Will SEO Die a Slow Death?

Search engine optimization has been around for a while now. I remember when I got started with SEO in 2002. It was the challenge of trying to make my site show up as the #1 result on Google and other top engines that drove me to learn more and find new ways to dominate my niche. But at the same time, I knew the good times wouldn’t last too long. They have actually. For more than I ever expected. Now that people are talking about bringing regulations to the Internet industry, it’s time for the industry to take a close look at itself. There is no question that sites such as Google have been influential in changing the way we consume content online. More people are now going online to get their shows, news, entertainment, and even education. If you are a consumer, you are going to love all the options that you have on the Web. But if you are a content publisher, you are going to deal with a lot of headaches before getting your content in front of folks. The days of writing a good article and hoping to show up on the front page of a search engine are essentially over. Don’t get me wrong. You can still rank high for many keywords, but that’s not what a search engine should be all about. Content should be the king but with search engines it’s not so much.

Tech Crunch had a very interesting article on why Google and SEO should be regulated. But I am not going to talk about the article but rather how it was presented. The author decided to remain anonymous for various reasons (one could be Google’s backlash). I have personally seen and experienced backlashes of that kind before, and I can tell you they are not pretty. My site which got hammered was not even that popular, but it still got hammered. That’s what you get when you are dealing with monopoly. If Google is the only company that really matters in the search industry, you are going to have a tough time not playing by its rules. It’s true that people choose Google as it was duly noted by E-consultancy, but that still doesn’t mean you can do what you want just because people have chosen to work with you, especially if you have as much power as Google has. That’s why I believe there will be regulations, and that will be scary.

It’s not easy to tell how future regulations will affect the Internet industry. But from what I have heard from the Supreme Court and the latest nominee, we can expect more regulations, and there is nothing you can do about it. So don’t be surprised if lawmakers introduced bills to regulated everything on the Internet. But thanks to the power of social media, we shouldn’t worry about what will happen with Google. I like Google, Bing, and other search engines for that matter. But I still find Twitter, Facebook, and Friendfeed much more useful in finding new information and getting instant feedback.

The SEO industry will survive and evolve. People have already started using titles such as “SMO” or “Social Media Guru” to describe themselves. Twitter and Facebook are great traffic drivers these days, and that will continue to be the case as long as these sites are around. Besides, while Google will continue to move towards personalized search, there will still be need for SEO professionals who can help webmasters get the basics right. Content used to be king. But things changed a bit as soon as a few SEOs started gaming the search engines to put less valuable content at the top of the SERPs. Thanks to the power of social media, everybody has a chance to get recognition for her great content. Sure, you’ve got to build relationships and expand your network to reach out to more folks, but at least you won’t be dependent on a mystical algorithm. Let’s hope the lawmakers stay away from putting more regulations in place as far as the Internet is concerned. I am not too optimistic.