SEO’s Biggest Changes in the Past 10 Years

A throwback of the most significant and dramatic changes to SEO in the past 10 years and how these will affect your website development.
Google User browsing on a laptop

No one can deny that Search Engine Optimization, a.k.a. SEO, is the most influential marketing strategy in the world. This also goes to say that SEO is the most progressive in the field because it is constantly being updated and enhanced to ensure that “user experience” remains at the top of its priority. This is what makes Google highly competitive—it’s a search engine that doesn’t pander to businesses but focuses on people.

In the early 2000s and maybe even before that, Google has managed to solidify itself as the authority in search engine optimization. Every update and overhaul from Google leaves digital marketers clamoring to understand the new algorithms and how it will affect their website. Let’s take a brief journey through time and see how the SEO landscape looked before…


Keywords and Content

Do you remember those days when SEO was all about cramming in as much keywords into a single article? Back in the middle of 2000s, keyword stuffing was not yet considered bad, at least technically. It was all everybody was doing because Google could not yet do anything to flag website marketers from putting in many keywords in their blogs.

Until the great Panda update of 2011 when Google essentially said “no more keyword stuffing”, this event ultimately led to better more meaningful content on the Internet. Google Panda rewarded websites with a higher ranking in search engine results if they took the time crafting useful and informative content that doesn’t use redundant or repetitive keywords. Ten years later and this update is still highly significant today. We’re no longer badgered by articles crammed with niche keywords here and there. As digital marketers, we have the privilege and the duty of publishing content that our target audience will enjoy and appreciate.


Links and schemes

In the same way that keyword stuffing was a thing, link building strategies were also abundant back in the day but with no control or discipline. What does this mean? In the early 2000s, link building is what we now see as black hat SEO techniques or techniques that will definitely get flagged by search engines as a No-no. Link building, back in the days, meant stuffing many hyperlinks in articles and webpages too in the hopes that search engine crawlers will think a website is “rich” with links.

That kind of practice hindered a natural link building growth and it dishonors a website in the eyes of its target audience. Can you imagine going to a webpage only to find endless hyperlinks in that page without order, logic, or even relevance to what you’re searching for? There’s a reason this kind of practice is looked down on today. Online marketers such as yourself should stay away from this and focus on link building with websites that are relevant to your target audience or websites that will help your business grow in your mutual industry.


Users and experience

“How was your experience?” is an objective question that’s difficult to ask your website visitors, but this ultimately what you want to know. Did they enjoy browsing through your webpages? Was it easy to navigate? Were the articles informative? Did it fit what they were searching for? Was their online purchase easy to manage? All of these questions and more lead to overall user experience and this is now what Google takes into account when ranking your website.

Released in early 2020, the Page User Experience update considers metrics and other technical factors to rank a website and how it delivered a holistic Internet experience for its target users. So much has yet to be understood from this update but so much has also changed because of this. For example, loading speed of webpages is now looked into and even the graphics and ads for users is now part of the overall experience.


Knowledge and graphs

Do you remember those days in the early 2011 and 2012 when you search for a specific keyword and all you’ll get are search results? Google’s Knowledge Graph did not exist then but frankly we can’t imagine a world where this update doesn’t exist. Again, Google doesn’t pander to businesses but the Knowledge Graph highlights just how useful and relevant Google is.

The Knowledge Graph emphasizes on a level that’s appropriate for the user base and it adjusts based on search terms. As website marketers have also had to compensate for this update by targeting keywords and ensuring that creative content doesn’t just focus on one subject but can cater to several topics or niches.


Mobile and webpages

In the age of smartphones, websites have also had to adjust to smaller screens. Therefore mobile-friendly webpages have risen to the top of search rankings. If a website automatically evolves to smaller screens like in smartphones and tablets, users will certainly appreciate this and so will search engine crawlers.

Google rewards user-friendly websites because, again, it has to do with the overall user experience. Now that we’ve learned these major updates over the past few years, let us know what you think by leaving us a comment below. Let us handle the constant changes needed to make your content SEO friendly, contact us at 800-589-7346 or email us at sales@digitalvisibilityconcepts.com.

Share:

More Posts

Working with Analytics

Analytics Mastery: Power of an Agency

Unlock actionable insights and revolutionize your business with analytics. Contact Digital Visibility Concepts and learn more about our comprehensive solutions.

