so astonishing to me. By creating this blog he can communicate with potential customers in just a few minutes rather than waiting 3 days to get the information up and running on their corporate site. So far each lesson in this course has continued to amaze me in the world of social media. Just when I thought I had a pretty good grasp of it all, Facebook and Twitter, I'm slowly realizing that I haven't even been introduced to half of what's out there on the internet. It's all so inspiring and exciting!

SEO to me was something like a foreign language that when you look at it you just have no clue what your looking at. This class has opened my eyes to the "behind the scenes" of marketing and advertising. I would of never known that you needed key words, tags, content quality was rated to how well represented your site would be in the search engine. This class gives me not only the ability to better my own personal websites but also be an asset toward a company and a team because this information is so valuable to companies in this day and age. 

My dad absolutely LOVES Bing maps. He periodically calls me down to the computer room to show me some other fascinating 'new' feature of these online mapping systems. One time he called me down to show me that when he opens Bing maps and starts zooming in, it zoomed in on Woodward and 14 Mile in Royal Oak, right near where we're from. He was blown away that WE were the center of Bing maps's earth. He was bragging about it to relatives in Texas once, and when he went to show them, Bing maps zoomed right into Dallas. Needless to say, he felt quite silly. 

After reading this lesson's chapter in  The New Rules of Marketing & PR, I realized, once again, that I have so much to learn. I had no idea what SEO even meant before I took this course, so I'm extremely grateful for NMDL! SEO is an extremely important part of Marketing and PR, and I'm looking forward to further understanding the concept. It's amazing how a business, organization or person can use SEO to ensure their content is found by consumers! Once I learn more about SEO, I believe it will help me accomplish one of my course goals, which is to build a stronger online presence and personal brand.

Couple years before, my father came to me and ask me how to let his merchandise website be searched and viewed  by consumers ranked as the first one out of the search results. Though I was always proud of being the most tech-savvy member among my family, it was a shamed that I didn't know how to manage my fathers' website to be ranked as the first result of search. After reading the chapter " Search Engine Marketing" from The New Rules of Marketing & PR, I realized that it's because well managed website, quality content and proper tagging. It is especially crucial to have a appropriate keyword on the title which specific word is better than generic word. 

When I first began this lesson I knew what SEO was, but I never really understood it before. After reading the book I was able to understand it better. I still have a little trouble with the proper tagging. Is this when we link to another site? When creating a Website it is critical to have the quality content there to keep your readers interested. I believe it is important that company's update their sites on a regular basis to keep new traffic coming to their site. Also social behavior has been affecting SEO. I was looking around Search Engine Watch and came across an article that I thought was very interesting. "Traditional SEO thinking would tell us that videos and graphics should be used sparingly, and that text is kind. However, the web is a place where instant impressions matter most, and few people want to engage in paragraphs of text." If anyone is interested in what the rest of the article is about I would recommend checking out How Does Social Behavior Affect SEO? It is the third bolded section down on the page! 

I was honestly confused about what SEO was and until i read the chapter in the book an the extra articals. Now that i am informed about what it is and how it works i feel that this is something thta is very important to learn in any field of work were you will use a computer in any way an even if just using a computer this will help you understand why when you search for thing certain things pop up. But just like Lauren said the value it has to young adults trying to market themselves online to businesses and professionals looking to learn more about you is really important to know.

I had never payed attention to the importance of SEO until this current chapter. It is interesting to me to see which companies and products come up first in search results when you type them into google. It has also helped me make decisions as a consumer on which products to purchase depending on how popular they were and by reading specific reviews people have posted about them online. I found it very efficient that companies come up with creative keywords in order to optimize their search engine results. I also found it interesting the importance of a landing page. Keywords are what generate the click results, however keeping the browser interested in your site, is dependent on creative and unique landing pages. When companies are constructing  websites, they must think of keywords to grab the viewers attention, but also have an exciting landing page to keep them wanting to learn more.

