Search engine optimization (SEO) originated in 1997 to help websites rank higher in search engines. Early SEO involved optimizing website code and links, and search was dominated by directories. Google's algorithm looked at on-page and off-page factors over time. Major updates like Florida, Panda, and Penguin targeted spammy links and content farms. Mobile searches now outnumber desktop, and AI is increasingly important for voice search and personalized results.

1. Search Engine
Optimization
- USED BY EVERYBODY
- WHAT IS IT?
- PROCESS FOR GETTING HIGHER SEARCH
RANKING

2. - Why?
- Search Engines receive so much
traffic daily
- Most users choose one of top 5
choices
- Getting into first page increases
trust of a website by proxy

3. Speculation on SEO origin
Jefferson Starship manager mad that
website not on page 1 rank 1 of search
engine of time
John Audette & Multimedia Marketing
Group using term as early as february
1997
SEO started use in 1997

4. SEO very directory driven before
Looksmart + Zeal, go.com, Yahoo
DMOZ; Mozilla Open Directory Project
Yellow Pages for Websites

5. Search engines like wild west
SEO all on page
HTML Tags, Text, Links
First real use of spamming

6. Yahoo + Google
Google hardly known before
“Powered by Google”
Suddenly, Google is big name

7. PageRank algorithm looked at on and
off page factors
Quantity and quality of external links
to site
SEO users latched onto links
Created link building industry
Google toolbar showed PageRank
score

8. Google Florida update changed everything
Search engine filter
Removed results that had spammy words and
links
Retailers pissed at first, happened before
holidays
Ultimately, improved quality of websites

9. 2003- Google acquired Blogger
Launched AdSense
Served ads on publisher sites
Surge in monetized internet publishing
Not perfect though
Gave rise to spammy sites all about
getting money

10. 2005 - Nofollow tags created
Basic HTML
Used in link HTML in web pages
Tells search engine to not visit site
Does not give credit to destination site
Created to combat spam

11. Other notable updates
Jagger- hurt result ranking of sites that
used backlink spam and link exchanges, as
well as sites that cloaked content
Big Daddy- update to Google’s
architecture, meant to improve the search
engine, though Google has been very tight
lipped about it

12. 2006 – Google acquires YouTube
Today, more than a billion users
SEO just as important for videos as
websites
Google Analytics launches
Tracks and reports website traffic
Google Webmaster Tools launches
Lets webmasters view crawling errors and
what searches their site shows up in;
Google Search Console
2007- Universal search added to Google;
allows images, news, and videos to show
up in searches

13. 2008- Google launches Vince update
Caused big brands to gain search page
dominance
Google claimed it wasn’t to reward
brands, but to put weight of trust in
algorithm

14. 2009- Bing was born
Microsoft and Yahoo allied to fight Google
Microsoft powers Yahoo, Yahoo serves as sales
force for Bing and Yahoo’s premium services
10 year agreement
Made Bing the #2 search engine
Couldn’t dethrone Google, who controlled 70%
of market

15. Social networks happened in the late 2000s
YouTube, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
etc.
Social media helps SEO, but not directly
Potential for Links
Build an Audience
Branded searches
Example of 3rd
FashionNova went from nothing to 88,000
keywords in a year
Instagram has bad linking, so consumers went
to Google

16. 2011- Google search dominated by content farms
Content farms and auto-generated content
abusing ad sense to make money
Then came Google Panda
Changed algorithm to predict how actual humans
would view a site
Many sites saw traffic vanish overnight
During aftermath of Panda, Google launched
Penguin
Made to target link spam
After some tweaks, Panda and Penguin made a
part of Google Search Algorithm

17. 2012- Google revealed Knowledge Graph
Moved away from keyword strings
Allowed direct searching for specific people, places,
and things
2013- Hummingbird launched
Algorithm update made to address natural
language queries and conversational speech to
account for mobile and voice search

18. Many speculated “Year of Mobile” arriving
Didn’t happen until 2015
Mobile searches overtook desktop searches
2015- mobile friendly algorithm update
launched, updated search results to favor
mobile friendly pages
2016- AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages
launched)
Instantly loads content on Mobile

19. Nowadays, Google focused on AI for everything
All Google products have AI in them now
Voice searches rising
Users and brands adopting chatbots and Pas
Siri, Alexa, Cortana
All of this has changed and will change the way
SEO works

20. Works Cited
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-101/seo-history/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/florida-update/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/jagger-update/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/big-daddy-update/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-analytics-launches-to-enhance-conversions/2512/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/vince-update/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/microsoft-yahoo-search-and-online-deal-is-official/12132/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media-seo/196185/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/panda-update/
 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/penguin-update/