SEO is dead according to Adam Torkildson, one of the top SEO consultants in the USA. Well is it really? Adam has a unique business style that can be admired.

He has stated, “Google is in the process of making the SEO industry obsolete, SEO will be dead in two years.”

Maybe Adam is a little erratic in making such a comment & maybe he is not! His claim makes some sense.

I offer the following observations to what has been raised:-

“SEO” means Search Engine Optimisation.

There is internal and external SEO. Internal makes up about 20% of the process and it means to design your site so it follows the best practices proven to rank high on the search engines, in particular the Google Search Engine.

External SEO used to mean to write articles, press releases, blogs, comments, and content with embedded keyword “backlinks” to your site.
Now it is changing fast to include Social Media strategies.

SEO has been traditionally divided into “white hat” or “black hat.” Black Hat is the nefarious practice of gaming the system by doing things to raise rankings that Google doesn’t want.
White Hat is just more subtle, unless your approach is ultra honest.

What does Google want?

Google simply want relevant, real content on the internet that all people want to read and tell other people about.

If Google doesn’t bring you the most relevant content in results when you search they aren’t doing their job and well they know it.

So by definition even the words Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can mean to “game” the Google search engine and other engines to get your relative valuable content ranked higher than it would be if left alone to the general forces of the Web.

Google proved Adam right about a month after his statement with the “Penguin Release”.
The Penguin Release is a code name for the Google algorithm that decreased search engine rankings of business companies and organisations who were using schemes to artificially increase their rankings. Great!

Google decided to change their weighted emphasis from “backlinks” to social media likes, shares, tweets, reddits, and 1+, Google an obvious favourite. In the world of digital media the emphasis is on follows, friends, comments, and views as well.

What does that mean?

Google used to hold that if you linked to someone on the Internet they must have valuable content. Now Google seems to believe that if you promote content with social media it is more indicative of relevant content and less likely to be faked.

The bottom line is that all SEO efforts are likely counterfeit other than this one:

Writing, designing, recording, or videoing real and relevant content that benefits all those who search.

If you generate content and place it all over the web promoting and linking to your specific content, it is obviously fake. And that is basically part of the SEO industry, both black and white.

I’ve written repeatedly that it is the overly aggressive marketers and cheats that always spoil it for everyone. SEO calls for aggressive ultra honesty.

The likes of false advertisers, telemarketing at dinner time with predictive dialers, unsolicited faxing, email spamming, now SEO.

It was Seth Godin that said “all marketers are liars,” It means that if you have to advertise a lot to change perceptions, it’s probably being “spun.”

Think media, the lack of advertising on fruit and vegetables, and the current US presidential race.

It is hardly about the links anymore, it’s about the metrics of engagement on your website. It’s about social “shares”, and you can’t fake that easily.

Now with recent policy changes, Google knows who everyone is once they open themselves up on the social realm. They will be able to tell the fake people. Facebook already knows.

Those creating fake facebook accounts are banned after a short length of time, no matter how many thousands of accounts they create. Their efforts are now a complete waste of time.

Many ask how they figure the fakes out? Thats SECRET. That’s why they hire PhD’s! That’s why Google bought Twitter’s data. They failed to get Facebook data, but they rely on Facebook’s internal API. Now social signals are a much bigger part of the Google algorithm.” and they are already using it!

So what do we do?

It’s the Hubspot strategy of great blog content with a massive opt-in audience of social followers.

It’s your InsideSales.com approach with strong industry research that people follow.

It’s old-school Press Relations & Communication Officer skills.

PR has made a 180 degree turn. Now it is the ultimate, because it is about who you actually, really, know. It’s the buzz you create. And how much value you provide your community of followers in return.”

“So great content is king, and communities of avid followers make the king? Yes, basically.

Dell does a really good job. They have one million followers on just one account on Twitter. Their team answers all direct messages from their community, and stay on top of their brand and reputation.

We hardly do any of the old SEO stuff. It still brings results, but not like it used to. Google is pulling the rug to provide better search for their audience. They are routing out the counterfeiters. Now it must be real, valuable, content, and lot’s of community value and interaction.

So how does it affect entrepreneurs and business executives?

Simple.
Invest in real, valuable, relevant content that your audience wants. Make it so compelling people talk about it and share it.

Common sense, but not common practice.

Aug 2012.
Updated: 8 Aug 2012.

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