Editing Search engine optimization (section)

== As marketing strategy ==
SEO is not an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be more effective, such as paid advertising through pay-per-click [[Pay per click|(PPC)]] campaigns, depending on the site operator's goals.{{Editorializing|date=December 2024}} [[Search engine marketing|Search engine marketing (SEM)]] is the practice of designing, running, and optimizing search engine ad campaigns. Its difference from SEO is most simply depicted as the difference between paid and unpaid priority ranking in search results. SEM focuses on prominence more so than relevance; website developers should regard SEM with the utmost importance with consideration to visibility as most navigate to the primary listings of their search.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tapan|first=Panda|year=2013|title=Search Engine Marketing: Does the Knowledge Discovery Process Help Online Retailers?|journal=IUP Journal of Knowledge Management|volume=11|issue=3|pages=56–66|id={{ProQuest|1430517207}}}}</ref> A successful Internet marketing campaign may also depend upon building high-quality web pages to engage and persuade internet users, setting up [[web analytics|analytics]] programs to enable site owners to measure results, and improving a site's [[conversion rate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/03/13/the-battle-between-search-engine-optimization-and-conversion-who-wins/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315221733/http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/03/13/the-battle-between-search-engine-optimization-and-conversion-who-wins |archive-date=March 15, 2008 |title=The Battle Between Search Engine Optimization and Conversion: Who Wins? |author=Melissa Burdon |publisher=Grok.com |access-date=April 10, 2017 |date=March 13, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=SEO Tips and Marketing Strategies |url=https://skyrocketresultsseo.com/hvac/seo/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |website= |language=en-US |archive-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030122434/https://skyrocketresultsseo.com/hvac/seo/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2015, Google released a full 160-page version of its Search Quality Rating Guidelines to the public,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//insidesearch/howsearchworks/assets/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf |title="Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines" ''How Search Works'' November 12, 2015. |access-date=January 11, 2016 |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329234138/http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//insidesearch/howsearchworks/assets/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> which revealed a shift in their focus towards "usefulness" and [[mobile local search]]. In recent years the mobile market has exploded, overtaking the use of desktops, as shown in by [[StatCounter]] in October 2016, where they analyzed 2.5 million websites and found that 51.3% of the pages were loaded by a mobile device.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Titcomb|first1=James|title=Mobile web usage overtakes desktop for first time|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/11/01/mobile-web-usage-overtakes-desktop-for-first-time/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/11/01/mobile-web-usage-overtakes-desktop-for-first-time/ |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=November 2016|access-date=17 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Google has been one of the companies that are utilizing the popularity of mobile usage by encouraging websites to use their [[Google Search Console]], the Mobile-Friendly Test, which allows companies to measure up their website to the search engine results and determine how user-friendly their websites are. The closer the keywords are together their ranking will improve based on key terms.<ref name=":0" />

SEO may generate an adequate [[return on investment]]. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantee and uncertainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/04/29/sanar-google-skyfacet-tech-cx_ag_0430googhell.html?partner=rss |title=Condemned To Google Hell |author=Andy Greenberg |date=April 30, 2007 |access-date=May 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502074629/http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/04/29/sanar-google-skyfacet-tech-cx_ag_0430googhell.html?partner=rss |archive-date=May 2, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Search engines can change their algorithms, impacting a website's search engine ranking, possibly resulting in a serious loss of traffic. According to Google's CEO, [[Eric Schmidt]], in 2010, Google made over 500 algorithm changes – almost 1.5 per day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/13000-precision-evaluations-schmidts-testimony-reveals-how-google-tests-algorithm-changes-93740|title=Schmidt's testimony reveals how Google tests algorithm changes|author=Matt McGee|date=September 21, 2011|access-date=January 4, 2012|archive-date=January 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117152309/http://searchengineland.com/13000-precision-evaluations-schmidts-testimony-reveals-how-google-tests-algorithm-changes-93740|url-status=live}}</ref> It is considered a wise business practice for website operators to liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.useit.com/alertbox/search_engines.html|publisher=useit.com|title=Search Engines as Leeches on the Web|date=January 9, 2006|access-date=May 14, 2007|author=Jakob Nielsen|author-link=Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)|archive-date=August 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825022222/http://www.useit.com/alertbox/search_engines.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to accessibility in terms of web crawlers (addressed above), user [[web accessibility]] has become increasingly important for SEO.