Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process that increases a website’s visibility to search engine users. The goal is to increase visibility, therefore increasing website traffic/users. SEO focuses on unpaid results, also known as organic traffic.

Unpaid traffic may originate from different kinds of searches, including image search, video search, academic search or news search.

We can distinguish two types of SEO:

  • On-page – all the actions performed on the website itself such as keyword optimization, headlines or using structured data.
  • Off-page – all activities outside the website, e.g., link building.

As an online marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, the computer-programmed algorithms that dictate search engine behavior, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. SEO is performed because a website will receive more visitors from a search engine when websites rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP). These visitors can then potentially be converted into customers.


  • first party data

    First-party analytics without consent: Your Digital Omnibus compliance guide

    The Digital Omnibus is the European Commission’s simplification initiative to modernize the EU’s digital rulebook and reduce consent fatigue. The framework would enable first-party analytics without consent when specific criteria are met, ending years of uncertainty about the use of legitimate interest for web statistics.

  • University website personalization: First-party data strategies for student recruitment and retention

    University websites receive millions of visits annually from diverse audiences – prospective students, admitted students weighing their options, current undergraduates, graduate students, parents, alumni, and faculty. Yet most institutions serve identical content to all these visitors, missing critical opportunities to engage each audience with relevant information.