What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving traffic (volume and quality) to a web-site from search engines, like Google and Yahoo, via organic or algorithmic search results. In most cases, the higher up the list a web-site appears in search results, the more traffic it will receive. This is the world of SEO.
SEO was around since the birth of the first search engines in the mid-1990s and since then, has evolved to keep up with "black hat" practices employed by webmasters looking to take advantage of the algorithms in place through deceptive means. The original intention behind the creation of search engines was to help users find what they were looking for. This holds true today as more and more "black hat" practices are being snuffed out through the evolution of new search engine algorithms and the emphasis is growing on true "white hat" SEO practices.
Keeping the user in the forefront of all levels of design will continue to rise as information continues to grow at a rapid pace. People need a medium to get what they want fast which further aids the disentegration of deceptive practices in the spokes of the larger wheel in life.
So to good honest user-centered design,
Cheers!
