The Magic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The ultimate target is for the various web based entrepreneurial projects or entities to maximize sales through the promotion of the various products they have on their stalls. This target has/is being achieved by many through different techniques or ways and these ways originate deep from the financial times of history.

Since time in memorial, even before technology made its way into today's business world, conventional wisdom states it clearly that for any entity to make better its sales on the market, it must have something unique to present to the public,something beautiful, something strange but true, something that boggles the mind because of its ability to perfectly solve everyday problems, it is what people find interesting about the new product that will make them want it more, crave for it and never stop using or buying it.

However in the present world of computer technology and the Internet where the market is wide and opportunities are increasingly popping up on someone's desktop, phone, Ipad and laptop through a social network, an email service or an advert on the Internet, there is an increase on the way products can get known on the market albeit not unique.

Take for instance, local and World News Services periodically come up each with a different name and they have ended up competing on the market and have even emerged to be better than those they found already on the market, in fact they have ended up sweeping the market and making us forget about what we had got used to as the best news channels. Well it can be mind boggling especially if the new 'ish' provides the same services that the existing services are providing, what we may ask however is, Is the Newspaper business a unique idea? Do we have so many newspaper services that we always want to try out the new kid on the block? What is so unique about the new newspaper on the market that we have not seen before with the other newspapers?

Well, allow me to share an experience.

Nation Media Group is one of the largest independent media houses in East Africa, Central Africa and Africa at large. And making a few clicks to one of its digital footprints,its website, you'll be given light of its history. It is a media group that was founded by His Highness the Aga Khan in the year 1959. It concentrates most of its activities in the regions of East and Central Africa with the target of reaching better heights by extending its coverage to other countries near or within East and Central Africa.

Now I will concentrate more on its Television Station in Uganda, NTV Uganda.

Until 2006, the various television stations that were operating in Uganda were enjoying a healthy dominance over all things news and entertainment, the likes of Uganda Television(UTV) currently Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), Wavamunno Broadcasting Services (WBS), Light House Television (LTV) to mention but a few were enjoying crisp dominance over the public and were influencing public opinion in every way possible, with the news, the programming, everything, it all seemed perfect until November 2006.

NTV Uganda launched its services onto the airwaves.

Today the station boasts of its tight grasp on the Television News market and its undisputed influence of public opinion which is incomparable to its 'predecessors' who always thought that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.They are not actually dead but in limbo about how NTV came and took away their popularity. In fact they are highly despised by the public as second placed where NTV exists. Thats how fast public opinion can turn against you.

But why is it so? What portion did NTV Uganda, the new boy on the block, cast that made its competitors literally 'dead'? What technique did it employ to dominate the television industry in Uganda?

Well, it boils down to one factor which, among others is major in promoting products and preventing them from getting stale on the market stalls, the technique/strategy is Search Engine Optimization.

Now, what exactly is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine optimization or SEO consists of the techniques used in improving and promoting a digital footprint/footprints in a bid to increase the number of visitors the footprint/footprints receive. It is an Internet marketing technique/strategy that uses keywords to locate what users are most interested in hence enabling sales managers analyze by comparing how Internet traffic is flowing in their favour as a result of the various users' clicks on their hash tags,links and the use of the keywords generated by those companies.

In brief it entails the right words to use in your post on the social networks where your presence is clearly defined, the feelings you arouse into the minds of the different people with different perspectives about how things are moving, the hash tags that you create, the links you advertise; Are they on point? Do they inform the public about what exactly you want them to know? Do they have that unique aspect that makes other tags and links nonsense compared to yours?

It is all Search Engine Optimization, how you make sure that your digital footprints can leave a mark in the minds of people without necessarily physically contacting them. 

Every company needs a Search Engine Optimization Officer. And my next post on this blog will be on the roles of the best search Engine Optimization Officer.