The new location is 50 percent larger than the old one, allowing the Internet marketing firm room to expand

SEO.com outgrew its space in Bluffdale, Utah, and has moved into a new office in Draper, Utah. The new building will enable SEO.com to expand as the company enters its sixth year.

“We’re growing really fast, and needed a new building to facilitate that growth,” said Ash Buckles, president of SEO.com, an Internet marketing firm specializing in search engine optimization and social media marketing.

SEO.com’s new location is just five miles north of the former office, which allowed the company room to grow while commutes for employees basically stayed the same.

“We really liked our old location and most of our employees live in Salt Lake and Utah counties,” Buckles said. “We wanted to keep our new location as close to the old one as possible in order to minimize commutes and keep the talent we have.”

Buckles explained that SEO.com’s former location was on the border of the two counties, making it a prime spot for recruiting purposes.

“There is so much talent in Salt Lake and Utah counties,” Buckles said. “We felt our old location gave us a big recruiting advantage, and we wanted to keep that at our new office.”

SEO.com’s new office is located at 11781 South Lone Peak Parkway, Ste. 100 – Draper, UT 84020.

The new location is more than 18,000 square feet, 6,000 square feet larger than the old office. SEO.com currently has nearly 80 employees. The new office will allow the firm to expand and hire a staff of about 150 people.

“It’s crazy to think we started out with four employees in the basement of a home. … We’ve come a long way, and I’m excited to see what the future holds,” Buckles said. “We’re really happy to be in our new home. We look forward to breaking it in and taking advantage of the extra space to create more jobs and stimulate Utah’s economy.”

In addition to extra workspace, the new location has two large conference rooms and a training classroom. It is located next to eBay and features freeway signage along Interstate 15.

“As we grow, our plan is to invest in products and services that will provide the most benefit to our customers. We view this move as a positive opportunity for us to continue to grow our talented pool of search marketers and increase client ROI and satisfaction,” said Julie Martinez, marketing manager for SEO.com.

About SEO.com
SEO.com is a search engine optimization company that delivers a big return on investment for its clients by driving traffic to their websites through search engine optimization, social media marketing and affordable small business SEO services. Clients range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies.

SEO.com Outgrows Former Digs, Moves into New Office in Draper, Utah is a post by SEO expert Darin Berntson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum on Thursday named SEO.com the third fastest growing company in Utah that is younger than 5 years old. At a ceremony in Provo, Julie Martinez, second from the left, and Ash Buckles, third from the left, accepted the award on behalf of SEO.com.

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum on Thursday recognized Bluffdale-based SEO.com as the third fastest growing company in Utah that is younger than 5 years old.

In last year’s Top 25 Under 5 Awards, SEO.com placed fifth. Founded in 2007, this is the last year the company qualifies for the prestigious list.

“We’re so excited to finish in third place. The first year we applied, we placed seventeenth. We’ve come a long way, and we appreciate the support of our thriving community,” SEO.com President Ash Buckles said.

The Top 25 Under 5 recognizes high-performing Utah companies. Businesses are ranked based on job creation and revenue growth.

“They are the rising stars in the Utah firmament of entrepreneurial startups,” said John Pilmer, a Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum board member. “Repeated winners are showing that they have staying power.”

Only about 15 percent of business startups survive the first five years, he said.

“Young companies need as many friends as possible as they try to get traction in the marketplace,” Pilmer said. “Getting their name out there is vital, and we provide a showcase for these young companies all across Utah.”

The lists of past Top 25 Under 5 winners featured local, national and worldwide industry leaders including Zagg, Agel Enterprises, Interbank FX, Seastone, Altiris, Omniture and Xango.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among some of the most influential and successful companies in the world,” said Greg Shuey, vice president of client services at SEO.com. “And to think, they all got their start in Utah.”

In the past five years, SEO.com has experienced strong revenue growth. Since the launch of the company in 2007, SEO.com has grown from four employees to more than 80.

“We essentially started in a basement,” Shuey said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s paid off.”

SEO.com is an Internet marketing firm specializing in search engine optimization. The company has helped businesses rank at the top of the search results. Clients have ranged from small startups to Fortune 100 companies, including Mrs. Fields, Dell, CityPASS and Hapari.