Helping small business owners grow

Driving Growth: Best Ad Agency in LA

Drive business growth with a reliable and effective ad agency that’s right for you. Contact Digital Visibility Concepts to elevate your marketing efforts.

Send Us A Message

Get In Touch​

Thank You!

Your Message was sent successfully.

We will contact you as soon as possible.

Betsy McNally

betsymcnally.com
WEBSITE

@betsy_mcnally_laouar_
INSTAGRAM

@BetsyMcNallyLaouarGymnastics FACEBOOK

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
Sports

Results:

  • 28 Messages in 25 days
  • $3.07 Cost Per Result
  • 222.4% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 8% Increase in Instagram Reach

Storms Fine Art

SOCIAL MEDIA

No Limit Creation

SOCIAL MEDIA

Liquidela

SOCIAL MEDIA

Freddie Mac

SOCIAL MEDIA

MY TRIPWELL

SOCIAL MEDIA

Hugos Restaurant

SOCIAL MEDIA

TDS Photography

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

Hugos Tacos

SOCIAL MEDIA

Trauma Book by Nikki Navarro

traumabooknikki.com
WEBSITE

@NikkiShe777
FACEBOOK

Service:

Social Media Management and Facebook Ads

Industry:
Creative

Results:

  • 4939 Page Like Increased in 60 Days
  • $0.12 Cost Per Result
  • 8M% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 322K% Increase in Instagram Reach

SnapCrack

snapcrack.com
WEBSITE

@snapcrackchiropractic
FACEBOOK

@snapcrackchiropractic INSTAGRAM

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
Health and Wellness

Results:

  • 174,879 Reach in 30 days
  • $0.005 Cost Per Result
  • 40.2% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 81.8% Increase in Instagram Reach

Events and Travels by Verrandie

traumabooknikki.com
WEBSITE

@verrandie.nelson
FACEBOOK

@eventsandtravelsbyverrandie
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
Travel

Results:

  • 359 Leads in 30 days
  • $1.32 Cost Per Result
  • 8% Increase in Facebook Reach

Loyal Collectables

seasidemetaldesigns.com
WEBSITE

@LoyalCollectables
FACEBOOK

@1loyalcollectables
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
eCommerce

Results:

  • 1,615 Website Traffic in 30 days
  • $0.05 Cost Per Result
  • 58.7% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 161.1% Increase in Instagram Reach

The Undercover Contractor

theundercovercontractor.com
WEBSITE

@theundercovercontractor
FACEBOOK

@theundercovercontractor
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Social Media Management and Facebook Ads

Industry:
Creative

Results:

  • 10,200 Ad Recall in 30 days
  • $0.03 Cost Per Result
  • 12.2K% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 5.5K% Increase in Instagram Reach

Golden State Orthodontic Supply

gsorthosupply.com
WEBSITE

@goldenstateortho
FACEBOOK

@goldenstateortho
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
Health

Results:

  • 89 Leads in 20 days
  • $2.29 Cost Per Result
  • 507.5% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 304% Increase in Instagram Reach

My Big Pickle Vodka

mybigpicklevodka.com
WEBSITE

@mybigpicklevodka
FACEBOOK

@goldenstateortho
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
Food and Beverage

Results:

  • 432 Website Traffic with Landing Page Views in 25 days
  • $0.54 Cost Per Result
  • 158.4% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 21.6% Increase in Instagram Reach

West-Rep

west-rep.com
WEBSITE

@WESTREPNW
FACEBOOK

@est_rep INSTAGRAM

Service:
Social Media Management and Facebook Ads

Industry:
Interior Design

Results:

  • 77,548 Reach in 60 days
  • $0.09 Cost Per Result
  • 190K% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 11.7K% Increase in Instagram Reach

John Daniels Band

johndanielsband.com WEBSITE

@johndanielsbnd
FACEBOOK

@johndanielsband
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Facebook Ads

Industry:
Music and Entertainment

Results:

  • 3,796 Post Engagement in 32 days
  • $0.02 Cost Per Result
  • 208.1% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 77.1% Increase in Instagram Reach

Liz Fawcett

lizfawcett.com
WEBSITE

@LizFawcettMusic
FACEBOOK

@lizzrdfawcett
INSTAGRAM

Service:
Social Media Management and Facebook Ads

Industry:
Music

Results:

  • 148,119 Video Views in 30 days
  • $0.01 Cost Per Result
  • 47.2% Increase in Facebook Reach
  • 541.3% Increase in Instagram Reach