Signing of MoU, 27 July, 2010
Dr. Arshad Ali, DG, NUST-SEECS
Yusuf Hussain, CEO, Askoli (right)

WE DO RESEARCH TOO!

Askoli recently entered into a strategic partnership with National University of Sciences and Technology in order to conduct a groundbreaking research in the area of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Through this research, Askoli will establish a standard methodology and best practices for SEO, based on the principles of Self Learning and Graph Theory. The scope of the study includes research on the 200 factors that affect website ranking in search engine results.

The methodology will be partially automated through software, which will have the ability to optimize websites and improve their position on SERP.

WHY SEO?

The Internet surpassed the Television a while back as the primary source for information.

E-commerce is flourishing with sites like Amazon and eBay, and social networking is the new hype thanks to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

With billions of pages on the Internet creating veritable information overload and, it is becoming increasingly difficult for individual websites to be “found” on the Internet and attract visitors.

And without traffic, any website becomes useless.

BACKGROUND: EVOLUTION OF SEO FACTORS

With over three and a half billion searches conducted globally on a daily basis, search engines have become the single most important channel for directing traffic to websites.

Initially, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), or the process of ranking high on search engine results, mainly consisted of submitting websites to search engines.

With the advent of crawlers and spiders, also came a revolution in the field of SEO. Search engines began using algorithms to give individual webpage placements in search results, known as SERP (Search Engine Result Page). The algorithms were a function of several factors defined by each search engine.

The importance of these factors was compounded when Google introduced a unique way of ranking content on the basis of Page Rank (PR). Ever since then, search engine experts have been attempting to decode search algorithms to discover various techniques that would ensure a place the top of SERP.

SCOPE: WHICH ONES?

The research collaboration between Askoli and NUST-SEECS aims at studying the impact of 140 of the more than 200 factors considered by search engines to give priority and rankings to websites on SERP. These factors will be selected based on impact, controllability, time to influence, and cost to implement.

METHODOLOGY: WHAT ABOUT THEM?

The effects of the factors will be evaluated using Graph Theory and Self Learning techniques, and the results will be used to develop a weighted methodology, which would be used for website SEO audits.

Since Google algorithms are continuously evolving in order to present the most relevant, contextualized and comprehensive information to users; self-learning techniques will be utilized to evolve the proposed methodology and software over time in order to keep pace with the evolution of the Google.

Parts of the methodology will be automated and converted into software based on white hat techniques.

RESEARCH OUTCOMES: WHAT TO DO WITH THEM?

The research results and software will be utilized by website owners and operators to increase their search engine rankings and thereby directing more traffic to their sites. Selected educational institution websites will be used as a test bed to increase their SERP and traffic significantly during the course of the project.

Research learning will be incorporated into e-marketing course curricula for to equip students in this emerging and increasingly important field.