A leader in the Internet marketing industry in Utah, SEO.com recently participated in a conference at Utah Valley University that let professors and SEO experts weigh in on the ethics of search engine optimization.

Still a Young Company, SEO.com, an Internet Marketing Firm, Is One of The Fastest Growing Businesses in Utah is a post by SEO expert Darin Berntson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

SEO.com President Ash Buckles

Following recent attempts by Google to improve online search results for consumers, SEO.com warned businesspeople this week that it is now more important than ever to understand how to strengthen Internet marketing efforts without offending the search engines.

Google penalized those who used aggressive search engine optimization tactics to improve where their websites ranked in the search results, said Greg Shuey, vice president of client services for SEO.com, an SEO services company.

“Providing high-quality content is key to ranking well in the search engines,” Shuey said. “When a website is built for search engines instead of its visitors, it could be penalized in the search results.”

The latest tweaks to Google’s search algorithm aimed to target “webspam,” he said.

Greg Shuey, VP of client services at SEO.com

However, with several high-quality websites dinged by the latest google changes, which forced relevant companies off the first page of the search results, Shuey said businesses must understand how to avoid penalties from the search engines when marketing to customers online.

SEO.com, an Internet marketing firm, is helping its clients evaluate their websites and make changes to minimize impacts in the search results.

“We do that by analyzing backlinks and looking for over optimization in the way links had been built to target specific keyword phrases,” explained Claye Stokes, a search engine optimization director at SEO.com.

With its so-called “Penguin” algorithm update, Google targeted websites that had content created solely to manipulate search results, Stokes said, adding that strong content should stress the benefit and value of what the website has to offer.

Claye Stokes, SEO director at SEO.com

Content written for search engines often contains lots of keyword phrases and links within the website, he said.

“Our intent is to give the website less of a search-engine-optimized feel and create a natural user experience,” Stokes said.

With the new algorithm update, Google targeted webspam, which consists of pesky, irrelevant sites with weak content that only rank well because aggressive search engine optimization was used to influence online results.

But every website was not hurt by Google’s changes. According to WebProNews, sites like Spotify.com, YellowBook.com and Observer.com saw increases in search engine visibility as a result of the algorithm update. Websites that experienced the hardest hits included SimilarSites.com, CubeStat.com and MerchantCircle.com, WebProNews reported.

“It’s about being real, developing relationships, talking with your customers and encouraging action,” SEO.com President Ash Buckles explained. “If you’re trying to build a credible business that has long-term visibility in the search engines, you need to balance your content development and promotion, link building, social media and speaking with your built-in audience.”

In a presentation at this year’s South By Southwest Interactive conference, Matt Cutts, head of Google’s webspam team, described the recent algorithm update this way:

“All those people who have sort of been doing, for lack of a better word, over optimization or overly doing their SEO, compared to the people who are just making great content and trying to make a fantastic site, we want to sort of make that playing field a little bit more level.”

Google targeted websites created primarily for gaining front-page exposure in search results, he said.

“Their content is weak, their value proposition is low, they’re obviously to human observers only ranking because of their SEO,” Cutts added.

While Buckles praised Google’s intentions to remove irrelevant content from its search results, he stressed that business owners must realize that not following the rigid new guidelines for marketing websites on the Internet could impact a company’s online visibility.

SEO.com Has Advice For Business Owners Struggling To Recover From Latest Google Changes is a post by SEO expert Darin Berntson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

When it comes to finding a local business, the Internet is one of the first places people go for information. With the rise of search engines, the ways people find local businesses have changed so dramatically that SEO.com is committed to serving smaller, local companies hoping to improve where their websites rank online. SEO.com President Ash Buckles reaffirmed this commitment while speaking Tuesday at an SLCSEM event in Salt Lake City.

To celebrate the company’s support of small businesses, SEO.com is giving away free search engine optimization services for small businesses. In the next six months, the company will select six businesses to receive free, local marketing. Companies may enter each month at http://www.seo.com/giveaway/ for new opportunities to win. Click here to view a video explanation of the contest.

Winners will receive free search marketing that includes keyword research, website optimization, business profile optimization, link building, citations, business profile distribution and ongoing execution, analysis and campaign management during the six-month period.

