I did a interview last night and was asked some really really good questions. One of which was what is the future of SEO?
My honest answer is there is no future in SEO. From my experiences I am seeing Google SERPS results strongly influenced by Google Toolbar data, Google User history, and Google Analytics data. Googles combination of SEO and social voting via toolbar/history/analytics will continue to sway more in the realm of social voting. I feel this technology will only get better. I don’t think anyone can argue that core SEO has gotten less valuable over the years and I see that trend continuing. After all if you read the spam as defined by Matt Cutts (Google Lead Spam Engineer) he says:
“Web spam is when somebody tries to cheat or take shortcuts so that their Web site shows up higher [in search results rankings] than it deserves to show up,” – Matt Cutts
That is most SEO at its core. Sure you add title tags and meta descriptions but then you have to incentivize people to link to it. You are now seeing lots sites rank for stuff that have the goofiest URL structure, unoptimized title tags, and bad description tags.
Some of the best examples of how the Google algorithm is more favoring social voting (via above methods) are seen with the Google Sitelinks. I have had things show up on sitelinks that were completely noindex/nofollow and had no meta description or even on page content yet were the first item listed in my sitelinks… coincidently they were also the most trafficked item on my site.
So in my opinion there just is no future in current SEO for Google anyway. Its not going to happen overnight but it is happening.
Please keep in mind I am not a professional SEO and have never claimed to be. My opinions above are purely based on my experiences.
- Comment Likes 
- Comment Dislikes
January 14, 2010 at 11:59 pm
I have to respectfully disagree…to a point. SEO is still alive and well to this day. Although you do make some good point about google evolving. SEO techniques that used to work will no longer work (i.e. spamming), but valid white hat methods of SEO do still work and will continue to work for the foreseeable future. Will it ever die…who knows!
January 7, 2010 at 6:16 am
Wow.. what a great post to read this helped me lot in my future project.
December 16, 2009 at 6:33 am
After reading this article and all comments i decided that seo has a future but i want to say that seo is new technique as well many people don’t know what is seo but the day is not so far when seo also become very popular like as MBA, MCA ,BCA, MCA…
So don’t think negative do hardwork…and confidence your self….
Take care Byeeee
November 30, 2009 at 5:30 am
backlink in seo out
November 28, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Quality SEOs will always evolve ahead of the algo changes.
While Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is a relatively young archetype, the evolutionary worldview itself is as old as antiquity.
Ancient Greek philosophers such as Anaximander postulated the development of life from non-life and the evolutionary descent of man from animal. Charles Darwin simply brought something new to the old philosophy — a plausible mechanism called “natural selection.” Natural selection acts to preserve and accumulate minor advantageous genetic mutations. Suppose a member of a species developed a functional advantage (it grew wings and learned to fly). Its offspring would inherit that advantage and pass it on to their offspring. The inferior (disadvantaged) members of the same species would gradually die out, leaving only the superior (advantaged) members of the species. Natural selection is the preservation of a functional advantage that enables a species to compete better in the wild. Natural selection is the naturalistic equivalent to domestic breeding. Over the centuries, human breeders have produced dramatic changes in domestic animal populations by selecting individuals to breed. Breeders eliminate undesirable traits gradually over time. Similarly, natural selection eliminates inferior species gradually over time.
Natural selection dictates that only the greatest SEOs in the world will survive…and we WILL.
November 25, 2009 at 7:33 am
SEO has a great future..SEO can change the life of a Website in Search engines.
October 11, 2009 at 3:06 am
hello i am Alex i am doing a job as a SEO in a company but i am not satisfy with my work. There is nothing special in this field. Everyday doing a same thing. Increase the back links of client website. I am a software engineering student so i have to change my job means i have to go for programming or keep it continuing with this SEO job. please help me.
December 28, 2009 at 1:41 am
Hai, Seo has great future….So, don’t change your field…
October 7, 2009 at 11:35 am
SEO is a backbone of internet era. so there wont be any down for SEO.
October 6, 2009 at 12:37 pm
SEO will rule the web era…
September 9, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I got out of doing just SEO for reasons just like that. I didn’t want to be five years down the road and have done SEO for a dozen years and have no marketable skills. I went into the broader Web management area. I now get to use my SEO skills, project management, and other Web skills in an adaptable way that could potentially keep me working for a long time.
September 5, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I agree with you Shoe that SEO as a business will cease to be. It’ll just be something that is or a company does by building properly. You’re going to find a day where personalized search is normal and it’s fast approaching.
If you want an idea as to how businesses look at SEO within the marketing mix just compare the exponential amount of money that is invested in PPC compared to SEO alone.
It’s a brave new world…
September 5, 2009 at 2:42 am
I don’t understand how people think like that, seo has no future! this means google never change there algorithm then sites are on top remains on top for ever, if this happens then internet marketing closed and people don’t waste there time on internet to get ranked of there sites. Sorry to say that i completely don’t agree with you because google needs to change there algorithm time to time for developing interest of people, if algorithm changed time to time then seo never dies, seo has great future.
August 30, 2009 at 10:40 am
In an industry that is ruled by money, technological advances and visibility, I believe it is very naive to assume people will be governed by one company’s tool.
That company may not be the market leader in a few years and wherever there is cash and technology, people will be innovative and ingenius – that is human nature.
August 30, 2009 at 10:33 am
It would be extremely naive to think that SEO principles would remain the same. In an ever evolving industry of course it will change, however wherever there is money and technology, people will be innovative and look for gaps, that is human nature and that will not go away.
August 26, 2009 at 6:01 am
I don’t agree with this statement, “SEO has no future” this is not ture. research shows in last 5 years in IT jobs have increased SEO salary graph.
August 18, 2009 at 10:47 pm
i think People not only should go for SEO as a carrer..besides if he would do PHP,Html, or web desigining then that would be more benefical…
Only SEO as a carrer i would not preferred
August 8, 2009 at 7:43 pm
It will be interesting to see the future of seo in the coming months and years.
The internet changes so quickly I’m sure it will look totally different.
July 31, 2009 at 6:19 pm
SEO dies when Google dies..sad to see SEO go away so fast but there will be better things in our future to come
October 1, 2009 at 1:21 am
SEOs will die but google never.So changes are neccessary for keep future of seos
December 10, 2009 at 6:50 am
Yes you are right, SEO will never die and what if google dies, we also have other search engines, someone will take over his place and it will keep on and on.
July 12, 2009 at 11:58 pm
SEO certainly has a strong future developing their client’s websites so that in search results the rankings are what they deserve. It’s difficult for the new webmaster and they need someplace to turn.
July 9, 2009 at 3:53 am
SEO has no future, its an ever changing algorithm that eventually will be advanced enough to pick out top quality content, relevant to the search, with good title tags. Not backlinking.
