Search Engine Optimization

Social Media is the fastest growing trend in internet marketing. As soon as you master one network, 3 more pop up. So, yeah, that obviously isn't going anywhere!

But what does it mean for search engine optimization, the former "king of the world" in regards to establishing authority and gaining new customers from the web. Some might even say that search engine optimization is "extinct", "dead", or at least "dying". Those some people are just unable to keep up with the fact that things have changed over the years... that it's not as easy as it used to be to "game the system".

How has search engine optimization changed?

To put it simply, Google changed the world of search engine optimization with a series of updates and algorithm changes that resulted in blacklisting or blocking websites from displaying in results if they had used shady or deceptive efforts to rank.

Because of this, old school internet marketers almost immediately became frustrated with search engine optimization entirely and moved to new markets. (Such as social media.)

In all actuality, the shady techniques should never have worked to begin with. They were used mostly by disposable websites in an effort to achieve aggressive profit. Unfortunately, misguided search engine optimization service providers would use those same strategies for legitimate businesses, and it's those website owners who ended up paying the price.

So on one side, search engine optimization changed because shortcuts backfire. You have to understand how to optimize for people before you can optimize for search engines, and that left many internet marketers clueless. More importantly, the perspective on search engine optimization is what has changed more than anything.

Yes, search engine optimization is still and will always be an important web marketing strategy.

As long as Google (and other search engines, to be fair) continue to be the leading source of information, there will always be unlimited benefits with ranking on the first page of targeted search results. Google is great about evolving into the modern world where mobile technology dominates and results are localized for even better targeting.

However, SEO is a pointless effort if you neglect to optimize for humans first. This is why a competitor can outrank your website without using any of the same keywords... if you are trying too hard to rank for those keywords then it seems apparent that your priorities are in the wrong place and your competitor will appear to be a more valuable option to display in results.