Because consumers turn to the Internet when searching for brick-and-mortar stores, local search engine optimization is a growing trend as search engines aim to deliver better results based on where someone is when they look for businesses online. With search engine optimization, businesses improve where their websites rank in the results when people use search engines to surf the Web.

Optimizing a map and business listing on Google and Bing are important first steps.

“Local search is vital because customers are looking for businesses online. Mobile searches have quadrupled in the past year,” Buckles said. “If local businesses aren’t visible, they’re seriously missing out on valuable foot traffic.”

While SEO.com remains focused on serving enterprise clients with national Internet marketing campaigns, local SEO services are ideal for shops, restaurants and those providing professional work like doctors, dentists, attorneys and accountants. Bryan Phelps, local search director for SEO.com, said Google leads the way in providing maps for those searching for local businesses online.

“We get businesses listed on the maps,” Phelps said.

But the challenge for many businesses operating locally is using limited budgets to utilize search engine optimization for building a strong online presence.

“We have seen a great need to offer SEO services for small businesses,” Phelps said. “Our services make the entry point for small businesses wishing to rank high in the search engines more feasible, while helping them reach the customers their business depends on.”

According to David Mihm, a local search expert who presented at Tuesday’s event, marketing experts have estimated that 30 percent of all Web inquiries, both desktop and mobile, relate to local search.

“Businesses could lose customers if their websites do not appear prominently in those local search results,” Phelps said.

He said his team has a deep understanding of how map algorithms work and the factors search engines use to determine where local businesses rank in the search results.

“Google and other search engines have dedicated a ton of real estate to local businesses. Our goal is to help push your company to the top of the search results,” Phelps said.

SEO.com Drives Online Visibility for Small Businesses by Giving Back is a post by SEO expert Darin Berntson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

More than a year ago Google introduced the Panda algorithm update, which fundamentally changed the search engine optimization industry. On April 19, SEO.com will host a free webinar analyzing the impact of Google’s algorithm changes on search engine rankings for many websites.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the Panda update since it came out,” said David Malmborg, a search engine optimization expert at SEO.com. “However, the majority of that talk has been directed toward Web designers and SEO professionals. This webinar will address the Panda update from a marketing point of view.”

Search engine optimization is the process of improving a website’s visibility in search engines like Google and Bing.com.

“The webinar will explain how SEO applies to marketing and website content,” said Malmborg, who will present at Thursday’s webinar. “It will also explain what parts of Panda business owners and marketers need to pay attention to.”

Since its release in February 2011, the Panda algorithm update has been revised about 14 times by Google.

“Panda is an attempt by Google to rate the quality of website content,” said Claye Stokes, SEO director at SEO.com. “The websites that suffered the most from the Panda update were sites that copied content from other sites and didn’t have very unique or high-quality content of their own.”

Stokes said lower profile blog-like websites were most negatively affected by Panda, not business and ecommerce sites.

But according to Malmborg, “marketers and business owners need to care about SEO and the Panda update because it directly affects their online visibility.”

SEO experts estimate that more than 80 percent of websites affected by Google’s algorithm changes are still struggling to regain strong search engine rankings.

The SEO.com webinar will detail the significance of Google Panda and how it relates to online content and organic SEO. The presentation will also provide tips on how to recover from previous Google Panda impacts and how to prepare for future updates.

“Whether you’re trying to start your own business and are just starting the website creation process, or you’re a marketing director for a large company maintaining a website, this webinar will tell you what you need to know and keep your eyes out for,” Malmborg said.

The webinar is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time and will last for about 40 minutes. To register for the webinar, visit http://www.seo.com/webinars/impact-googles-panda-update-content/.

SEO.com Will Host Webinar to Explore Impacts of the Panda Algorithm Update on Content is a post by SEO expert Jon Reese. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

SEO.com President Ash Buckles will volunteer as a judge for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City. The event will bring more than 14,000 high school students from around the world to compete in marketing, management, finance, hospitality, tourism and entrepreneurship.

“I volunteered as a judge for DECA in 2010,” said Buckles. “I really enjoyed it, so I decided to volunteer again. This year I will be a judge for the sports and entertainment marketing series event.”