June 25, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I also think that SEO have no future. Instead of paying attention towards search engine’s algos and rankings, one should heed towards making the site informative and useful for customers.
June 9, 2009 at 2:06 am
Buraya yorum yazmakta seoculuk mu?
May 25, 2009 at 8:56 am
hi! this template is simply super…
May 14, 2009 at 12:09 am
no its not . SEO has future
August 14, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Why people pay an SEO expert when google Adword and poplular websites like Alibaba.com are available.
Ok I do SEO for an Granite Exporter, my website is indexed in google top 10 with various keywords. My client also get inquiries from website, BUT burning question is that he get more better inquiries from Alibaba.com
Here I think people will use Alibaba.com or Google Adword for better results, as all of we know SEO is more costly than Adword and Alibaba.
Please send feedback.
May 9, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Akşam Liseleriyle ilgili bi site yaptım nasıl omuş?
April 24, 2009 at 2:47 pm
The Google algorithm is made up of may factors and a kept secret so people cannot manipulate them selves to the top rank.
I would say, seo marketing and optimization (SEO) is a form of manipulation.
So does SEO have a future…I really don’t know but I think it is possible.
April 23, 2009 at 1:46 am
SEO dies when Google dies. There’s an old ancient proverb: “TO SEO, IS TO OPTIMIZE FOR ONE’S SEARCH”
SEO IS A THRIVING MARKET.
You don’t realize it, because we’re not using old traditional methods, but rather, were our here on MySpace, Digg, and CitySearch making it happen and we’re better than ever. When you search, you find what we want you to find. Cut and dry.
April 16, 2009 at 11:55 pm
SEO has future but it is a very competitive field and have to be latest up to date. We can’t hope for online business without SEO of website. But it depends on the company or person how much and what knows about all the SEO techniques that google change every day. . This is the thing. To get online business a website needs dedicated work .
Thanks
April 16, 2009 at 11:54 pm
SEO has future but it is a very competitive field and have to be latest up to date. We can’t hope for online business without SEO of website. But it depends on the company or person how much and what knows about all the SEO techniques that google change every day. . This is the thing. To get online business a website needs dedicated work .
Thanks
March 14, 2009 at 2:30 am
I think SEO has a future, just that it will be changing directions. If Google decides to go the social route, SEO’ers will find a way to manipulate that.
February 14, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I can empathize with the feelings of the author. I get discouraged too. It’s a depressing time for the world in general. I feel SEO has a future but only in the resolve of the people who do SEO. Because sometimes it can feel like you are shoveling out hyperbole – essentially every one just guesses the Google algorithm and has to defend their guess. It’s quite untenable at times.
February 14, 2009 at 5:23 pm
What google has to do is just change their algorithm and all seo goes fusss. So just waitfor next change.
February 13, 2009 at 4:17 pm
thanks whats seo?
February 11, 2009 at 4:36 am
The browser then requests the resource by sending an HTTP request to the Web server at that particular address.
Utah SEO Firm
February 3, 2009 at 3:13 am
still i believe seo has very good scope bcoz seo give business.
January 31, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I knew that this would happen .But its going to be difficult for google .
January 31, 2009 at 8:22 am
Google is just a machine that follows instructions. They keep turning the dials, but it’s pretty easy to rank well. It’s all about links, on page and off page. Social site linking and bounce rates, etc. are minor factors (some of the “dials” they turn”), but links are still king (NOT content)
January 26, 2009 at 11:24 am
SEO future is not so bright. But will last for the next few years until search engines gets smarter with semantic web.
January 4, 2009 at 12:20 pm
good post thanks for the info all the users
January 4, 2009 at 12:19 pm
good post dude thanks for the info all the users
December 30, 2008 at 11:34 am
great article buddy..that is very nice …keep it up…I appreciate your knowledge
December 18, 2008 at 12:04 am
Good post. I was reading an article few days back that Google is now encouraging people to buy adwords. Any idea about this?
December 16, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Great Article buddy, I thin k you analysis Seo in depth , that’s achievable man
December 16, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I think you have to very depth analysis of Seo. that’s great and keep it up , Your article is really too good
December 16, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I think social bookmarking is also part of SEO
December 14, 2008 at 7:01 am
Well, I am not an SEO Expert at all, But I dont think so that SEO is dead or is dying, Still most of the people dont even know what this science is and how we have to implement it and sorry to say but Google itself earn loads from this SEO Thing, Google created the demand of the SEO and in return SEO paid huge huge revenue to Google and many other. Now if Google poses that they are trying to get the best results in terms of search for their visitors they are just acting to be innocent as they were those who started the whole game. If SEO needs Google, Google also needs SEO. And in my point of view if you are following ethical and authentic SEO techniques no one not even Google can kick you out
November 11, 2008 at 2:07 am
I don’t think that SEO does not have a future. Although Google keeps altering it’s algorithm for it’s search engine, a good SEO is one who is equally dynamic to respond.
November 7, 2008 at 11:18 am
I believe in SEO til the end!
October 17, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I agree that Google and the other SEs will be paying more and more attention to the ‘social voting’ system (which by the way can also be manipulated), content will become King again and you will need to provide more incentives in form of usability and interactivity so that people would link to your site (create your Brand awareness and loyalty). The interactive elements such as widgets, Flash and Java elements, AJAX, podcasts, etc. will most probably become ‘indexable’ at some point and will certainly require SEO. Internet will change, search engine algorithms will change, and SEO will evolve as well. May be at some point it will become more like Hi-Tech Marketing or smth like that.
September 7, 2008 at 8:28 am
SEO isn’t dead, but the days of manipulation are slowly fading but I think as you said it before, the future in whitehat SEO is in content and linkbaiting.
September 7, 2008 at 8:25 am
SEO has no future. I do not always agree with him as smart SEO’s have stayed ahead of the current trends and are doing much more for their clients to command the top results and generate targetted traffic.
August 30, 2008 at 6:15 am
SEO will never die…Only SEO practices/methods will change…
August 27, 2008 at 5:33 am
Great article thanks for this……..
May 19, 2008 at 9:10 am
I do think SEO jobs will get alot harder as time goes on but i think also there will always be a place for a good SEO if you can do SEO the right way.
In this world there is always change its the same for most jobs out there you have to keep up to date with everything new within your field of business or where would you be?
May 19, 2008 at 3:42 am
SEO still prevail in the end, SMM/SMO are the current trend but look some people uses it as spam especially on youtube, squidoo, hub etc…
May 15, 2008 at 11:00 pm
If you build a site that is relevant (for your KW) and has lots of valuable content for those KW as part of your SEO efforts, NO WAY will that site, or this process ever fail with Google, whose only job is to provide that content for their customers.
