The State of SEO in 2008 Revisited

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of strategies and techniques used to optimize a website’s visibility in search engine results. SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or webpage in a search engine’s unpaid results. It is a powerful tool for businesses to increase their website rankings, drive traffic, and boost their online visibility.

In 2008 SEO was just beginning to gain mainstream awareness. Prior to then, SEO was primarily the domain of webmasters, with only a few cutting-edge marketers leveraging the potential of the technology. By 2008, more and more marketers were beginning to recognize the importance of SEO in driving organic traffic and improving their online visibility.

SEO in 2008 was focused largely on keyword-focused content. Keywords were (and are) the foundation of SEO, and web content had to be optimized for certain keywords in order to have any chance of ranking in the search engines. This meant that webmasters had to analyze the search engine’s algorithm and determine which keywords should be targeted in order to maximize their website’s visibility. This was a tedious process that required a great deal of time and effort.

Link building was also an important part of SEO in 2008. The search engines looked at the number and quality of inbound links to a webpage when determining its ranking in the results. Backlinks from high authority sites were particularly important, as they demonstrated to the search engine that the webpage was authoritative and reputable. This was a time-consuming process, as link building had to be done manually and could not be automated.

In 2008, webmasters were just beginning to realize the importance of having an optimized website that was easy to use and navigate. The search engines began to place more emphasis on user experience, so webmasters had to pay attention to optimizing their websites for usability. This meant ensuring that the website was accessible from all devices, had a responsive design, and was optimized for mobile. Additionally, webmasters had to prioritize creating a website that provided a good user experience. This included making sure that the website was easy to use, had a clean and attractive design, and provided users with valuable and relevant content.

Finally, 2008 was a year where marketers began to realize the importance of social media marketing. Social media was just beginning to take off, and marketers were starting to recognize its potential to reach a wider audience. This meant that SEO had to include optimizing content for social media, as well as utilizing social media to build relationships with customers and potential customers.

Today, SEO in 2008 looks significantly different than it did 12 years ago. The internet has changed drastically, and so has SEO. However, the core principles of SEO remain unchanged: create high quality, keyword-focused content, build quality backlinks, and prioritize user experience. By leveraging these core principles, businesses can still achieve strong organic search engine results in 2020.