The conference is on April 30 at the Salt Palace Convention Center. DECA is still seeking business professionals to volunteer as judges for more than 40 competitive events.

“It’s a great opportunity to help the next generation of business people and entrepreneurs,” said Shane Thomas, director of competitive events for DECA Inc.

DECA is a non-profit student organization catering to high school and college students who are focused on careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

“A lot of students have been working on their project since the very beginning of the school year,” Thomas said. “The sports and entertainment marketing series event is a role playing event.”

While role playing, students are given 10 minutes to read over a scenario. Each scenario poses a problem the student must solve. Judges are presented with the solutions.

Students compete for mostly recognition, though some events offer monetary awards.

“We believe it’s important to stay involved in the community,” Buckles said. “What better way to get involved than to take an interest in our future employees?”

SEO.com, a leading provider of search engine optimization services, stays active in education circles in Utah. The company has presented in various business classes at Davis High School, sponsored the BYU Marriott School’s Sales Idol Finals and hosted a conference at Utah Valley University discussing the ethics of search engine optimization.

“SEO.com has been a valuable source of information for use in my social media marketing class,” said Jeff McCauley, business teacher and DECA adviser at Davis High School. “They have provided insight that my students found interesting and useful.”

Buckles said that SEO.com is interested in seeing what these students will contribute to the business world as they enter the professional workforce.

“We want to offer our expertise to these students. We want to tell them why search engine optimization, social media and other Internet marketing strategies are important components to effectively running and promoting their business,” Buckles said. “It’s important to us to prepare them for success.”

He encouraged other businesspeople to volunteer as judges for DECA.

To volunteer, applicants should visit http://www.deca.org/events/judge. All volunteers will be provided free parking, breakfast, lunch and an onsite orientation session.

“It’s all about the students and to see hardworking students achieve their goals and work toward this accomplishment,” Thomas said.

SEO.com President Volunteers for International DECA Competition is a post by SEO expert Jon Reese. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

Entrepreneur Daymond John and an official from SEO.com spoke to high school students in March. John was in the classroom via Google+.

Daymond John, president of FUBU clothing and panelist on ABC’s “Shark Tank” will lecture to a group of Utah high school students on March 29. By utilizing the power of Google+, students will have the opportunity to engage via webcam with the entrepreneur. SEO.com will also present at the event about the need for small businesses to maintain a presence in social media.

“This lets students who would never get a personal interaction with Daymond John have one,” said Jeff McCauley, a business teacher at Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah.

“Shark Tank” gives budding entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their ideas to a panel of successful businesspeople. Contestants vie for the chance to make their dreams come true by securing funding for their business ambitions.

“I show the show to my class sometimes,” said McCauley, whose students are holding the event. “It’s pretty interesting having them point out the real-life situations I try to teach in my lessons.”

McCauley, who contacted John through Twitter to arrange the event, said his students can learn a lot from John, both as an entrepreneur and investor.

The Google+ webcam chat function, known as a hangout, has given McCauley the ability to bring big-name business professionals into the classroom via social media.

“Google+ is great because it’s easy and free,” he said. “I’ve held three classroom hangouts since the social network came out last year.”

SEO.com President Ash Buckles said a hangout on Google+ is a great way to discuss entrepreneurship between students and prominent entrepreneurs like John. It bridges the communication gap and exposes the next generation to social media tools and how to use them for business purposes. Google considers social activities like hangouts, +1 votes and written content when ranking search engine results, so each business benefits long after the initial hangout by archiving their brand’s content with more visible search rankings.

“Google+ is a free marketing tool,” said Buckles, an Internet marketing expert. “Where Facebook is used to connect with friends and share pictures, Google+ is heavily influencing how pages are ranked in Google. … Google is using social to better refine search. It’s using people’s preferences and social tendencies for making search results more relevant.”

He added that SEO.com is watching closely as teachers like McCauley train the next generation of entrepreneurs and social media marketers. SEO.com just launched a new program for small business owners and startup entrepreneurs who are hoping to improve where their websites rank in search results.

“Google and other search engines have dedicated a ton of real estate to small, local businesses,” said Bryan Phelps, a director of search engine optimization at SEO.com. “Our goal is to help push smaller companies to the top of the heap.”