May 15, 2008 at 1:24 am
lol.. stimmt… Kennt wohl jeder das Bild mit dem AsSense Check
May 14, 2008 at 4:29 pm
So, you think Google is losing their stranglehold? Too many bloggers perhaps? the waters are getting awfully murky.
May 14, 2008 at 7:31 am
Branding is dead! SEO killed it. The fact that we have all the information we need to buy a product at the tip of our fingures HAS already illustrated that branding is dead.
May 14, 2008 at 5:07 am
i don’t agree with u at all mr. shoemoney…..u are crticizing SEO like nything…. how can u do this without knowing abt it… u urself have said that u r nt a profesional and haven’t claimed it either…… According to our estimates, u have played a tactic so that u can raise a controversial point to attract traffic on ur site…. and u talking abt seo….. ur website does nt have a single PR…..if u really wanna see the potential of SEOs, get us ur website and see it gaining quality traffic and an effective PR….. then only u will know the potential…..This is nt only frm my side bt from all SEOs around the world ….cummon all SEO friends…join hands with me…. we will show him the brightest side of our future…..
meet me on : http://2008-beijing-olympics-games.blogspot.com/
May 14, 2008 at 4:51 am
Hey i dont want to sound to tuff on his post but still can’t help my self that.. He is Charged all of you to his blog with this fake posting.. and developed a interest for the post and popularity generating traffic…
Because if that wount would have been the case why all these fuss… Just sit back and enjoy your cup of coffee at home ..
Rather than comeing with any thing as such post…
But well done … Go Hit the Bulls Eye or sorry rather Bulls Traffic
May 13, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I’ve been thinking the same thing about SEO when I first heard about it…only a matter of time before diggoogle or googlespace, meh…but then there will be yet another system to replace it, imo…
May 13, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I agree, “there just is no future in current SEO” however SEO is evolving and now optimization includes much more than on-page tweaks and link building.
But is social voting REALLY killing SEO? The first relevant social site WAS Google. Originally, pages were ranked based on [on-site] source code optimization.
Scammers / spammers caught wind and competition got fierce so then search engine spiders crawled pages then ranked based on (among other things) popularity, stickiness and time spent on pages. This is what defined a page / site as an authority, yes? That was passive “social voting” at it’s best!
Search optimizers began to provide link development and SEO copywriting and so on to adapt to the changes / evolution. As users mature, the “passive social voting” becomes active social voting and networking sites become more relevant in search engine rankings. It’s time for search engine optimizers to increase their knowledge-base and offerings (and with that, comes greater revenue potential).
As far as I’m concerned, SEO is becoming more credible as the skills and understanding required becomes greater and greater. SEO is and has always been a social strategy. Social sites and “social voting” was borne of search. They are natural progressions and optimization now needs to include them in their analysis’.
My opinions above are also based on my experiences and also those of clients and colleagues.
May 13, 2008 at 4:17 am
It have a lot of bright future !!
May 13, 2008 at 12:33 am
first of all, i not so sure if i understand your post… I’m an SEO newbie, and i don’t consider myself as the big expert, or someone who can actually handle a big seo account, let’s say i’m just another aprentice.
I have always thought that SEO it’s not about looking holes on the algorithm, it’s more about helping the crawlers to index my content, and not just that but also to achieve the number of sales through a web site. I have never look, just to increase traffic but to increase sales, after all that’s what it matters right ?.
there is a huge probability that i might gotted all wrong, so i would like to have some feedback on my comment from you, if it’s possible.
May 12, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I don’t think that SEO is going away at all, though people that practice SEO might have to evolve and give themselves a broader name like “Internet marketer”.
Examples of where SEO is still very important:
* on-page optimization and semantic markup like microformats that are going to increasingly be important
* social media optimization will increasingly be a part of SEO — not only for direct traffic, but to build links. The big challenge of SEO is link building. This is still SEO but with new techniques.
* site architecture to make sure that all pages are going to get crawled
* keyword targeting
* etc.
Techniques continually evolve, but SEO will be around as long as their are search engines…
May 12, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Absolutely wrong, I think.
SEO still has got future. Guys from Google can think about lots of ways to stop SEO but there are too much professionals in the industry to find their place. For the last 5 years there were no more than 3 or 4 times when I thought “that is the end of SEO”.
And what can we see today? Algorithms are changed, there are lots of Google filters but SEO is still alive!!!
May 12, 2008 at 9:34 am
I think social bookmarking is also part of SEO. so if you say SEO has no future is totally wrong.
May 12, 2008 at 8:20 am
Shoe, you’re wrong.
If Google switches to using toolbar and analytics data, they’re handing the SERPS to the black hats.
It’s a situation sort of like The Blade Runner. If you want to convince Google that your site is worthy of getting N visitors a day, you need to create enough simulants to simulate getting N visitors a day. Spammers face horrible stick rates today — my blog network gets hundreds or thousands of spam comments a day and almost none get through. In a toolbar-dominated world, it will be possible to get bigger results with less network activity than it takes today.
May 11, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Whatever will happen, we will move with the trend and find some other way to do what we do. In time there will be more pages, more visitors, more searches and they all want to be displayed at the front of their target audience. It might change but that inevitable.
May 11, 2008 at 7:55 am
I agree. In the past years Search Engine Optimization has lost its power.
May 11, 2008 at 4:08 am
Interesting post about SEO. I’m relative new to the blogging world but i feel that what you wrote about makes sense.
May 11, 2008 at 12:04 am
Quite a controversial Statement to make.
May 10, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Whist Google Toolbar data, Google User history, and Google Analytics data is becoming a larger part of Google’s algorithm it still has a long, long way to go before it will surpass inbound links as the major ranking factor.
You also have to consider that Google WANTS to count high quality links. Therefore it stands to reason that even when they place more weight on user data they will still want to assign more trust, more importance and better rankings to a website that has links from the most trusted sources on the web.
May 10, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I suppose that is why we can command fees 10 X higher than 3 years ago for the same end results Google top 10 rankings and why our clients are moving most of their print budgets to SEO. I agree that SEO as Shoemoney seems to understand it has no future but then it has not had any future for 3 years. Smart SEO’s have stayed ahead of the current trends and are doing much more for their clients to command the top results and generate targetted traffic. What will change is what its called we are no longer optimizing for search engines but multiple online properties. We started optimzing for universal search right from the start and its paying off big time.
May 10, 2008 at 9:45 am
For myself, this post is completely wrong and pure linkbait (Which worked!). The MAIN reason is the premise that social bookmarking is SEO.
SEO is a methodical and creative way of displaying ONSITE content. From the initial search research to unique and proper placement of target terms and basic meta tags, along with proper ONSITE linking… SEO is controlled by the developer and the results will be based on the ONSITE factors. (Along with MANY other SEO techniques and factors)
SEM on the other hand… well, that would have been a better post title (Aside from the linkbaiting) SEM Has No Future!
