There is no shortage of SEM bloggers who recurrently shout from treetops “SEO is dead!” Indeed a Google search returns 2,200,000 documents. Searching allintitle: seo is dead returns 1,080 web pages which include those 3 inflammatory words in the html title tag. Clearly the topic of SEO’s supposed mortality is top-of-mind for search marketing practitioners and hyperbolic critics alike. Here’s a post where Jordan McCollum made fun of the trendy topic in Marketing Pilgrim.
Indeed, generational-game-changing shifts in search occur every morning over breakfast. Universal and personalized search killed traditional organic prominence tools like WebPosition and SEO ToolKit, programs which now gather dust and are relegated to web 1.0 new-client presentations for IT department fiefdom chieftains who just don’t get it. If new clients need us to focus on organic prominence and “hits” to get the gig, so be it. They learn fast once we start working on the project.
Analytics Are the New SEO.
Whereas voluminous chatter regarding the demise of SEO has always been cute and fashionable amongst bloggers, the last year ushered out organic prominence measuring as the KPI (I wish it was that easy). Analytics are the new SEO. Now what matters is TRAFFIC from organic prominence, paid search, other referral sources, and whether visitors convert to pre-determined KPIs. It’s a given for us that we’ll optimize and tag up content properly based on solid keyword research. Old SEO basics are still that…basics, expected, best practices. We expect a page to be indexed and rank as high the site’s authority allows it to do so.
Anyway, here’s a fun list of SEO is dead blog posts from the vaults. They make for fun reading in retrospect.
SEO is Dead
By Stoney deGeyter, Search Engine Guide, January 19, 2006
SEO Is Dead. Long Live, er, the Other SEO
By Mike Grehan, The ClickZ Network, Jun 11, 2007
SEO is Dead
By webmissile, Performancing, on August 8, 2007
SEO is Dead
By pops, March 30, 2007, SEO Refugee
Search is Dead
By Dave Pasternack, Oct 11, 2005
SEO is Dead, Or Is It?
By Craig Danuloff
SEO is Dead! Where is Your Audience Searching?
Published May 8th, 2007
Is Organic SEO Dead?
By Garrett French, Tue, 02/03/2004
SEO is dead – It’s about creating compelling content constantly on a Web 2.0 site
By Roland Tanglao – January 16, 2005
SEO is Dead
By: Nicholas Roussos, Wednesday, April 12, 2006
SEO Copywriting is Dead
by Brian Clark
Is Textbook Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Really Dead?
April 25, 2006