He said businesses risk losing customers if they do not grasp how to market themselves on social media websites like Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Features like Circles on Google+ allow companies to target select audiences with products and services specifically created for them.

“That is a tool that you cannot find anywhere else,” said Darin Berntson, social media marketing manager for SEO.com.

The hangout with John will be recorded on Google+. Officials will place the recording on YouTube after the event

‘Shark Tank’ Panelist Will Use Google+ to Address Students is a post by SEO expert Jon Reese. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

Utah Valley University will host a conference this week on the ethics of white hat and black hat search engine optimization techniques. Executives from SEO.com along with several professors will present on this controversial topic. The conference will take place at the university on March 8 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend and brown bag lunches will be served.

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website in the search engine rankings. The ethical question businesses face is should they use accepted white hat SEO techniques for stronger, long-term search engine results or black hat techniques, which though unscrupulous may produce more immediate results. Internet marketing experts view black hat SEO as unethical.

Still, this is an area often discussed by organizations using SEO companies to help grow their presence online. Industry leaders weighed in on the ethical issues businesses face when choosing white hat or black hat SEO techniques.

“Businesses should make sure that they are ranking high in the search engines for the right reasons, not by taking shortcuts,” said SEO.com President Ash Buckles, a presenter at the conference. “SEO companies should have nothing to hide in the work they are doing. … Online marketing has seen rapid changes for more than 15 years. The standards of 1997 do not match the standards of 2012. Ideally, a search strategy is established and the work performed thereafter improves visibility without risking your brand through deceptive techniques.”

Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land added, “Pick any industry, and there are generally accepted rules of behavior. Some people want to push outside those rules. Some may win by doing so. Some also get hit with penalties.”

“I think it’s far better to ask yourself if what you’re doing is something you’re proud of. If you’re link spamming a blog that’s a tribute to someone who died, is that really what you want to hold your head up about? My biggest disappointment really tends to be that people will justify poor behavior all around with arguments that other people are getting away with it,” Sullivan said.

SEO expert David Mihm described tactics some search marketing firms use that may be deceptive to consumers.

“Things that would fall into this category would be fake reviews of your business, fake reviews of your competitors, fake Facebook or Google+ or Twitter personas that are not obviously fake, creating fake locations for your business, hijacking competitors’ business listings, dynamic price-switching tactics,” Mihm explained. “This should certainly be avoided morally and ethically and may even be illegal.”

One technique often debated is the purchasing of links to build search engine presence. Mihm doesn’t find any ethical issue with buying links, but recommended businesses stay away from this tactic so companies are not penalized by the search engines.

Utah Valley University assistant professor Arlen Card questioned whether Google should be the ethical arbiters on the Internet.

“Maybe the ethical issue is not about breaking Google’s rules, but instead about Google skewing and steering the Web in unnatural ways for their own ends – profit,” said Card, a presenter at the conference.

View Ash Buckles’ slides from the event

Conference Will Let Professors and Industry Experts Weigh in on the Ethics of Search Engine Optimization is a post by SEO expert Jon Reese. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

SEO.com Social Media Manager Darin "Doc" Berntson will be raising money this week for schools as he travels to the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin,Texas. Berntson will stop at schools along the way to teach students about social media.

Social media has become a way of life for today’s youth. That’s why Chevrolet has put together a group of Internet marketing experts who will tour the nation teaching students as young as elementary school about social media in anticipation of this month’s SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas.

“The purpose of the tour is to raise money and awareness for Adopt-A-Classroom,” said SEO.com Social Media Manager Darin “Doc” Berntson, a member of the team from Salt Lake City.

Adopt-A-Classroom is a non-profit organization that raises money for teachers to purchase resources for their classrooms.

“South by Southwest (SXSW) serves as a perfect venue for Chevy to listen, engage and build relationships with next generation customers. We launched the road trip idea two years ago and added the charity component last year,” said Rebecca Harris, a Chevrolet representative. “The activity has been a huge success. In the past, the road trip teams have had great interactions with the schools, the kids have had excellent experiences and the teachers have provided positive feedback on the content and funding assistance. ”

Teams from around the country will begin their trips March 5 and will travel for about a week.

