‘Ere, he says he’s not dead
Ever since the late 1990s the ever present mantra of “SEO is Dead” has been making its yearly rounds. Someone, somewhere, always picks up on the idea that search engine optimization (SEO) is losing traction or is dead to marketers. This idea is so prevalent, I heard it before I even got into the search engine marketing industry. Just like the “Bring Out Your Dead” scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail there seems to be people who insist that SEO is a dead practice of some bygone era.
I recently read a Moz blog that really struck me as strange because it used a tweet by Rand Fishkin, the co-founder and Wizard of Moz, to justify the adage yet again.
The author talked about how “SEO as an entity (sorry for the pun) unto itself is quickly dying.” That sentence sent up red flags because it is not what the tweet by Rand was saying. He continues with, “The more SEO entails, the more the umbrella term becomes useless in any meaningful context. For this reason, it is crucial that digital marketers learn as much as possible about traditional marketing and PR.”
I do believe that digital marketers need to be well versed in both traditional marketing and PR opportunities, but this is an increasingly digital age. Traditional marketing is losing its grip to the shear influx of digital presences and lack of audience in their medium.
Rand’s tweet is completely correct and I hope it just keeps improving. Google, Bing, and even Yahoo’s main goal and focus is on being the ultimate user interface for all users. They want to be everything for everyone. In this focus Google specifically has been ramping up since 2012 to be the de-facto search power by implementing anti-spam algorithms like Google Panda and Google Penguin. The more advanced the algorithms, the more benefits people who use good SEO practices will get. Making a user-focused website with clean code, compelling content, and an interactive design will always place you in better standing.
The simple fact is that SEO will never be dead
As long as there is a search engine there will be SEO, simple as that. Just as quick as companies like Google release new algorithms there are other individuals figuring out what those algorithms are checking, changing, and how to beat the system. Thus having a dedicated SEO Specialist to improve your digital presence is key to success in the new, always-connected Internet age.
Stay tuned for Sarah Adams’, next blog in this series explaining why it’s crucial to have an SEO Expert who can really dig into your website code.
