If there was ever any question about the power of search engine optimization (SEO) it should be long gone after news has surfaced that politicians in the UK are using keywords to draw online viewers to their website.

The UK’s Guardian newspaper reports that in an attempt to gain viewership to its "live rebuttal" of the Labour Party’s budget on Wednesday, the UK’s Conservative party purchased numerous keywords which would redirect people searching for terms related to the budget.

Jeremy Hunt, one of the Conservative members of Parliament, said the party chose this tactic because so many people go to Google to learn more information about something like a budget proposal.

"We understand that it’s important for us to serve up our views in different formats, and Google is one of the first places people go to when trying to find information on a given subject," he told the paper.

Hunt went on to say that the group’s recent foray into search engine optimization (SEO) is " a perfect example of how political parties should be using the internet."

It would appear that the UK is ahead of the curve in terms of using search engine optimization (SEO) for things beyond the business world. Recent reports noted that the government’s Office of Security and Counterterrorism would be teaching search engine optimization (SEO) to some Islamic groups in an attempt to reduce the ranking of so-called "radical Islamic" organizations.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.