If you happen to own a business, then there is a very good chance that you have been told the importance of SEO. Additionally, you know on a personal level, the importance of getting on the first page of Google. While we will agree that SEO is important, we will also say that the first page of Google isn’t what it used to be.

But first, what is SEO and how does it work?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and refers to the hard and soft sciences that are used to scrutinize your website by Google and other search engines. These are the algorithmic factors that determine when, and if, your website is returned as a search result. For the purposes of the rest of this post, we will just say Google instead of search engines as they hold the majority of search engine traffic and are often the only ones that truly matter.

At the end of the day, Google itself is a business and their entire model is based on the idea of relevancy of information. Google wants to show the person searching for something as close to what they are searching for as possible. In the last few decades we have seen the improvements and evolution of this with Google, specifically through their auto completes and simple answers. The simple answers are when you Google something that has a correct, definitive answer, and rather than show you websites relating to that, they simply answer your question. A good example of this is what is two plus two.

Google takes several factors into account when serving up your website to people that might be searching for your goods and services. One of the biggest factors is time. In the case of time, the longer a website has existed, the higher it ranks with Google, and the more likely it is to be served up. This prevents a lot of black hat hacker methods from instantly putting any new website on the first page of Google.

Another factor that is vital in the case of SEO is meta tags. Whether you are using Yoast or some other SEO plugin, making sure your key words are rich and varied is very important. By being calculated in what your metas are, you ensure that your website is an expert in your field and thereby encourage Google to serve you up higher.

The other factor that is a major (and often overlooked) player in the SEO game, is how often you website is updated. We have written about the importance of blogging before, but this is an excellent change to reiterate it. The world is changing every passing moment, Google is a massive part of this ever changing landscape and realizes that websites that are adding more content constantly are more likely to be of value to searchers. Whether you update your website once a month or once a week, frequent updates and blogs are important for a truly well maintained website.

At the end of the day we also want to say that the front page of Google is not what it used to be. Right now if you go and Google the phrase “moving company” odds are you will actually receive results on the first page of Google for companies that are actually relevant to you and the area that you live and work. This ties back to the concept of relevancy and the sheer amount of data that Google has on you. Clearly the front page is no longer a one size fits all scenario.

So while SEO is very important and vital to any business, it is not the end all be all. We would be willing to place a bet that there are dozens if not hundreds of moving companies that have paid “to get on the first page of Google” that did not show up when you Googled that phrase. However, the ones that DID show up probably had significant SEO work done to ensure search engines everywhere that they are relevant and deserving to show up on the first page of Google for that specific person.

In the end, SEO falls between a hard and soft science. One where creativity, expertise and diligence will see the greatest return on investment.