Mediaboss Marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been around for as long as search engines have been popular, but the constantly evolving complexity of search algorithms have digital marketers wondering whats next for their ranking strategies and if theyll even be relevant in the next decade. Certainly, search marketing has come a long way from the link spamming and keyword-hiding practices of the past, but is it true that SEO may one day become completely obsolete?

I dont think so. I prefer to think of Googles changing algorithms and search marketers changing strategies as a dance, rather than a race. In a race, there is only one clear winner, and the participants are working against each other to get ahead. Google would be dashing to the lead, and for many SEO pessimists, this would mean search marketers would be left behind. But in a dance, both participants stay close and mimic each others movements. Google has the lead, so it might take us to strange areas of the dance floor, but if we match it step-for-step, the dance can continue.

Youll have to pardon the metaphor, but my point is this: SEO has changed significantly since its inception and will continue to change significantly in the years to come, but it will never fully disappear.

Googles Early Stages and the Birth of SEO

When Google first started out, it was a clunky, fault-ridden engine that populated results based on only a handful of factors. It was still the best thing on the Internet, allowing it to skyrocket in popularity, but the combination of its mainstream use and its straightforward ranking algorithms presented the perfect opportunity for marketers and coders to take advantage of the system.

SEO arose not as a marketing strategy, per se, but as a kind of cheat code for the Internet. By adopting a handful of practices that artificially enhance a quality that Google deemed to be worthy of rank, cheaters were able to get whatever sites they wanted to the top of the SERPs. It was something you didnt have to think about because it was based in pure logic; if Google ranks the site with the most instances of a given keyword, all you have to do is repeat that keyword on your site as many times as possible.

Fortunately, Google caught on to these manipulative practices, and started implementing a series of code revisions and algorithm updates to fight back against them. Starting in around 2003, Google started pushing regular updates that added new, more complex factors for ranking (such as authoritative inbound links), and started adding new mechanics to penalize sites with practices it deemed to be unethical (such as repeating keywords multiple times or duplicating content across the Web).

The Current State of SEO (and What Googles Got on the Horizon)

By 2010, SEO had reached a point of stability; Googles algorithms were more complex, but still somewhat predictable. With enough time, anybody could initiate a steady rise in rankings for a given set of keywords and keyword phrases. But 2011s Panda update and 2012s Penguin update turned the SEO world on its head yet again. The Panda update unleashed hell on sites which tried to use filler content, duplicate content, or keyword-stuffed material to boost their ranks. The Penguin update, as a tactical counterpart, introduced some intelligent new ways of analyzing at inbound links, rewarding sites with natural inbound links, and penalizing those with links posted for the sole purpose of building rankings.

Google has also introduced a range of new factors that influence a sites rankings, including signals from social media sites and, more recently, SSL encryption. For now, the two biggest factors for high rankings seem to be high volumes of high-quality, well-written content, and an inbound link profile thats both natural and authoritative. SEO, therefore, is no longer a cheat code for the Internet, and instead is a series of best practices that can eventually lead you to higher rankings.

Read more here:
Past, Present And Future: Why SEO Might Transform, But Will Never Die