The way a site is marketed OFFSITE through social bookmarking, offsite linking etc, well… that may be dead! Long gone are the days of finding link farms, posting links with anchor text and ranking well. I am sure every other linking factor will find the same demise…
Just my take…
May 10, 2008 at 5:54 am
SEO has a future – Real SEO’s will have a future.
In SEO wat really happens is page Optimization so in one terms its “Optimization”
Any change is future the word “Optimization” would be there so in short SEO will be there may be in a new form – a new avatar or would transform into something which we newer expect.
World of SEO’s won’t end it would change as it is a cyle which has started,,,,,,,,,,,
May 10, 2008 at 5:13 am
SEO does have a future,,,,,, It’s very simple “OLD is GOLD”
Optimization will come in any form
So there is no end in SEO and its just the beginning
It would take a new form in the future
SEO – “Optimization will be there and it will continue”
Combining SEO will gradually make a difference
SEO is the base and so it will remain forever
The Real SEO’S will survive,,,,,,,,,,,,with new methods and evolutions,,,,,,,,,,
May 10, 2008 at 3:59 am
a different point of view.
May 10, 2008 at 3:15 am
ha ha agreed! The net is the perfect area for con artist to con people in the name of technology…”just pay me this and you will become a millionaire!”…ok so I’m a seo skeptic:-)
May 9, 2008 at 11:37 pm
It has already got hundreds!
May 9, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Whether or not you agree to the real points, but this post was an ultimate link bait jeremy
May 9, 2008 at 10:46 pm
SEO small business is the new big business in the St. Louis Missouri category of lets just call it specialty bedding. (Not going to use one of my key words and besides I do not want to get all spammy on you.)
My customers can find my products and it all started with 3 free courses at the local library. I introduced my business to SEO as you said during a shrinking economy and a recession; the future that looked awfully bleak is now looking incredibly bright.
Funny thing is I’m here reading this industry tech talk blog.
May 9, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I got out of doing just SEO for reasons just like that. I didn’t want to be five years down the road and have done SEO for a dozen years and have no marketable skills. I went into the broader Web management area. I now get to use my SEO skills, project management, and other Web skills in an adaptable way that could potentially keep me working for a long time.
May 9, 2008 at 10:43 am
This post is a killer… Wow, two thumbs-up!
May 9, 2008 at 9:51 am
You play the fiddle so well my friend, so well. You’d think after a while they’d figure out how marketing works.
May 9, 2008 at 9:09 am
SEO isn’t dead, but the days of manipulation are slowly fading. The trend is as follows: SEOs figure out something (and most likely talk about it too much), then Google figures out how to offset it.
Web design courses could easily include basic SEO knowledge & tactics. For instance, we train interns with zero SEO knowledge, and they are “pro” after 5 months.
I think have you said it before, the future in whitehat SEO is in content and linkbaiting.
SEOs will continue to evolve with the engines to ensure employment, at least the good ones.
May 9, 2008 at 8:57 am
its going to head towards a Semantic Web future combined with Social Media Optimization (call it SW+SMO). The bottom line is that Social Media is already in place and Semantic Web structure and protocols have been defined … whats left if that verticals start adopting it… that will result in it taking off and then the semweb will begin to “understand” the Social Media content rather than just working with keywords and crappy system of backlinks which can be easily gamed.
May 9, 2008 at 8:51 am
Lol, I guess Matt and Adam will do should be the ones to worry…
May 9, 2008 at 7:20 am
Shoe just a question, is this post a link bait
I think it will get hundred of back links.
May 9, 2008 at 7:07 am
You are getting nice response on your blog, dont u think so
May 9, 2008 at 7:00 am
Hey, u r getting nice response, dont u think so.
Nice SEO Dude,:)
May 9, 2008 at 4:51 am
I disagree this. SEO has future.. SEO Is not only getting high positions in google. SEO Have defined lot. This is increased traffic for the websites
May 9, 2008 at 3:55 am
Nice post. Thanks.
May 9, 2008 at 2:52 am
Shoe, you are right that TODAY’S SEO might not have a future down the road. But, to flat out say SEO is Dead is just friggn’ stupid, and you know this you Master Linkbaiter.
SEO changes and evolves some every year to accommodate the ever changing world of search and search engines. If you look back even a couple of years ago, I bet there are things you still do today to be successful on the Web, and there are some things you would not have imagined you’d be doing today that help you remain successful. And that goes for PPC, as well as SEO.
Who even knows what 2009 will bring? I do know, however, that all Internet Marketing strategies and initiatives like PPC and SEO will have to change to accommodate change…or they will die.
Again, SEO is far, far from dead. It sure as shit is going to change along the way, but that’s not different than anything else in our lives.
May 9, 2008 at 2:42 am
But there will always be websites, always be search engines and always people looking for stuff. Within that paradigm is where seo will live.
May 9, 2008 at 2:36 am
Hello!
this has no sense because Matt Cutts says that, but what he means is that nobody who do not deserve it will be appear up. I deserve it if:
- I make a good layout of the website
- I have good content
- I link with websites related to my topic
- nad more SEO actions…
These are all SEO actions. He does not say that the one who try to get up will be punished, he says that the one who does noe deserve it will be punished.
Sorry for my english.
Greetings from Spain-Germany!!
May 9, 2008 at 2:36 am
I’d hit it…
May 9, 2008 at 1:00 am
Quite a SEOrious response to a controversial statement, ain’t it?
May 9, 2008 at 12:58 am
Very well put. That is the bottom line. Having quality content around these keywords that are optimised will complete the picture.
May 9, 2008 at 12:52 am
Geez dude, got your point, but did you need to repeat yourself?
May 9, 2008 at 12:47 am
I have to respectfully disagree on this one ShoeMoney. I think that SEO, Real SEO is a great thing. I have seen it sparsely mentioned in the rebuttal to this post, but to emphasize that most people are unaware of the potential of a solid optimization campaign, or may not in fact know they need it.
At this point, the future may hold other options for “user engagement” as it pertains to sales and marketing, but SEO will always have a place as long as search engines exist and are a predominant means to drive relevant traffic.
The definition is far too loose at this point, When I think of SEO, I think of site & information architecture, content creation, usability, link popularity and traffic, if that is not effective enough as a description, then what part of it leaves anything for debate?
May 9, 2008 at 12:31 am
Very short sighted commentary. As long as we have search engines, we will have SEO – and smart site owner will continue to pay the experts to keep them generating traffic from the search engines.
May 9, 2008 at 12:10 am
(…completely noindex/nofollow and had no meta description or even on page content yet were the first item listed in my sitelinks..) I also analyzed many times for my site. google makes rules but its algorithm also does not follow the rules.
