SEO is an acronym for Search Engine optimisation, which most people already know. This at the face of it seems very techy, but they essentially try and interpret Google's algorithms so that their websites are placed near the top of the search list, depending on the key words that the user has typed in. This seems quite simple but also endearingly complex.... you don't actually pay for Google to place you in their search lists (that is for the PPC team to worry about), so therefore, its a constant battle of constructing your website and sort of 'tricking' Google into thinking that your website is the most appropriate for that search... e.g you search for 'Diaries' in Google and WHSmith pops up as second in the search list.
Now along with being placed near the top of the search list, an SEO team will also look at whether the title of the placement is 'user friendly' and this is when the very scientific name of 'meta descriptions' is introduced. Underneath the title of the ad on Google, there is a little description of the site to indicate to the user what the site has on it and why it is applicable to the search.... if you don't tell Google your website has a meta description, it will simply take the first few lines of your main text.... which may or may not be useful. Therefore I have been working on a few 'meta descriptions' of my own... and its needless to say you could really have some fun with them...
SEO also work alongside social media to see who's saying what about who... this could be from general forums where your average Joe might have a little complaint about a product or service they have been using, so basically if you have a rant about something like a product or service, it generally doesn't go unnoticed.... but it also might be certain authoritative articles that have mentioned something about a client and then it is the SEO team's job to try and get a link from that website to the clients...
This is all in the effort of making your website look the most appropriate and better than all the rest. Basically, if everybody took the time to construe their website in a way that allows Google to pick it up easily and provides a good description, it makes the whole site more and more user friendly - it enhances the usability of Google and in a sense does them a favour. However, doesn't the amount of work that goes in trying to 'please' Google, in order to gain a competitive edge, remind you of how powerful and influential the company is .... is the success of a business within the hands of Google? Hmmm.....
Pictures sourced from Google Images (in order); agent-seo.com and Gev.com
