We’ve been putting a lot of time and energy into writing Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, and sometimes when the candles are burning low, we find ourselves asking a rather daunting question: Does SEO actually matter? Really matter? Does it have any bearing on anything more important than who makes a little bit more money here or there?

It’s easy to see how important search technology is to our society today. And clearly, the more information we have available at our fingertips, the greater need we have for good filtering (i.e., searching) capabilities. And the form of SEO that we preach is “ethical” in that it partners with the search engines, helping them find the right information and make the best choices in search.

So, yes, it does matter. Real lives can be affected by search results – believe it or not. For example, not long ago a friend of ours went googling for objective medical information about a fertility procedure, but found all the results were from websites with a religious agenda. She was so taken aback that she gave up on using the internet to learn more. A friend of ours lamented at a party that he shares a full first and last name with a registered sex offender – who outranks him on search engines. Another friend suffers because the top ranked listing for her name shows a picture of her holding a cigarette – not something she wants her very traditional family in Korea to see.

This is a time in history when many people’s view of the world comes from the top search results at the top search engines. Search results can redefine words, influence medical decisions, or virtually snuff a person, place, or business out of existence. They are often the first stop for researchers and members of the media. And how many people in the future will choose a child’s name without first searching for the name in a search engine?

It’s easy to see how important search technology is to our society today. And clearly, the more information we have available at our fingertips, the greater need we have for good filtering (ie, searching) capabilities. And the form of SEO that we preach is “ethical” in that it partners with the search engines, helping them find the right information and make the best choices in search.

So, yes, it does matter. Real lives can be affected by search results – believe it or not. For example, not long ago a friend of ours went googling for objective medical information about a fertility procedure, but found all the results were from websites with a religious agenda. She was so taken aback that she gave up on using the internet to learn more. A friend of ours lamented at a party that he shares a full first and last name with a registered sex offender – who outranks him on search engines. Another friend suffers because the top ranked listing for her name shows a picture of her holding a cigarette – not something she wants her very traditional family in Korea to see.

This is a time in history when many people’s view of the world comes from the top search results at the top search engines. Search results can redefine words, influence medical decisions, or virtually snuff a person, place, or business out of existence. They are often the first stop for researchers and members of the media. And how many people in the future will choose a child’s name without first searching for the name in a search engine.