Search engine optimization is not a terribly confusing industry to understand, but it is exceedingly competitive. However, it is an industry that many people simply do not understand. Larry MacDonald, the author of this article, calls SEO “getting a date with Google”, and I really like the term.

When it comes to SEO and being found on the web, appropriate content is the secret for website visibility, defined as “content being especially suitable to what the searcher wants to find.” It is the foundation of search engine optimization, or what I refer to as “getting a date with Google.”

If you want  Google to find your content, then it is absolutely essential that you produce high quality for Google to find. They will only bring high quality content to the attention of users, that is Google’s entire purpose. No amount of new SEO techniques will get you past that part of the equation–you must put out top notch content that people will want to see.

This article in the BusinessInsider is interesting because it tries to predict the next big trends that will take off in 2011. The author, Deborah Sweeney, gives some compelling reasons why going green, health and fitness, and technology security consulting will all do well in 2011. But it was her other pick that impressed me and caught my eye–Search Engine Optimization.

All companies, regardless of size, should have a website; however a website alone can only do so much.  The key to Internet presence is search engine optimization (commonly called SEO). SEO is basically the use of key terms within the text or coding of your website to bring it up higher in the search results.  Since many consumers only look at the first page of hits after searching, this means the higher you are in the search results, the more customers will see your business.

This is as cogent of an expression of the importance of SEO as one can find. It is an incredibly important SEO that most people believe will rise, not fall, over the next year. Search engine optimization will only increase in importance as social networking becomes more and more important to the functioning of the Internet. Props to the Business Insider, or at least to the author, for recognizing that fact.

Ciaran Norris is one of my favorite columnists when it comes to news regarding social media or search engine optimization. Here is his latest column to sweep the boards, which predicts when Facebook will reach one billion members. This is a gutsy prediction, mainly because it’s so soon. July of 2011 is when he predicts Facebook will reach one billion users, which means it would have to double in size in roughly one year–and impressive rate of growth.

When Facebook hit 350 million users, back in December 2009, I thought it would be interesting to plot a graph predicting when they might hit other mile-stones, based on their growth up to that point. And when we did, it turned out to be incredibly accurate: we were out on the 400 million prediction by a matter of days, and the big 500 by a couple of weeks. I’ve now finally got round to updating the prediction and I can exclusively reveal that Facebook will hit 1 billion in July 2011

Considering the total number of Internet users is currently considered to be somewhere around two billion. Facebook users would have to make up roughly half of the total number of Internet users. 80% of Facebook’s users now lie outside of the United States.

Every couple of months something comes along that revolutionizes the industry of Search Engine Marketing. The latest major change in the SEO world has been the introduction of Google Instant. Google Instant allows users to type a couple of letters and it then predicts the rest of the search based on those letters and based on other searches.

Google claims the page ranking algorithms remain the same (and thus SEO practices) despite the personalised experience of typing in your own sentences rather than obvious word combinations, but the effect on AdWords and the online advertising industry still remains to be seen.

Search Engine Marketing is in a constant state of flux because of advancements in technology, changes in SEO techniques, and trends in search engine marketing. Google Instant is just the next development in a long line of changes for SEO–but it will be interesting to see how the industry handles the change.

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