May 9, 2008 at 12:03 am
I figured this post would rack up the comments and trackbacks.
Nice job Jeremy
Got to give you props for stirring it up.
~Terry
May 8, 2008 at 10:42 pm
As long as SEO is around, the snake oil debate will be around too. I wrote a post agreeing with some of Jason Calacanis’s views here: http://www.thebigwaveblog.com/2008/04/28/jason-calacanis-of-mahalo-on-seo-bullst-wasting-time-and-the-google-gods/ but that doesn’t mean there is no place for legit agencies to provide SEO to relevant sites. Google can’t make $$ without keeping their listings relevant, so as long as PPC rules, SEO lives.
May 8, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I agree, SEO as the gurus like to make you believe is this magical place….. I’m just happy when I find one of my sites on Google for a specific keyword and the description is written so someone knows what the website/page is about. I know if I can build these two areas to match what people want….they will come.
May 8, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I agree with you Jer… Spammers are also smart. But somehow, optimization have to rebirth and move into innovative way that wouldn’t fool users and give something that makes user to comeback and stay tuned in site in any way.
May 8, 2008 at 7:45 pm
SEO is changing like all technology, keep up or die. I don’t worry about it on my blog, but I do on my business sites. Content is still the key. If you don’t have good content then SEO is a waste of time. The best site in the world when it comes to SEO is still garbage if the content is garbage.
May 8, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Nice post! Hilarious to see the SEO shysters come out in force to defend their jobs, but seems to me that there’s a harsh smack of truth going on here.
Simple upshot – web publishers will need to focus harder on making content somebody gives a frak about instead of trying to “game” the system. That has to be a good thing.
My one concern is this – now the same cowboys are raping social media instead. Twitter has taken a major hit from web marketing sleazers of late and I’m not sure I like the way that’s going…
May 8, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Until Google authors all web pages, SEO will be around. While it may become a misnomer of sorts. KWO is becoming the more accurate term “keyword optimization”. If a site is honestly optimized for the keyword(s) searched by the user, it will be a quality surfing experience for the user. The rest will take care of itself.
May 8, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Why assume SEO isn’t about writing great content and optimizing your site through focus on what your readers need?
There are bad car salesmen too, but we still need cars.
May 8, 2008 at 3:58 pm
SEO will be more and more about content.
a) Content on your website.
b) Content about your products/solutions on non-company related sites.
c) Content in PR
d) Content in blogs
SEO can cheat and increase the chances of being found on the Internet for a short time, but not over a long time span.
Google indexes all website at different levels.
Never forget: the goal of Google is to sell Adsense/Adwords – that’s their only revenue.
So where does that fit in?
Can someone proof you get higher scores if you buy adsense/adwords ?
One more thing:
Traffic in B2B is not leads.
We have traffic, now we need conversions
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/leadsexplorer.com
May 8, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I think when te time comes they will all shift to a new scam! They won’t die, they will evolve!
May 8, 2008 at 3:43 pm
wish I would have taken a screenshot
Also I have redone my robots.txt since so I didnt want someone to take it out of context
May 8, 2008 at 3:03 pm
“Some of the best examples of how the Google algorithm is more favoring social voting (via above methods) are seen with the Google Sitelinks. I have had things show up on sitelinks that were completely noindex/nofollow and had no meta description or even on page content yet were the first item listed in my sitelinks… coincidently they were also the most trafficked item on my site.” hmmmmmm – most trafficked item on your site – hmmmmm maybe these sections have the most links pointed at them or the most valuable links pointed at them????
May 8, 2008 at 1:12 pm
What a bunch of twaddle.
If the article is done for linkbait reasons, then why would you want to be known as an ass?
Lets look at the following:
>I don’t think anyone can argue that core SEO has gotten less valuable over the years and I see that trend continuing. After all if you read the spam as defined by Matt Cutts (Google Lead Spam Engineer) he says:
Core SEO has INCREASED in value over the years.
It is now more important than ever to design for the visitors, paying close attention to their search terms.
>“Web spam is when somebody tries to cheat or take shortcuts so that their Web site shows up higher [in search results rankings] than it deserves to show up,” – Matt Cutts
Agreed, but SEO is NOT cheating in any shape, manner, or form.
>That is most SEO at its core. Sure you add title tags and meta descriptions but then you have to incentivize people to link to it.
For the most part SEO is not about getting links.
The keyword here is “Optimization”
Getting links is SEM – Search engine MARKETING.
SEO is what is done with the site copy and in the source code to present its relevance to the topic for the visitors and the search bots.
SEO is writing the site’s pages for the VISITORS and presenting the answers to their searches in a manner that defines the content.
>>You are now seeing lots sites rank for stuff that have the goofiest URL structure, unoptimized title tags, and bad description tags.
Again this is only PART of SEO .
Content is King and can overcome some errors in URL structure and poor tags.
> Please keep in mind I am not a professional SEO and have never claimed to be. My opinions above are purely based on my experiences.
If you do not understand the SEO relationships between content, tag development and presentation then your opinions are off the mark and pretty much worthless.
May 8, 2008 at 1:07 pm
What a bunch of twaddle.
If the article is done for linkbait reasons, then why would you want to be known as an ass?
Lets look at the following:
>I don’t think anyone can argue that core SEO has gotten less valuable over the years and I see that trend continuing. After all if you read the spam as defined by Matt Cutts (Google Lead Spam Engineer) he says:
Core SEO has INCREASED in value over the years.
It is now more important than ever to design for the visitors, paying close attention to their search terms.
>“Web spam is when somebody tries to cheat or take shortcuts so that their Web site shows up higher [in search results rankings] than it deserves to show up,” – Matt Cutts
Agreed, but SEO is NOT cheating in any shape, manner, or form.
>That is most SEO at its core. Sure you add title tags and meta descriptions but then you have to incentivize people to link to it.
For the most part SEO is not about getting links.
The keyword here is “Optimization”
Getting links is SEM – Search engine MARKETING.
SEO is what is done with the site copy and in the source code to present its relevance to the topic for the visitors and the search bots.
SEO is writing the site’s pages for the VISITORS and presenting the answers to their searches in a manner that defines the content.
>>You are now seeing lots sites rank for stuff that have the goofiest URL structure, unoptimized title tags, and bad description tags.
Again this is only PART of SEO .
Content is King and can overcome some errors in URL structure and poor tags.
> Please keep in mind I am not a professional SEO and have never claimed to be. My opinions above are purely based on my experiences.
If you do not understand the SEO relationships between content, tag development and presentation then your opinions are off the mark and pretty much worthless.
