Here is a little history of Google. In 1996, Sergey Brin and Larry Page developed a search engine called BackRub. It operated for more than a year on Stanford servers which took up a lot of bandwidth. A year later, they registered the domain name Google.com. It is a play on the word “googol” which is a mathematical term that is represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. It mirrors what Sergey and Larry’s mission to arrange what seems to be an endless amount of info on the web.
Also in the 90’s, people began on creating websites on the World Wide Web with the intention of making money off it. They realized, however, that they need visitors to their websites to get exposure and earn. Thereafter, the use of search engines enjoyed growth as people started to search more. From that time on, website owners made an effort figuring out how to make their sites show up in the search results page. As a result, it gave birth to the practice of Search Engine Optimization.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of influencing the standing of a web page or website in the search results of a search engine. Oftentimes, it is called in various ways like organic, unpaid or natural. Generally, the higher, and more often a website can be seen in the search results page, will translate into more visitors. SEO may also target other types of search which includes image, video, local, maps, news, and other verticals.
As part of a strategy for internet marketing (may also be labeled as online marketing or digital marketing), SEO takes into consideration how the search engines function, what people are searching for, the actual phrases they are searching or the keywords they are typing into the search bar of a search engine.
Every major search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing have their own search results page. In each page, where websites and other content such as local listings (maps) and/or videos are ranked and presented based on what the search engine thinks as the most appropriate to the searcher.
Here is an example of an actual search results page:

As you can see there are two kinds of results. First, you would notice the ads as they are prominent on the search engine result page as it is located at the top and has a yellow Ad button. Sometimes these advertisements may also be seen on the right sidebar. Second, below the top ads are the organic results. These are the search results that Google thinks is the most relevant, most trustworthy and highly authoritative websites on the topic.
Let’s take a look at an example. The phrase “modular homes” is searched over 74,000 times each month. According to a recent study, the first organic result returned by Google gets around more or less 30% of the clicks (click-through rate or CTR), which means you will have 22,200 visitors to your site every month, if ever your website enjoys the #1 ranking.
Let’s put a figure on those visitors. According to Google’s Keyword Planner tool, the suggested bid for an average advertiser is $1.23 per click. The web traffic of 22,200 visitors multiplied by the cost-per-click is valued at $27,306 per month. That alone is for just one keyword.
How Do You Do SEO?
Improving your website’s SEO may be broken down into two as on-page optimization and off-page optimization.
In on-page optimization, it includes optimizing the content, page title, description, tags, keywords, ALT text for images, URL structure, internal links, keyword density, XML sitemaps, or the things you would do on the website itself.
In off-page optimization, it comprises of link building, social media marketing, directory submission , forum posting, social bookmarking, link exchange, link baiting, video promotion, reviews, local listings, press release, classifieds, answers, document sharing, or the things you would do outside of the website. Promoting your site to boost the number of backlinks – inbound links or links coming from other websites – is probably the off-page optimization tactic that carries the most weight. Your main goal here is to tell Google that your website is an authority in its industry and it is a trustworthy website that needs to be shown higher in the search results as evidenced by the backlinks you have acquired.
Here are some other interesting stats about SEO:
- As of April 2014, Google owns the majority of search engine market share (68% according to comScore).
- As of August 2014, organic results accounts for almost 75% of the clicks on a search engine result page (according to Mediative).
- 3 out of 4 users never go to the second page of search results (as per HubSpot).
- Each month, there are more than 100 billion global searches being conducted.
- Over 80% of internet users make use of search.
What Is Your Best SEO Tips?
Make a website for people and not for search engines. This will ensure that the user will have a good experience at your website. We think that the best way you could please a search engine is to first please your visitors.
Congratulations as you have learned something new today. Now, what are you waiting for? Share your wisdom of search engine optimization to your loved ones so that they will now have an idea what is SEO.
If you are looking for an SEO expert in the Philippines, look no further and check out our portfolio. If you like what you see, contact us and let us discuss how we can help your business improve its online presence.
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