To be seen among all others : A study about SEO and the work with visibility on search engines

The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine how search engine algorithms and the continuous growth of the internet affect the work with search engine optimization and website visibility. By using two complementary methods, one quantitative and one qualitative, consisting of an online survey and interviews, this study investigates SEO company employees’ experiences of working with search engine optimization and their thoughts regarding search algorithms and the internet. The result of this study shows that the continuous growth of the internet is hugely affecting how demanding the work with search engine optimization is. The amount of competition involved in making a website visible among all others is consuming a great amount of resources and time. It also became clear that the search engine algorithms are not really part of the greater problem when it comes to optimizing a website. Rather, the problem lies with the resources it takes to do so. Suggestions are made on what further scientific research is needed around search engine optimization. Foremost there is a lack of studies investigating just how much of an impact the continuous expansion of the internet has on the rivalry among websites to be visible and how much time and resources are needed to keep getting high rankings and visibility for a website