Where is SEO Headed ?
Andrew Edwards wrote an article on Click Z asking the question, “Is SEO dead ?” Edwards seems to believe that Google taking away the keyword data makes SEO less valuable as a major support system has been taken away.
Edwards points out that it is in the best interest of Google to try to undermine SEO,
There is no good reason for Google to stop trying to stamp out SEO, because in effect, SEO damps the quality of search results for the user. Google is interested in the user – and, as you might have guessed already, it reduces the value of a paid AdWords link. Because Google AdWords is a form of SEO, which really is SEM (search engine marketing); in other words, you optimize your site’s Google performance by bidding on Google keywords whereby Google makes pretty much all of its money.
Edwards also points out the SEO industry is a large one at that,
SEO is a big industry. According to a site called State of Digital, 863 million websites mention SEO globally and every second 105 people search for SEO links on Google. Most of them seem to be looking for “services” or “companies,” which explains how there came to be so many SEO companies.
Edwards pointed out that the core principles of SEO make sense for all webmasters,
Certain SEO principles should not be ignored, simply as a matter of site-hygiene. A well-organized, content-rich site is a good thing to have. But most other SEO tricks and tips have just a little bit (if not a lot) of snake-oil in the recipe. It sounds like a great proposition to a site owner: drink a bottle of SEO and your site will zoom vigorously to the top of the heap. But too often, and partly because Google does not seem to want it to, it doesn’t work as advertised.
Read the full article here
There are about 15 comments on the article which do not necessarily agree with Andrew, they believe he painted all SEO professionals with one brush. There will always be a healthy debate around the topic.