The Salt Lake City team plans to visit schools in Utah, New Mexico and Texas. The final destination is SXSW Interactive, a festival focused on technology. The conference includes presentations from industry leaders and networking events.

“I have always wanted to go to South by Southwest. The event has always looked amazing,” said Berntson. “The road trip aspect is just an added bonus. Being able to partner with Chevy and bring awareness to the charity as well as raise funds for them is icing on the cake.”

According to Harris, “social media is changing the way the world is communicating.”

“Schools are beginning to integrate social media into the classroom experience. Businesses are using social media every day. As these kids enter the workforce, they will be expected to know how to utilize these tools,” she said.

High schools and universities have even started offering courses in social media marketing.

“Kids need to be aware of what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable when it comes to using social media, and how these platforms fit into their lives,” Harris said.

She said that while elementary school students are not old enough to register for social media websites, Chevy wanted to teach the children about social media because they use the Internet.

“We are happy to be a part of the Chevy road trip to South by Southwest,” said Ash Buckles, president of SEO.com, an SEO services company. “Doc has a lot of experience in the social media field, and he is perfect to teach the next generation of marketers about social media.”

Chevy will have a map on its website with OnStar showing where the teams are at any given moment.

Follow Berntson and teammate Scott Duehlmeier on Twitter at @SLCSXSW. Use the Twitter hashtag #SLCSXSW and read the team’s blog at http://www.slcsxsw.tumblr.com.

SEO.com Participates in National Charity Road Trip that Aims to Teach Students about Social Media is a post by SEO expert Jon Reese. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.

As companies embark on their goals for 2012, this year officials at SEO.com said they hope to educate more people about how search engine optimization can improve their business. While marketers already realize that SEO is a rapidly growing industry, many people don’t even know what search engine optimization is.

Search engine optimization is a type of online marketing that helps improve the visibility of a website in search engines like Google and Bing. The major goal of Internet marketing is to structure, optimize and promote a company’s website in such a way that the website ranks near the top of the results when people use search terms related to the business.

But Claye Stokes, a Director of SEO at SEO.com, said his own family has no idea what he does for a living.

I try to explain it, but they really don’t understand what it is,” Stokes said. “Now I just say I’m in Internet marketing. The term search engine optimization tends to go above people’s heads unless they are in marketing or really familiar with the Web.

Instead of spelling out the acronym, Stokes said that people try to pronounce the name of his company as “see oh dot com.”

Though experts expect online marketing to grow to a $20 billion industry in 2012, even an explosion in the number of SEO companies, combined with efforts by marketing professionals to educate businesses about search engine optimization, has not greatly increased awareness of the industry.

However, Jon Reese, director of marketing for SEO.com, said that should change as more people eschew brick-and-mortar stores to do their shopping online.

Throughout 2012, Reese said SEO.com will use its website to show videos, blog and offer free webinars for those interested in learning more about search engine optimization.

There is a lot a business can do to improve where its website ranks in the search engines. We discuss those techniques,” he said. “We expect the popularity of search engine optimization to grow once companies realize that Internet marketing helps conveniently place a website in front of those who are already in the mood to buy.

Still, the term “search engine optimization” is still largely unfamiliar to the general public.

Randomly asking people if they knew the meaning of search engine optimization during a recent stroll in Salt Lake City produced some interesting results:

“It means faster ability to search,” Salt Lake City resident Jim Halcom said.

Others echoed Halcom’s explanation, believing that search engine optimization was something that occurred on the consumer end of the search engines.

“It means that I can find almost limitless sources of information in the right places. Anything I look for, there’s a lot of different things I can use to find it,” Salt Lake City resident Megan Torgersen said.

Some people admittedly had no idea what search engine optimization was.

Only one of the people who were asked knew the meaning of SEO, describing it as “calibrating the under-the-hood descriptions of a website so that it is searchable through search engines to increase the visibility of the website.”

That description was pretty close, said Jordan Kasteler, an online marketing strategist for PETA who is based in Salt Lake City.

Kasteler, a search engine optimization expert, said he has gotten used to encountering people who do not understand what he does for work.

What is SEO? Despite Industry Growth, Tech Term Still Not a Household Name is a post by SEO expert pparkinson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.