Search engine optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation, SEO, involves improving a website’s content, the technical aspects of the site, and the user experience to make it more attractive to search engines, resulting in higher  rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs), and to drive organic traffic. It requires a combination of keyword research, on-page optimization, technical improvments, content creation, backlink building, and continuous monitoring and analysis to achieve the best results.

Writing in the EuroMed Journal of Management, Jun-Cheng Chen of TBS Education in Paris, France, discusses the state-of-the-art in SEO. His work could help fill a gap in this area of research by highlighting what is known and what is yet to be investigated.

There are seven basic principles of SEO one should consider if hoping to improve the visibility of one’s website academic or commercial.

Keyword research is the first step in the SEO process. It involves identifying the phrases and words that users commonly try to search for the information they need. This step increases the chances of ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) for the target keywords.

On-page optimization is the process of improving a website’s elements, such as title, tags, meta tags and descriptions, headings, and the content itself. This is done to make the website more relevant and attractive to both search engines and users. It ensures that the website is easily understood by search engines and provides valuable information to users.

Technical SEO involves improving the format, link structure, mobile-readiness, and accessibility as well as reducing page-load times and making it easier for the search engines to crawl the website.

Content creation and optimization is a critical aspect of SEO. High-quality, relevant, and engaging content is important for ranking well on search engines. Websites with duplicate, spammy, or poor-quality content are generally ranked lower.

User experience (UX) is a crucial factor in SEO. Metrics such as bounce rate, time on site, and engagement metrics indicate website relevancy and usefulness to search engines. A well-designed, user-friendly website with intuitive navigation and clear calls-to-action can improve both user experience and SEO.

Backlink building is the process of obtaining high-quality links from authoritative websites that point back to the website, these will boost a site’s ranking providing they are not acquired through spammy, or black-hat, techniques.

Finally, monitoring and analysis play a key role in SEO. Regular analysis of a website’s performance and traffic can help identify areas for improvement and measure the effectiveness of SEO efforts.

Chen’s detailed review, has studied the literature and shows that best practices in SEO can be cost-effective and improve ranking but take time to come to fruition. In undertaking SEO with regards to the seven points above, it is possible to improve the quality of a website and ultimately boost traffic to the site.

However, in the age of social media a lot of the impetus for SEO has been lost as external microblogging and video sites take up a large proportion of user attention and distract from traditional web browsing. It is likely that the true state-of-the-art is perhaps not solely in SEO, but rather in driving traffic to one’s social media in order to gain traction and reach and a secondary effect then being to nudge those users towards the website.

That said, it is worth pointing out that search engines remain the primary way in which many people continue to discover information online. Websites offer long-term visibility unlike the fleeting existence of a social media update. There is perhaps geater credibility and trust in a website than a 30-second video clip or 240-character update on social media.

SEO and social media can work synergistically with social media helping promote content, engage with users, and drive traffic to a website, while SEO ensures that the website ranks well on search engines to attract organic traffic.

Chen, J-C. (2023) ‘State-of-the-art in the search engine optimisation world’, EuroMed J. Management, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp.151–167.