“Is SEO dead?” This is easily one of the most asked questions that take the rounds on the internet. If you are a marketer or a business owner, chances are you have asked this very question to multiple people and might have Googled the same too.
Coming to the question, Is SEO dead? It is NOT. SEO is an ever-evolving, powerful digital marketing strategy and is not going to die anytime soon. The rules and regulations for SEO could change from time to time, according to Google updates. If you are thinking of integrating SEO for your business or website, now is the time.
Between 2019 and 2023, Google released seven major SEO updates. For anyone wanting to improve visibility, streamline organic traffic, and increase sales and conversions, SEO is the key. It’s like a single package; now who wouldn’t want that, right? Let’s have a look at why SEO is important and why there’s a massive search count for the question: Is SEO dead?
What is SEO?
SEO refers to a set of techniques used to boost the ranking and visibility of a website or web page. This is done to improve its exposure and position on search engine result pages. The procedure entails enhancing website content, optimizing HTML and CSS, and constructing backlinks to raise the authority of the website. So, where does SEO comes to play? The main objective of SEO (search engine optimization) is to increase a website’s visibility and ranking on search engine result pages to attract more visitors.
SEO assists in building trust and credibility by assuring users that the content is relevant and from a reliable source. Moreover, SEO aids in content optimization to guarantee that it is accurately indexed by search engines, helping to enhance the entire user experience.
According to recent research, Google harbors over a whopping volume of 92% of searchers. This statement is more than evident in explaining why SEO is important.
What raises the question, Is SEO Dead?
With marketers speculating and spreading the infectious fear, “Is SEO dead?” it becomes increasingly important to find the root cause of this rumor. The majority of it is based on irrational assumptions and false speculation. However, that is not the case; SEO is alive and kicking on search engine pages, fighting to put original content on the first page. It becomes vital for every marketer to understand the transitional nature of SEO and adapt to it if they want to be successful.
Search engines like Google are continually refining their algorithms to provide more relevant and useful results to users. This means that SEO tactics must also adapt and evolve to keep up with these changes.
Is SEO Dead? Naysayers Call SEO Lazy Marketing
What would you do if the doctors stopped believing in medicine? Likewise, there are plenty of marketers who truly think SEO is dead. This could be because they couldn’t get their content or website ranked on Google, maybe due to the continued changes and additions revolving around SEO, or simply because they don’t find SEO to be a profitable business. Some even go to the extent of saying SEO is dead because there are no standards and they think it’s lazy marketing that doesn’t work.
The ones who are reading this are not the only ones who hear these myths. According to a survey conducted in 2017, a Search Engine Journal poll on Twitter confirmed that about 41 percent of marketers have heard this myth. Years later, the matter is still debated, which really makes you wonder if there’s any truth to it or not. Fret not; SEO is alive and thriving more than ever.
There are plenty of experts and trolls who declare SEO dead. Fortunately, we have the evidence—data and experience—to show that SEO is alive and well.
SEO is Alive
SEO is not dead. In fact, it remains an essential component of digital marketing. While the tactics and strategies may evolve over time, the underlying principles of SEO remain relevant. The goal of SEO is to improve the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing various on-page and off-page factors. As long as people continue to use search engines to find information and products, SEO will remain a crucial part of any successful online marketing strategy. SEO is not really dead, but it is constantly changing and adapting to the latest search engine algorithm updates and user behavior.
Let’s have a look at what keeps SEO alive?
Evolving SEO
Change terrifies a lot of people, including me. After all, why should we fix something which isn’t broken in the first place? The old SEO strategy wasn’t working. Websites could use black-hat SEO techniques until at least 2005. These dishonest, Googlebot-focused tasks have no regard for the user and were merely attempts to manipulate the system. Keyword stuffing (cramming as many keywords as you can onto a page), cloaking (displaying one version of the content to Googlebot and another to the user), purchasing links (paying other websites to link back to you), and numerous other black-hat SEO techniques were among them.
All of these strategies were successful in the early 2000s. Luckily, Google changed and strengthened its guidelines. Not only will these stop assisting you in generating more organic traffic, but they may also result in a Google penalty, which would drastically reduce traffic until the problem is resolved.
White-hat strategies, such as giving the best user experience, responding to users’ inquiries, building a rapid website, and offering a sound site architecture, are currently the top SEO trends as well as the shortest path to SEO success. These strategies replace the use of black hat strategies, which attempt to manipulate the system.
SEO Feeds on Relevant Content
SEO is more than what people say it is.
In today’s time, SEO requires fresh, relevant, quality content that resonates and addresses your audience’s queries. Additionally, your site should load in three seconds or less.
You have to focus on content and technical SEO, including writing good title tags and meta descriptions, designing a cohesive page layout, updating your XML sitemaps, making sure Google can render your content, and so much more. You must pay attention to technical and content SEO, write effective title tags and meta descriptions, create a logical page layout, update your XML sitemaps, ensure Google can render your content, and much more.
Increasing demand for SEO Jobs
If all the naysayers are right and SEO is dead, then why are companies paying more for dead opportunities? Because SEO isn’t dead, it’s blooming with numerous opportunities to thrive in the coming years.
SEO employment nearly doubled in the 2019 year over year and surged by 8% in 2020, according to Conductor’s 2020 guide to career trends and pay. Although 8% may not seem like a lot, in 2020 there will be a 38 percent decline in the number of positions in . These statistics demonstrate a rise in interest in SEO while also demonstrating the growing trend of businesses implementing SEO in-house.
How HubSpot Partner Made Big Bucks By Revoking the “Dead” SEO?
A classic example of everyone asking the million-dollar question “is SEO dead” can be understood by the case study of Beacon Digital Marketing Company.
Since Beacon Digital Marketing Company was a HubSpot Platinum Partner, they are proficient in using and implementing HubSpot tools to promote growth and achievement. While they usually help other businesses, in August 2020 they conducted an internal investigation and chose to undertake an SEO revamp of a blog post that they thought could perform better than it previously had.
They concentrated on three crucial areas for development: updating metadata, featured snippet optimization, and re-targeting original keywords. They were able to develop a strategic pillar-cluster plan with the use of the HubSpot content mapping tool and some useful advice from the on-page SEO guidelines. With the adoption of their new strategy, they had an almost instantaneous 50% increase in page views: from 991 organic search traffic views in July 2020 to 1,552 in August 2020.
They were able to improve traffic to an existing blog post due to their optimization, and they have also noticed a rise in organic traffic to other parts of their website. This proves that a comprehensive SEO strategy may affect all aspects of your business as higher traffic attracts interested clients who want to understand more about the products or services you have to offer.
Conclusion
If you have read this far, you understand the importance of SEO and the ultimate answer to the looming question, Is SEO dead? SEO is a thriving marketing tool that keeps evolving for the better. If you want more visibility, better audience exposure, and basically everything to make your business stand out, SEO is a tool you should keep working with. And SEO is here to stay.
Comments are closed.