Reg
May 8, 2008 at 12:37 pm
BTW – great comment bait shoe. I can’t resist because it bugs me to know that some schmuck with kids is quiting his job and jumping balls deep into “make money online” and won’t have a clue why his pages get no search engine attention.
May 8, 2008 at 12:34 pm
If you’ve got poor SEO, no they won’t. If all your links read like this… “check this out” or “click here” the search engine has no clue what keyword gets a boost. As far as the search engine is concerned you’re linking to a page about “click here”.
SEO is to websites as law school is to lawyers. Learn it!
May 8, 2008 at 12:32 pm
there you go.
May 8, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Thats correct. Google crawls everything but doesn’t index robots.txt blocked pages and doesn’t pass PR through nofollow links.
A robots.txt blocked page still receives PR from links pointing to it.
Theres some SEO for you, how many webmasters are wasting PR on pages they block via robots.txt?… like privacy pages and links that they didn’t bother to nofollow just because they robots.txt blocked it.
May 8, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I couldn’t agree more!!! I mentioned many of these points in one of my recent posts about increasing your Google PageRank. I suggested that the best way of increasing your PageRank and SERPs results was to not try and cheat the system. If you give it time and focus on legitimate content, the Google algorithms would work as they were actually designed to.
May 8, 2008 at 12:25 pm
SEO has a future, but definitely it will not be the same as it is today. It is going to evolve of course. Same thing if you look into the past… SEO of 1999 to 2003 had no future which was only stuff keywords here and there. But evolved into something else. Probably 2004 started the link game which is already way different how it is done today. And probably 2006 was the start of the social media stuff and linking is nearly out the window already.
I agree that the SEO techniques of today have no future. And many people might give up which is a good thing for those that will continue to evolve since it lessens the competition. So I am happy when people think SEO has no future or if it is dying. So I have 1 person less to compete against.
May 8, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I have to disagree with you 100% on this.
Yes, web spam is cheating to get higher results.. but thats not SEO.
SEO is the process of eliminating common mistakes that are keeping a site from reaching its potential.
I am happy that so many people dismiss persuing solid SEO practices as a worthwhile endeavour… that lets me take out most competition rather easily with NON blog sites.
Hey – if someone wants to build a site wrong, more power to you. I’m sure your competition won’t mind that your “head” area is bigger than their entire site :p
May 8, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Yikes ShoeMoney. Let me remind some people out there that ‘true’ SEO is a philosophy. It’s not the act of just changing title tags and meta information and building links through traditional means. SEO extends way beyond that and now includes: UI design, UX, site architecture and crawlability, information presentation & management, mobile synergy, blog synergy, print/online synergy and much more.
I feel as though a lot of people are way behind when it comes to current SEO. It’s posts like this that remind me that a lot of people are behind and that’s ok. I don’t expect someone who’s core competency is not in SEO to understand what we do. Just like I don’t understand completely what you do ShoeMoney.
May 8, 2008 at 10:57 am
Very interesting post. Great comments too. First time to this blog. Trying to learn more about marketing. Thanks.
May 8, 2008 at 10:30 am
Nice linkbait post, way to get buzz.
Think more and more companies need to put more emphasis on UX, good content, etc to get natural links than throwing shit at the wall and see what stick…
this post is one great proof of how great content/viral content can attract links and traffic..
May 8, 2008 at 10:28 am
If there is no future for SEO which mean no point for us to work so hard to climb in the top rank,right?
May 8, 2008 at 10:19 am
Right. Both PPC and Search aren’t going anywhere, and even though someone with a reasonable amount of education and time can figure out how to be successful at PPC, where the rules are somewhat clear, you still have agencies providing that service. Even if SEO becomes a proxy for social media marketing it’ll be the same situation. There will be businesses that hire out for it, agencies that provide the service, and experienced professionals that can reliably affect results.
May 8, 2008 at 9:59 am
Gentlemen, start your clickbots!
May 8, 2008 at 9:27 am
in a lot of ways, SEO has always been social media optimization.
search is not a simple table lookup, in that the searches being performed actually influence the pages that are being searched. in this respect search is a conversation and not a reference like a dictionary or encyclopedia.
links are votes of approval on the web. votes/recommendation have always been an important part of search. if you look at video sites and social bookmarking/news, this is just a new approach to determining authority and recommendation.
while my current job title might be an in-house SEO, i don’t necessarily see my role as limited to the scope you obviously do. i see my career path as a web analyst and web optimizer, someone who has a complete grasp of the web experience from the technology side, user side and business side- which is i’m sure what you consider yourself.
May 8, 2008 at 8:55 am
lol shoe … nice try … but this is an “old shoe” ;P
May 8, 2008 at 8:45 am
I’m not a SEO but I disagree. I think there is purely more to SEO than what Jeremy mentioned
May 8, 2008 at 8:42 am
Brings to mind my old saying, “the more coplex a system, the more complex people will get to break it”, same thing applies here
May 8, 2008 at 8:41 am
I agree, SEO is more than what shoe outlined, but what he said does have merit. Search engine manipulation is on a decline but SEO itself is healthy
May 8, 2008 at 8:34 am
I think you must write a good contents to build links,an instants pouring links will not life long.You wrote a great posts Shoe,thanks.
May 8, 2008 at 8:16 am
There’s a difference. If something is robots.txt’d out, search engines will not index it, but they might show it, given enough links with the right anchor text to make them think it to be a valuable resource. If the pages are noindex’ed with a meta tag, Google DOES index them (how else would it see that tag) but they WON”T show these pages in the index at all. So: a robots.txt’ed out page could very well be shown in the SERPs, a noindexed paged should not ever appear in the search results.
May 8, 2008 at 8:03 am
because every business should do their own marketing across all mediums…
good link bait but stupid post. idiotic, even.
May 8, 2008 at 7:57 am
Would that even matter though? Isn’t the point of robots.txt to stop them from crawling/indexing a page?
May 8, 2008 at 7:23 am
That’s true, partially, and that’s good because Google can at the end of the day, say which stuff is good and which is spam. I think that CEO is partially part of the spam days we have in the net. And we should all try to battle against that spam because the masses are coming into the net so we have to offer them a cleaner world.
May 8, 2008 at 7:16 am
I just wonder if it is possible to create a web policy regulating manipulation of seo?
May 8, 2008 at 7:06 am
Agreed. As someone who leads interactive strategy for one of america’s largest consumer goods companies, I focus zero effort on SEO. Great content will win in the end. Whatever you do to engineer bette search results will ulitmately be less successful than creating compelling experiences consumers want.
May 8, 2008 at 6:48 am
This is a really interesting post…head hurts
May 8, 2008 at 6:31 am
As long there is Matt Cutts there is SEO.
I do not see Matt Cutts quiting anytime soon, unless his MiniMe Adam Lasnik stages a coup d’état.
