SEO Is Dead

March 30, 2012 3:17 pm
LinkedIn

Is SEO Dead?  Only If You’re Bad at It.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how SEO is now dead.  Actually, it’s not all new.  Search Engine Journal has pointed out that it’s come up in 2006 (and even before) and every year since.  Quite frankly, the ones that claim SEO is dead are the ones who really don’t know what they’re talking about.

The reality is that SEO is constantly changing and evolving.  Google literally makes over 400 changes to their algorithms every year.  You cannot just set something up and expect it to be good forever.  If you want to rank well on search engines, it requires an ongoing effort.  You need to respond to the changes Google makes.  You may not get hit every time Google makes an update, but if you just let your site sit, it will lose it’s rank over time.  This constant change within Google means that SEO constantly has to evolve.  If you’re a hack, and can’t do that, then yes, you can say SEO is dead – at least your version of it.

Everyone has touted 2012 as the year of social.  Even Google rolled out Google+, which is clearly influential in rankings.  Does that mean that SEO is dead and that everything is going to be measured by social?  Absolutely not.  Here are two big reasons why:

  1. People are going to learn to manipulate social media just like they’ve manipulated everything else.  Spam bots (which already exist), people getting paid to tweet – all of those devalue social links, which means they can’t be everything.
  2. Your friends, even though you love them, are not always the best source of information.  Your friend recommends something and it pulls weight.  Their input is not the only thing you’re basing your decision on.

Don’t misunderstand, social is going to be incredibly important in the future, but it’s not going to kill SEO.  It is going to cause SEO to adapt, just like it has every other time.  This will mean that SEO will include social media, and good SEO will take that into account.  This is harder to control, but that’s okay.  It’s one factor among many.

Remember that the primary goal of search engines is to provide the end user with what they’re looking for.  The search engines want to try to create the best match possible.  The best way to do that is by creating good content.  Write something that’s useful and that people want.  Let the traffic flow naturally from that.  If you’re relying on SEO to take terrible content and get it to the top of search engines with shady techniques, then yes, SEO is dead.  Google takes the best and the brightest minds and puts them all together in one room to create the best product they can.  If you think you’re going to outsmart them by utilizing shady tactics and promoting bad content, you’re going to lose in the long run.  That brand of SEO is gone.

But, if you’re looking for SEO to legitimately increase the search rankings for a quality site  – trust us, there will be a market for that for a long time to come.

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About The Author

We specialize in b2b, supporting the clients who are the "The Brands Behind the Brands." These are the supply chain partners of brands, either in Tier 1 or Tier 2 positions, who drive value through the delivery of goods, services and technologies. We enjoy blogging about all things related to Branding, Marketing, Inbound, Tradeshows, etc... And we're always happy to talk about any ideas you may have that might Get You To Your NEXT!