While learning about SEO, I couldn't help but think about job interviews. As a group of students who are interested in advertising and marketing, employers are asking us "What can you offer me?" SEO seems to be the perfect answer to that question! We can now explain how to increase the traffic on a company's website. Further, we can also increase the number of leads that come out of people viewing the page. I remember it was brought up the first day that this class will teach us how to make a company appear in the first page of Google results. From my chair I couldn't help but think "I want to learn that!" When I start interviewing for a full time job it'll be a great selling characteristic tos ay that I can offer that to a company.

Its very cool technology!

After learning about SEO I realized how important and necessary it is. Now that I think about it, it is amazing how seo can help your company website. I use Google multiple times a day to research a product and to get information about everything and anything. When I research something online whether it is to buy a pair of shoes, a shirt, or to look up a hotel or flight I base my decision on what shows up on the first page of Google. It is so important for any company, brand, or product to use proper tags and keywords so their product is what is being showed when people are using search engines.

As we delve deeper into this strategy referred to as SEO, I begin to notice at least three similarities between traditional media and the new media that I wouldn't have known unless I took this class. However, as we have been told and will continue to learn, the paths coming to and from these similarities are very different.

1. The overall desire to get noticed. Obviously, both want to achieve it. In SEO and particularly in advertising, getting noticed IS "the play" or the desired result. But that's where the similarity stops as the process of achieving this couldn't be any more different. As previously learned, old media relies on " a one-way presentation" whereas the new media offers "two-way conversation".

2. The overwhelming need to increase the odds of getting noticed. More than ever before, traditional media relies on numbers. Media buyers crunch numbers and stand steadfastly next to them, almost to a fault. Depending on whether it's broadcast or print, these numbers are referred to as "rating points (GRPs)", "impressions" or "reader's per copy". Conversely, new media relies on words. Words as in "key words", "Anchor Texts", "Alt texts", "links", "file names" ... all used to increase the odds of a higher ranking and... getting noticed.

2. Being there at the right time. Traditional media buys time or space based on past performance and pays dearly for this dated information. The hope is the target market will repeat their routine at a future time of the day/night where a commercial will air for 10, 15, 30 or 60 seconds. If the company searches for the right audience, their message might be seen... although for a limited time. On the other hand, new media benefits from the target conducting the search. The company still has to be there at the right time, but in this case the customer pretty much self-qualifies themselves by their own actions. Another benefit: they can stay connected as long as they wish. Even reconnect again and again, 24/7.

In New Media, if you want results, we must learn, practice and master the art of SEO--because it's becoming clear that words are the new numbers. 

SEO is extremely important now with the expanding universe of the Web. It is easy to understand and also easy to do. Yet, you have to monitor the market constantly and upgrade or change your SEO accordingly. Because one day you’re the only business with a specific product or service, the next day there are ten who do the same and all of a sudden you’re on the fifth page. So, keeping on eye on your marketplace and your ranking is important.

Since learning about SEO, it has changed my perception of the internet.  Suddenly, I am paying more attention to search terms, page rankings, titles, and the like. Even while just casually surfing, I make note of what came up in the results and why.  This is especially true for local search.  I am amazed that many companies are not even listed with a proper address or phone number.  That sort of oversight is no longer acceptable.  Can you think of anyone that still uses a phonebook? I can't.  And speaking of search, Google versus Bing? That was news to me.  I have never used Bing, so I can't speak with any authority on its relative strengths or weaknesses, but it sounds like Google may have some reason for alarm.  On the other hand, Google seems to have such a devoted following that it is hard for me to picture a mass exodus to Bing.  Additionally, beyond basic search, Google offers a broad range of web apps.  Just yesterday they launched Google Art Project. The infrastructure, and the way that the different web apps work together in layers is essential for me.  Personally, learning about SEO will be helpful as I build my online presence.  Using the techniques we are learning it will help me carve out my specialties, and reach specific - and importantly - local employers and audiences.

What means the most to me about SEO is the value it has to young adults trying to market themselves online to businesses and professionals looking to learn more about you.  You can optimize and make the quality of your web pages so much more valuable just by using key words.  Its a very simple idea but it does take time to learn.  These things are what will make the future of digital media continue to grow.  You want to continually give the best results and highest quality of work to consumers as marketers.  As consumers, thats what we want too!  It can be as simple as a new URL but even the smallest of changes can make a difference with SEO.