[New Wave] The Positive Use of Search Engine Optimization Techniques

Published 09 Feb.2021 12:14(KST)

Rapidly evolving media technology is bringing many changes to our living environment. The advancement of media enhances interactivity between organizations and individuals, providing value in various fields such as building new networks. Media establishes and offers a social communication space where expression, sharing, and mutual exchange are possible along with information-related means, and its scope is expected to expand further.

The expansion of digital media in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is also creating new terms that did not exist before. One example is the term “search engine optimization (SEO).” SEO is a technique that allows individuals to quickly and easily obtain necessary information by entering related keywords into a portal site’s search bar to find information (concepts, travel, restaurants, hobbies, etc.). It displays related search rankings prominently, ultimately guiding users to visit those sites. SEO not only facilitates convenient information searches but can also be used diversely according to users’ purposes, such as language learning, image searching, and local searches. Additionally, it can be utilized for public services for socially marginalized groups or the disadvantaged, as well as for educational purposes.

Private companies strategically use SEO to achieve marketing outcomes and measure effectiveness. For example, when a company creates a webpage, it gets indexed by search engines, and the level of search activity over several years is shown on the search engine results page (SERP). If information about a new product is posted on a blog and remains useful over time, it can maintain continuous visitor traffic and attract and nurture opinion leaders or social network service (SNS) influencers. Based on updated content production, synergistic effects can be created by combining marketing activities such as email and social media, maximizing final performance goals.

In this way, public and private organizations can achieve results in the short term by delivering announcement-type and customized information to communication targets through various types of digital media platforms such as blogs, cafes, online communities, and brand websites, and by inducing online viral participation that carries the meaning of word-of-mouth promotion. From a long-term perspective, it is also possible to execute actions to build and strengthen relationships by creating intimacy and increasing empathy with communication targets.

The development of digital media presents new challenges across society. It is increasingly necessary to recognize that the focus is shifting from traditional government policy or product-centered approaches to stakeholder- or customer-centered approaches, and to strengthen strategic and efficient media utilization capabilities. This includes integrating digital communication through IT technologies such as the internet and mobile, establishing creative viral marketing strategies differentiated from other companies, and outsourcing strategies aligned with global trends.

From a corporate perspective, while it is important how potential customers are exposed to the company’s digital marketing platforms, the influence of SEO as the starting point in a series of processes responding to performance measurement questions?such as whether customers actually visit the company’s platform, whether they utilize the provided information appropriately, whether they revisit the platform, how actively they engage in sharing and spreading by strongly recommending it to others, and ultimately how much they contribute to the company’s sales?is significant.

Jeong Wonjun, Associate Professor, Department of Media Communication, Suwon University