May 8, 2008 at 6:18 am
Shoe you are wrong ….
Only if SE will disapear then SEO has no future (this it might happe n but not very soon)
May 8, 2008 at 5:47 am
Have to agree with your points……
May 8, 2008 at 5:09 am
Seo is accesibility, usability, informatión arthitecture, meta keywords, meta description, link building and much more..
May 8, 2008 at 4:59 am
If webdesigner knew what they we’re doing there would be no need for SEO, but a lot of them just don’t care (my experience with a lot of web designers in Belgium). Same with usability.
There is a future for SEO, but Google (or the next google) will always change the rules of the game. SEO is more and more Social Media Optimization (SMO or whatever). So i don’t totally disagree with you.
Anyway, nice linkbait. Like your blog.
May 8, 2008 at 4:03 am
How can you say that SEO has no future??? I see that my job has evolved immensely over the last 7 or so years and so has the techniques and rules to SEO. 7 years ago I could easily build a site with loads of spam content and get it ranking in the top 5 in a few weeks.
Now things have changed, I am looking for long term solutions, concentrating more on users than Search Engines, does that mean I no longer do SEO!??! Maybe its a Job title change then!
I may be concentrating on User experience and usability but I still apply basic or best practice SEO to all the sites I work on.
In my opinion SEO has changed, but like everything you have to evolve to stay on top of the game.
May 8, 2008 at 3:59 am
I agree with your basis for the future; however, I disagree with SEO going away anytime in the foreseeable future. Webmasters are a stuborn group and they will cling to SEO like a security blanket. It may become less effective but it will remain for a long time.
May 8, 2008 at 3:57 am
According to me SEO just means that getting your site well included in Google .
My prediction , just the rules will change .
May 8, 2008 at 3:44 am
I linked to it with my own point of view with it
good post though
May 8, 2008 at 3:41 am
nice link bait jeremy hehe
May 8, 2008 at 3:29 am
Big Orange hats generate traffic.
That is the future!
dk
May 8, 2008 at 3:17 am
SEO is not going to be dead, it’s just going to change a lot.
May 8, 2008 at 3:13 am
future of seo is not that good…thats why seo needs to learn conversion optimization and web usability
May 8, 2008 at 2:31 am
I am sorry to say it – but I think SEO really has no chance. It will always be that step behind, it’s a race it will never win.
May 8, 2008 at 2:26 am
Terry, if Google was going to be that ahead, then it would not have been fooled anytime by any black hat seo methods.
May 8, 2008 at 2:24 am
Thanks for your contribution. Though I hate to say it – I believe you are dead right. SEO will always be that one step behind SEs, it’s a race SEO simply cannot win. However, as some of the postings indicate (e.g. nonsense sitelinks – an observation I have made myself, too – etc.), it remains to be seen, whether this does any good to the users.
Rgds Coach
May 8, 2008 at 1:46 am
Hey Jeremy,
You are right for 95% I think. Eventually all SEO wannabe’s en poor performing companies will fade away. Because good SEO is becoming harder and harder. Only the people who really get it and are looking for the edges and who aren’t afraid to step over some guidelines will prevail.
May 8, 2008 at 1:42 am
yes anyone can do ppc!
BUT “FEW” can do it right =)
-ed
May 8, 2008 at 12:38 am
This post sure has stirred up a bit of a hornets nest. The bottom line is that SEO is anything but an exact science…..you can on-page optimize to the teeth, have loads of links, social media votes, etc, etc but to get consistent results is nigh impossible. Maybe using the phrase Search Marketing instead of SEO would be more apt?
May 8, 2008 at 12:16 am
Toolbars and social networking sites where users can vote and tag posts(in some cases) could be used easily to bias the search engines. SEO may change its form but still would be valuable.
May 7, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I think everything about the internet is constantly changing and evolving. I’m not an SEO expert and I’m not sure what it’s future is. Of course Google is going to be trying to stay a step ahead of everyone and contantly tweaking things.
~Terry
May 7, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Have to agree with your points
SEO is more than what is told above!
May 7, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I still feel that SEO has good future and SERP rankings can be well manipulated by White hat SEO companies. Its different minds thinking different. That’s it.
May 7, 2008 at 9:06 pm
the most important is still the content of the blogs. If you get people coming back over and over again because of the content then the main goal is achieved. SEO is only one step on this path.
May 7, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I think I agree with Dave on this one.
How can you think of SEO a constant when its a ever evolving entity. Search Engine Optimization is exactly that and will always have its place. (As long as there are search engines)
May 7, 2008 at 7:52 pm
You’re dead wrong Shoe. Change is inevitable; however, SEO will always be a part of the search landscape. Albeit, it will evolve and look different 5 years henceforward than what it is today. As an SEO, Google will be giving me love for a long long time my friend.
May 7, 2008 at 7:48 pm
PS. Why do you keep talking about this? What do you care if SEO is alive or dead.
May 7, 2008 at 7:48 pm
The future of SEO is:
- as a mechanic (fixing redirects, cleaning up code, site structure etc)
- developing popular and engaging content, which as Shoe said, will drive more toolbar and analytics love.
May 7, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I think the problme you have jeremy is that you definine SEO as title tags and meta-keywords and nothing else. SEO is site structure, link development, content syndication, social media, and feeder networks. So the guy that calls you and wants to “SEO” your site, now maybe that guys in trouble.
But you need to realize that ‘your world’ is not the world that other small businesses operate. You might be able to go out and get dug, appear on radio shows, etc but the guy selling nail guns still relies heavily on SEO and that won’t change. Sure, some things won’t be as effective but SEO wasn’t dead when you couldn’t keyword stuff pages anymore. It just changes. But 99% of the people out there don’t know SEO anyways so it’s not like it’s widespread abuse.
May 7, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Yep, linkbait !
May 7, 2008 at 6:43 pm
The sooner everyone realizes this the better for me!
May 7, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I’m trying to exorcist Calacanis out of this blog right now
May 7, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I like your style!
May 7, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Not sure on your comparison… Advertising via ppc is not going anywhere.
If your argument is SEO’s and PPC Agencys are useless cause anyone can do it… thats a whole different argument.
May 7, 2008 at 6:26 pm
but in either case you dont disagree
May 7, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Nice flame bait Shoe. ;D
You’d have a better time arguing the needless existence of PPC agencies, but they’re still thriving as well. As long as they’re around I think SEO will endure too.
May 7, 2008 at 6:13 pm
sad to see SEO go away so fast but there will be better things in our future to come
May 7, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I have subscribed to your RSS feeds not too long ago and this was the article where I can’t sit back and hold my thoughts to kick in.
When was/is/will be SEO always the same?! Technology evolves, big Gs algorithms are improved and tweaked very often. And this is all a game as someone before me has mentioned it. Every SEO guru/guy is going after the SEs trends.
