Google Gold

1. Search engine optimization can be defined as "the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine." To pursue SEO, some of the activities I did were things such as titles, keywords, and images that correlated with my posts. Especially for my titles, I really tried to accurately describe what my posts were because when people are on the Internet, they need short, simple buzz words to attract their attention. I also tried to use pictures that related with my posts, but also ones that were interesting and thought-provoking to attract more readers.
2. Because my product was a product (outlet) and a service (phone app), I had to make sure my readers completely understood my business idea. For each posts, my keywords were those that were suggested by the class such as "Elevator Pitch No. 1" or "Google Gold" for this post here. For my business idea, I wanted keywords that would stand out to readers. For my outlet, I used words such as "electrical," "transportable," and "light-powered" because these were simple buzz words that readers would automatically relate to my product. For my app, I used words such as "user-friendly," "visual," and "detailed" because customers main concerns for apps are how easy they work. As the semester progressed, my business idea never really changed, but for keywords, I just tried to use different, but visually popping words to catch my reader's attention and enjoy my product. 
3. For my blogs, the only social media that I used to enhance my SEO efforts was YouTube. On YouTube, I would post all of my videos of interviewing customers and my elevator pitches. I probably could have incorporated more social media applications such as Twitter and Facebook because you can get a lot of marketing done through those engines. On YouTube though, it was very interesting as it taught me how people advertise themselves or companies through the website. It definitely got the word out of my business better because even when I was looking at my videos, similar videos would also pop up on the screen and it would be from other people in our class. This shows, in a way, networking abilities and how you can connect through online social media. I think posting videos on YouTube gives more confidence in customers because it shows that your ideas are out in the public, and you are willing to share them. I think using social media in my blog definitely enhanced the posts, and I made them a important aspect of my posts so they wouldn't get ignored. 
4. My most viral post was Elevator Pitch No. 3, and it also had the most views out of all my videos on YouTube. I think this is because this is my most recent elevator pitch, and it's the best one so far. I think also because elevator pitches are being stressed more so these days that maybe people were watching my video while researching good elevator pitches. I think the keyword of "Elevator Pitch" definitely attracted viewers from all over the place who were trying to improve their own pitches possibly, which helped me out.
5. Based on my keywords, I did not make it on the first page of Google results, and I looked up to page 10, and still could not find it. I'm sure it would take a long time to find my post, but this means I have to be better at choosing keywords. I need to choose keywords for my titles that relate more to my specific business idea and not just overall what the post is about. This was definitely a learning experience because I realized it is hard to market your brand through these common search engines, and I will need to find the most effective way to market my company.