The evolution of SEO has happened rapidly in the last few years.
SEO managers used to focus primarily on optimizing landing page elements, building links, and auditing websites.Today, they do all that and more. Columnist and SEO Specialist Winston Burton describes the evolution of SEO and how SEO roles have grown to play a much larger role in digital marketing.
A large responsibility of an SEO specialist is to review a website to make sure it’s being indexed correctly and that there are no technical interferences that would affect visibility. Recent advancements in technology have caused the role to shift. Many content management systems have integrated SEO capabilities that fix problems without hand coding, and web tools like Google Search Console make it easy to detect optimization issues instantly. The focus of SEO managers has moved from technical analysis to spending more time on links and content.
SEO today encompasses a complex role. The position often requires experience across multiple disciplines including content marketing, social media, conversion rate optimization, and even user experience design. Doing the job well requires a working knowledge of various marketing channels and an understanding of how they work together to improve search engine visibility. SEO managers are now charged with optimizing brand content across multiple platforms.
