There Will ALWAYS be a Demand for SEO (sorry Pastercrack and Calacanis)
Mark Simon over at MediaPost writes today on the Search Insider “The Search Engines are Killing SEO”. He states:
“As search engines get smarter, SEO firms have a harder time providing real value.”
He also says:
“The endgame for all of this is a world in which SEO doesn’t matter. The engines won’t need you to tell them how relevant your page actually is, because they’ll understand on their own. For the same reason, they won’t listen if you lie to them about a page’s true value. Search results may never be unmanipulatable, but they’ll be nearly so, to the point that it doesn’t make business sense to try. “
And last but not least:
“But as I’ve already highlighted, the engines have smartened up to a wide array of spamming tactics.
Yes, search engines algorithms are getting more sophisticated all the time. What I don’t agree with his comment that the “endgame” is that “SEO doesn’t matter”. That couldn’t be further from the truth. No matter what people like Simon, his boss Pasternack, or Jason Calacanis say, there will always be a demand for SEO. Here’s why:
1. Businesses will always compete with each other.
Companies that want to grow their business understand the importance of being on the 1st page of Google, Yahoo and even MSN. Even more important is being in the top 5 (Danny has a great post on his review of the recent study by MSN. ) Guess what? Only 10 web pages can show up in the top 10. Know what else? Only 5 pages can be listed in the top 5! Wow! Startling revelation right? Good thing I kept that calculator from statistics class in college. The best results usually come from being listed near the top and anyone that has optimized sites for a living understands that the sites with the best content don’t always show up at the top. It’s the uneducated like Dave Pasternack and Jason Calacanis (SEO-wise undeducated) who make rediculous comments like they’ve been making of late. But hey, they may be playing the link baiting game right? For example, the Pasternack bio page (even with the Pasternack SEO contest) is now # 2 on Google because of the influx of links he acquired after his moronic rant. The bottom line is that competition drives business. Businesses hire SEO companies because they want to grow their revenue by appearing higher in the search engines then their competitors. As long as businesses compete with each other, there will always be a demand for SEO.
2. Search engine algorithms will always need to rely on inbound links.
Yes, algorithms improve regularly but perfect result query sets will never exist. Simon says in his post, “But as I’ve already highlighted, the engines have smartened up to a wide array of spamming tactics.” I just have to laugh that they think SEO is all about “spamming tactics”. There will always be some form of search engine spamming tactics, but MOST have become and will become less effective each time the search engines improve their algorithm. Search engines however have to rely on links to help in determining relevent results. There are some sites out there that don’t need SEO work because they get links naturally (Wikipedia for example) but those sites are rare. Building relevant inbound links are part of the process of SEO and are always a factor with sites showing up at the top of the search engine rankings. Businesses need people like link Moses and Andy Hagans. Now matter how evolved the search engines get, they will always need to rely on inbound links.
So what does this all mean? I think that as search engine algorithms evolve, this will weed out the bad SEO’s, and weak black hats while at the same time making it easier for those SEO’s who are successful at their trade. Sorry all you haters, SEO is here to stay.
I agree, not matter what these guys say SEO will always be needed.
Comment by Darrin — February 12, 2007 @ 1:23 pm
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Pingback by David Dalka - Creating Revenue and Retention - Chicago GSB MBA » Another Reason SEO Matters (Dave Pasternack of Did-it) + Blogroll Submissions — February 12, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
Dear HighRank (I did not see a personal address on your “About” page),
I appreciate the fact that you are debating this issue in a reasonable matter, and have refrained from name-calling. It is my belief that it is possible to disagree about this issue without being disagreeable.
I am not a prophet, and I am certainly not prophecizing the imminent death of SEO. Nor would I go so far as to say that “SEO is Here to Stay,” anymore than I would claim that “PPC is Here to Stay” or “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.” We all live in a world in which technology, and the markets it creates, are morphing and changing radically: almost minute-to-minute. The precise form which SEO will take in, say, five years, is practically unknowable, but I would venture that it would be very different from the world we find today. This is also true for paid search.
In my view, no one on either the paid or the organic side of the equation should be at all complacent about the changes which are rolling down the pike. Gord Hotchkiss has been quite discursive on the impact which so-called personalized search will have on SEO practices. There will certainly be other unanticipatable changes which will surprise all of us.
FWIW, I do stand by my claim that SEO is Not Rocket Science. I said this because I believe the field needs to be demystified, and its principles disseminated beyond the SEO Ivory Tower. Among the principles which shall endure, whatever Google and the other SE’s have in store for all of us, is the principle of relevance. Like it or not, the SE’s are hellbent on increasing/improving this, they have billions to spend doing so, and we should, I think, all take account of how this will change optimization strategies and practices in the months and years ahead.
Sincerely,
Dave Pasternack
Did-it Search Marketing
Comment by Dave Pasternack — February 12, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
Dave,
Good to see you out and about and link building for your bio page. So you are a believer in SEO! I knew it all along!
I agree, there will be plenty of changes to come for all of us under the Internet marketing umbrella. For those of us who make a living practicing SEO, I’m sure you can understand why we feel strongly as I do that SEO is here to stay. I admit there’s always the possibility that it may not be true, we’ll all see.
Now, I completely understand how people like you want to “demystify” the world of SEO. For the most part, no, basic elementary SEO is not rocket science. Some advanced SEO tactics (and I’m not referring to black hat SEO, hopefully you understand the difference black and white hat)can get extremely complicated so I also can understand why certain people feel that SEO can be “rocket science”.
What is undisputable however is that there are plenty of companies and websites that would never be found without the help of SEO’s. It’s no secret for any of the clients I work with. I make it perfectly clear that the way to great rankings are by adding high quality, original content and link building for their site. Now is that rocket science? No, it’s common sense. Yes, there is more to SEO than that, but that’s the basics. White hat SEO’s like me have nothing to worry about when search engines get more relevant. We already understand this and we optimize with that in mind. I’m all for that because it means black hat tactics become less and less effective all the time. The reality is that as long as SEO’s are helping their clients to be profitable through the work we do, businesses will continue to need SEO’s like me. This is after all marketing right? As you well know, it’s all about the ROI.
Comment by mike — February 12, 2007 @ 6:27 pm