subject: Search Engine Evolves to Local Markets [print this page] Search Engine Evolves to Local Markets Search Engine Evolves to Local Markets
Two years ago, for a business to try to optimize itself based on generic keywords related to its industry was perfectly fine, and may have even resulted in an increase in business. However, as more and more businesses flocked to the Internet and the search engine landscape became more and more cluttered, consumers were continually filtering out information that did not allow them to solve their problems immediately. For many consumers, that meant being able to use a search engine to find a local store with a storefront, phone, and people they could trust. The major search engines caught on to this trend, and each began its own initiative to improve the technology which would allow its users to localize their searches.
Today, the search engine optimization (SEO) landscape is one of stratification, finding and serving a niche market. Having the top result on a major search engine does not matter as much as having the most relevant result for a geographical area with the proper long tail keywords as prompts.
Search engine optimization services have evolved as well, providing keyword, link analysis, and other services for localized geographical areas. The most affordable SEO packages are within the budget of even the smallest of start up businesses or self employed people. These packages and services go all the way up to the most detailed and precisely reported analyses that would be appropriate for any business in any industry, up to and including a corporate level. Affordable SEO services are absolutely necessary for a business to succeed on the Internet in the online market of today.
Web design is also merging with search engine optimization to create illustrative designing, a way to incorporate more HTML content into a more attractive design. With previous incarnations of search engine technology, the more visually appealing a webmaster made a site, the less able a search engine would be able to pick it up. Flash is not recognized by search engine spiders, nor were pictures or video of any sort, regardless of relevance to the topic or keywords or the amount of traffic it brought in. New technologies are being explored which solve this problem, making websites more accessible for the common user while allowing search engine spiders to accumulate data based on visually appealing content.
The prevalence of the mobile lifestyle has also brought many new trends to the forefront of search engine optimization, and the best SEO packages will now include mobile functionality. Methods are now being implemented to allow users to find places more readily using the latest technology.
