There is no question that the world of SEO is and always has been one of the most rapidly changing area of digital marketing going. Today however it seems that the SEO landscape has changed irrevocably, at least that’s what some website owners believe, with many now arguing that SEO may be a thing of the past.
So, is SEO dead?
Recently a growing number of webmasters have declared SEO’s passing; they say that ranking factors have taken on such a mysterious make up that it’s no longer possible to estimate, manipulate or work towards ranking and it has reached a level of sophistication that means it’s just best to create great content and leave the internet to decide what its value is and where it should rank.
However, this actually isn’t the first time that SEO has been declared ‘dead’ or changed beyond all recognition. This relatively recent announcement is usually a sign of mild panic and misunderstanding as to what the latest Google guidelines or ranking patterns mean.
One thing will always endure: Great Content deserves great SEO
The old adage of ‘Content is King’ is a pretty simple yet overly accurate phrase to summarise the world of SEO. So what role then does SEO serve? If we were to imagine the longest, most enlightening and engaging pieces of writing that was enhanced with videos and images, is it true to say that this would still benefit from SEO?
To answer this question we must regard the content as an attraction and the optimisation of such content as the marketing and tickets to such an attraction. Promoting your content through social media, content marketing and through relationships within industry networks are all invaluable tasks that should, but sometimes are misunderstood not to fall under the umbrella of ‘SEO’.
Black hat SEO: Letting the team down
SEO has never had as bad a reputation as it does today. Unfortunately there has been many cowboys within this industry since day dot, today however they have become more and more apparent as the Google algorithm is now blacklisting websites that have previously used (sometimes unwittingly) black hat SEO techniques. Mass spam commenting, hiding links, cloaking, keyword stuffing and duplicate content are just a few examples of the out and out SEO no no’s in 2014 and beyond. If you’ve suffered and are still suffering the effects from such techniques then all is not lost. You should contact an SEO professional who can advise you on how you can turn your fortunes around with remedial SEO work.
SEO is not dead. Whilst searching algorithms continue to change (and arguably sometimes not always for the better) a concerted effort to be SEO friendly is and always will be valuable. A perfect end example would be the product or service that you’re selling: it could be the best out there and unlike anything else on the market, however without advertising to get the word out there, you’ll likely see only limited results.