There’s no future in SEO

By
Colin
– 12/16/2009Posted in: Featured, internet marketing, seo

This statement may come as a surprise to some of you, as I happen to do a lot of SEO.  And I do truly believe in its importance and power in the online marketing mix.  But I do not believe in its future.

Why?

Because when you get down to it – SEO is not very difficult, and the profession has quite a bit stacked against it.

For one, SEO friendly development platforms are now very common.  Drupal, WordPress and Joomla all get you started with an SEO friendly framework, all without any custom coding.  Typically, this takes the need to optimize code (one of the most technical aspects of SEO) right out of the picture.

Secondly, the general public has become much, much smarter about how the web works, and more importantly, how search engines work. Plus, there are many great SEO resources online, which give you all the information you need to learn SEO – and most are completely free! SEO does take quite a bit of time to learn, however.  But if you’re somewhat computer literate, and have an understanding of the English language, then you can do it.

When I meet with potential clients, and they already have a working knowledge of SEO, I start realizing that leveraging my career on a single marketing tactic is probably not the best idea.

Finally, when you boil everything down, good SEO is a foundation to be used with other online marketing tactics, such as content marketing, pay per click, or social media.  When it comes to Internet marketing, a single tactic just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Because of this, I prefer to say that I practice Internet marketing, or, as my friend Cameron Gawley would say – Digital Strategy.

So what is the future?

The future is in the generalist.  The marketer who’s good at executing and strategizing with a variety of online tactics.  If you think you’re good at SEO, you better start learning social media, or blogging, or pay per click management, because it’s all important, and it frequently overlaps.

Having a general understanding of many online marketing tactics means you can provide a more well rounded campaign for your client or your company.  It also means you’ll never run the risk of putting all your eggs into one basket – something I never recommend doing.

Hardcore SEOers will argue my point, as I have greatly simplified the full scope of an expert SEO campaign.  But as search engines become more intelligent and the general public becomes more aware of how to market online, all signs point towards SEO no longer being a viable standalone profession in the near future.

Photo Credit

Theres no future in SEO

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About Colin

Colin Alsheimer is an Account Supervisor for Weber Shandwick and the VP of Promotions for the Social Media Club of Dallas, among other things.