SEO is not dead
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) refers to all techniques used to optimize site ranking in organic search results. Local SEO provides additional information about the company’s location. This method allows a company to be more visible in search engine results.
The “SEO is dead” debate is old, but also recurring. In SEO books, reference is made to the SEO The Movie movie released in the summer of 2017. In the last part of the movie, the stars and stripes of the search engine optimization industry are questioned about the future of SEO.
The picture that comes out of it could be clearer. On the one hand, the crux of the matter about the departure of SEO revolves around the evolution of search engine algorithms.
Thus, more significant search engine “intelligence” and the presence of increasingly optimized SEO sites (both on-site and off-site) would have decreed, or would be decreeing, the death of our beloved industry, which makes us bring home the bacon.
But is this really the case? First, it should be stressed that what happens in the United States before it reaches other parts of the world requires at least a couple of geological eras. So, in this beautiful country, SEO is still experiencing adolescence. Seriously, let’s see what insights can be gleaned from the debate.
Is SEO dead?
The growth of search engine intelligence, to the point of ignoring optimization practices, still seems to be far from being really real. It’s hard to say what it will be in 5 or 10 years, but in the short and medium term the algorithms still look pretty “stupid”.
This does not mean that giant steps have not been taken to make these algorithms more refined. The old SEO practices, easy and fast, today in general no longer work, or at least are not as good as they used to be.
Even here, the discussion is actually more complex when we talk about Google and some snakes where history seems to have remained a bit in play. Updates like Panda and Penguin have certainly had a significant impact on SEO.
However, to argue today that SEO techniques and best practices do not have a significant impact on a website’s ranking means not knowing what you are talking about. Just like a long-standing marriage, the relationship between SEO and the search engine has become more complicated, and making it work requires more work.
Also, we are all rightly focused on Google alone. If in a few years the search engine market changes with the success of other players, optimization practices may also change (but remain valid).
As long as search engines exist, optimization for them will also be necessary. This ruled out the discourse on achieving such artificial search engine intelligence, to make any SEO discourse superfluous.
SEO ROI
The results are uncertain. In this context, honest SEO knows that even trying to reach the target will require an investment of considerable time and money.
And even if he takes home the first-page medal in the end, the war has caused too many deaths to be considered victorious. Translated into marketing terms, the client, in some sectors, does not achieve a positive ROI on the investment made in SEO.
In short, today SEO is more costly and less costly. Let’s clarify one aspect right away, if one is able to do SEO and constantly commits to results, one achieves them, but this applies to projects that the SEO in question handles himself (done in-house), having less time and results limitations.
The theme of “SEO is more expensive and less expensive” refers to clients who turn to professionals because they would like to, should, and then recoup their investment. This ROI is increasingly guaranteed. Therefore, it would move the debate about the death of EES that drives ROI into the dock.
So what to do?
If ROI in relation to SEO is moribund, what to do? First, we need more intellectual honesty on the part of many professionals.
The intellectually honest professional (then one can also be wrong or fail in good faith) knows that maybe in a given industry, you can’t pay the client the amount you invest monthly in SEO.
You have to be perfect on the site (assuming it exists), you have to buy more and more expensive links (it is forbidden by the guidelines, never do it), and you have to wait times that are sometimes biblical. At the end of the merry-go-round, often no one is amused.
Therefore, intellectual honesty. On the other hand, on the front of continuing to do this work, the solution is one that many have already highlighted but often misapplied because of its intrinsic transversality.
It is therefore necessary to think in terms of integrated marketing strategies (attention I did not say about digital marketing, but about marketing).
Having taken a project, and obviously a budget, you should stop for a moment to reflect on which channels of the marketing universe (online and offline) can work best. Based on this planning, and reiterating the budget, we choose the basket in which we put our eggs (or more than one). This is how SEO remains a realistic option.
Ultimately, SEO professionals must expand their sphere of action and become a comprehensive marketing experts. This also means suggesting to the client who turns to him, requesting SEO services, to invest his resources perhaps in other marketing channels.
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