And that one the toolbar thinggy that was really funny I was laughing with that one. lol. Sorry but I couldn’t hold it. So if big G bases it’s SERPs on toolbars do you think the whatever can be called guys will not beat the system? It will be the best thing and the easiest one to beat if they will actually base their SERPs on the toolbars. Which I am 100% they will definitely NOT do it. Alexa is the best example of the biggest failure on this case. Anyone knows that Alexa’s rank can be improved while sleeping
It was a good article where we could give our opinion btw. But your disclosure states it all. So let’s see if you are good at prophecies…
May 7, 2008 at 6:08 pm
http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/02/09/calacanis-plays-seo-people-like-a-fiddle/
May 7, 2008 at 5:46 pm
keyboards have no future either. soon we’ll be using temporal lobe implants. but in the meantime, im going to have to use my keyboard. especially because i have no idea how else i could take pictures of myself with adsense checks, as i have no original ideas.
May 7, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Awesome link bait in what is apparently a sensitive industry. I disagree with you, but do see you getting a bunch of links out of this post.
You master baiter you!
May 7, 2008 at 5:34 pm
SEO will evolve just like PPC & Affiliate Marketing has evolved. I think you define “SEO” a bit more narrowly than many in the SEO Industry and that is why we seem to have these periodic discussions on your blog :.)
May 7, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I think the best SEO practice that will always rank you well and bring you loads of traffic is to write good content, that gives value to the user. All the SEO tricks that give you a overnight top position are just spikes in your traffic and will never provide a steady income.
May 7, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Now that’s a clever linkbait, Shoe. I’m sure you’ll get some attention in the hundreds of SEO bloggers for this one.
May 7, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I am not an SEO
May 7, 2008 at 5:26 pm
What a suprise. All the SEO’s disagree… *SHOCKER*
May 7, 2008 at 5:20 pm
SEO certainly has a strong future developing their client’s websites so that in search results the rankings are what they deserve. It’s difficult for the new webmaster and they need someplace to turn.
May 7, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I agree Jeremy. In fact I wrote a blog post with a very similar theme. Ignore Search Engine to Get to the Top of the SERPs.
It talks about how when I built my first site I didn’t even know what SEO was and I still built a site that ranks well.
May 7, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Thanks for good information. User experience is overwritten by SEO work. If 1000 users comes to a page for a specific keyword and exists within a fraction of a sec, Google knows that info and conclude as bad landing page giving very low ranking. On the other hand if they spend more time, then probably good landing page.
May 7, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I like both positions on this subject. I don’t think SEO will be completely erased. If you leave it up to the people you get chaos, simply because we are malicious. Besides SEO includes building quality content too. But you know more industry people than I do, so maybe you have some inside info?
May 7, 2008 at 5:11 pm
There are core talents that will always keep some SEOs employed:
- Keyword research – This is just an online form of market research and will always be valuable. What marketer doesn’t want to know their users information needs?
- New Technology and The Bleeding Edge – For the foreseeable future there will be a delta between what the web can do and what SE’s can crawl. SEO’s know where the line is right now for images, videos, flash and JS.
- Buying Cycles – Good SEOs know how search fits into an overall marketing plan and buying process. They know what stages users utilize search engines and why. They can then create pages to accommodate these parts of the search cycle.
May 7, 2008 at 5:10 pm
And it makes more sense to rely more heavily on user data with regards to sitelinks.
They may be going towards using user behavior more but it’s easily gamed just like everything else. If SEO dies we’ll just be called something else. Besides, isn’t that guy trademarking SEO…we have to come up with a new name anyway.
May 7, 2008 at 5:10 pm
“Please keep in mind I am not a professional SEO and have never claimed to be. My opinions above are purely based on my experiences.”
Shouldn’t that have been the first thing in the post? It would help your visitors, especially new ones to your site realize that this post isn’t based on actual SEO experience.
Not to say you’re completely off. The techniques will definitely change over time but people will be gaming Google (or any other system that can be gamed for profit) until we all go extinct.
May 7, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I absolutely disagree with you on this one, Jeremy. As an SEO who has been working since 1999, SEO is crucial. As more people become involved through social media and more websites pop up, the ethical and real SEOs will be needed to cut thru the clutter and help the search engines (and Google is NOT the only one out there) classify sites into the proper categories.
May 7, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Was the page that was completely noindex nofollow also blocked in robots.txt so that Google couldn’t see the noindex nofollow?
May 7, 2008 at 5:05 pm
As far as I see it the traditional onsite-seo only has a future when it comes to getting rid of problem areas of a site.
The rest is about link building – until the day Google drops using inbound links for the rankings. I don’t see that day coming any time soon though.
May 7, 2008 at 5:01 pm
an interesting point of view on a very controversial subject. we’ll see what happens
May 7, 2008 at 5:00 pm
SEO has a future. But the way SEO is right now may not have a future. SEO is going to evolve as the internet changes. The practices of keyword optimization and descriptions may not be around in 5 years because the whole entire way we search for things online will probably change. Change is always a constant that must be considered.
May 7, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I slightly disagree with you, Jeremy — because:
* Google is now looking at new ways of organizing the web. As SEO-ers learn exactly what Google uses to rank and determine relevancy, SEO-ers wil be able to combine all of these aspects into helping one individual site. (It’s not just as simple as anchor text and title tags.)
* Also, since users are going to able to help decide what site deserve to be at the top, SEO-ers are going to need to learn good copywriting skills — that means effective, persuasive advertising.
I wouldn’t say “SEO has no future” — instead, “Great SEO-ers will certainly be needed in the future.”
May 7, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Nope, I’m afraid you’re absolutely dead wrong on this. There IS a future for SEO, because:
- loads and loads of webdevelopers don’t know what they’re doing, creating all sorts of technical problems SE’s can’t handle, and they can’t find
- SEO is also about optimizing for the RIGHT keywords, and most clients don’t even know what the right keywords for them are
- etc. etc. etc.
Basically, SEO is way more then what you just described, and companies have, and will always have, a need for the kind of advice good SEO’s give. The fact that a lot of people who CALL themselves SEO’s use all sorts of shortcuts and think that’s what SEO is, doesn’t make it true
May 7, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Shoe great post. Its about time someone had the balls to say it. I doubt the snake oil SEO industry will die anytime soon though
January 5, 2009 at 11:30 am
I have thought the same thing for years.
A solid business model will allow for open discussions on the web using Social Media tools, which will propel you to the highest rankings on search results.
July 27, 2009 at 10:19 pm
They cannot be saying seo has no future come on.
October 7, 2009 at 11:37 am
SEO is the back bone of internet age. so it wont be down at any time.