In my 28 years on this planet, I've come to accept two things as fact:
- The sun rises every morning.
- Marketers screw everything up.
Because of fact No. 2, I had to stop selling SEO.
Why? Here's an interaction I used to have five times a day.
*Phone rings*
Me: "This is Ryan Stewart with WEBRIS. How can I help you?"
Caller: "I'm looking for SEO for [domain.com]. I want to rank for [keyword terms x, y, and z]. Can you guys handle that?"
Me:
I'm over it.
I'm tired of explaining to people SEO doesn't work that way anymore. And I need the rest of you to get on board with me, because we're driving ourselves out of business.
I mean, come on people. Look around. We need to stop trying to jam websites where they don't belong. The SERPs have changed.
Google shows search results based on what's best for the user. We can't just rank for whatever keywords we want.
Let's take a look at a few examples:
Example #1: Search "best headphones"
What do you notice?
Not a single result on the first page is a product page.
They're all articles about different headphone types, their benefits, pricing, etc.
We're all Google users. We all know these are much better results to get than getting a single brand's product page. I want to shop around, compare products, and read reviews. Don't you?
Example #2: Search "restaurants in miami"
What do you notice?
Not a single result on the first page is a restaurant's website.
As a matter of fact, the results above the fold are tied to review aggregators and Zagat ratings.
Underneath the fold, the results are filled with listicles, reviews, and articles.
I'd much rather read reviews about dozens of restaurants than be directed to a singular one.
Example #3: Search "buy a cheap tv"
What do you notice?
Ahhhh, yes, I threw this one in for the comment trolls.
The top five results are product pages. However, they're all mega-brands. With the current algorithms, we'll never outrank a brand for keywords like that (without spamming the hell out of it).
What else do you notice?
Articles, not product pages, are ranking at the bottom of the first page.
Example #4: Google "plumbers in san francisco"
What do you notice?
Not a single result on the first page is a website. There are only review aggregators: Yelp and Google+.
OK, so what's happening?
It's a combination of two things:
#1: Google's got a lot of data, and they're utilizing it
It's safe to say Google understands what users want by analyzing the massive amount of data it has. If we take off our SEO goggles, it's hard to disagree.
Personally, I love the power of choice. I'd rather pick from a list of companies with reviews and comparison data than one that only includes websites that make it to the top of organic listings.
In addition (as much as I hate to say it), I trust brands. I'd rather buy a TV from Best Buy than www.shop-cheap-tvs.com. Wouldn't you?
#2: We're moving into the "pay-to-play" era with Google
Not too long ago, Facebook moved into the "pay-to-play" era. Now Google's headed that way.
Google's main source of revenue is advertising, counting for almost 90% of Google's revenue in 2014. And one of their main earners, display, is falling fast.
Google's message is clear: If you want to sell directly through the Google platform, then you'll need to pay for it.
Let's go back to my last example, "plumbers in San Francisco." Look at what's happening above the fold with that query:
That's right, baby! Paid local listings.
If this test sticks, it's going to have massive implications on local search. If I were a betting man (and I am), I'm all in that this is the future of local search.
But is SEO dead?
SEO is absolutely not dead. As long as people use Google search, SEO will be alive.
However, let's recap. Money/buyer (i.e., purchase-intent) keywords are:
- Dominated by huge brands that 99% of the world can't outrank (without spamming)
- Returning less product pages and more articles and other forms of content
- Triggering the knowledge graph, review aggregators, and more user-focused results
What this means is it's time to seriously reevaluate the landscape. The days of ranking a products or services page first for these purchase-intent keywords are limited.
If we want to capture that traffic moving forward, there are three things we can do:
#1: Pay for it
This is very straight forward. I like to use paid search as a remarketing tactic. We capture traffic from all corners of the web, and then when those people are ready to buy (using those money keywords), we use highly targeted paid ads to snag their business.
#2: Create valuable content
If we go back to my first example, best headphones, the results are dominated by content that compares ratings and pricing for various headphones.
No one shares, engages, or links to products and services pages. The fact is, no one except for us cares.
Instead of trying to jam those pages with links, create a piece of content that delivers what Google (and users) want. By creating value with your content, you open it up to earning social media shares and powerful links from relevant sites.
If you want to compete against the big dogs for organic search real estate, content is your best option.
#3: Optimize your website for the web
It's SEO (Search Engine Optimization), not GO (Google Optimization).
Yelp is a search engine. Facebook is a search engine. Twitter is a search engine. Amazon is a search engine. Quora is a search engine. Pinterest is a search engine. YouTube is a search engine. See where I'm going?
Each of these platforms offers unique benefits to the user. In a lot of cases, people looking for things on these platforms are likely to bypass Google altogether.
For example, l just moved into a loft in downtown Miami. I loathe shopping of any sort, so I allowed my girlfriend to manage the process for me. She ended up purchasing all of the furniture from Etsy (an e-commerce platform I knew very little about).
I asked her how she arrived there. This is what she told me:
- Pinterest - She used Pinterest search to find inspiration on how to decorate. Using keywords like "loft decorations," she narrowed it down to the specific pieces of furniture she liked.
- Amazon - She then went to Amazon and searched with keywords that were based on the furniture she liked on Pinterest. She was looking for rustic furniture. Amazon didn't have a great selection of that type.
- Ebay - So she moved to Ebay, knowing that she could find cheap, secondhand (i.e., rustic) furniture there. She found that most things were a little "too used," so she moved on.
- Etsy - Finally, she landed on Etsy, knowing they specialize in unique handmade items. She purchased all the furniture from there (and simultaneously broke my bank account).
Now, I realize she could've used Google to search for all these things. She chose not to, though, because she felt it was an extra step she didn't have to take.
She chose to use those specific websites/platforms/search engines because each one was built to handle exactly what she was looking for.
Applying this to your website
The long-winded point I'm trying to make is this:
It's no longer just about optimizing your website for Google. It's about optimizing your presence across the web.
By understanding who our target audience is and where they spend their time, we can attack those platforms and build an organic presence.
- If you're an attorney, you need to be on sites like Avvo, Lawyer.com, and Find Law because they dominate the SERPS
- If you're a local business, Yelp and Thumbtack are crushing it right now
- If you have an e-commerce store, get your product on as many platforms where your customers are as possible (including Pinterest)
- If you sell large-ticket B2B services, SlideShare and LinkedIn are gold mines for connecting with C-suite executives looking for information
The list goes on and on...
Bringing it all home
This is why I stopped selling SEO. I'm begging you to follow suit.
We need to educate non-marketers that times have changed. We can't just "rank and bank" for whatever we want anymore.
We don't want to wait around until it's too late. This isn't a phase. This is the way it's going to be going forward, and we all need to get on board with it.
As Google gets more intelligent, we need to get more intelligent about how we approach marketing. That doesn't mean looking for ways to beat the search engine algorithms. Instead, we must learn to use them to our advantage.
Moz, the repost in Inbound.org is getting a lot of comments -- I'll vote for this to be promoted to the main blog because, even though I agree and am biased, I think it's an important discussion that I think needs to occur in the community.
I'm with you Samuel - loved this post, despite thinking, initially, based on the title alone, that I'd strongly disagree with it :-)
Thanks Rand, that means a lot.
I'm going to disagree, only because it is fun :-)
But honestly, don't those mega brands, aggregators, news outlets, etc. employ SEOs or SEO agencies? And what about technical SEO for large or complex sites?
And can you please explain what the difference is between beating the search algorithm and using it to your advantage, the final conclusion of the piece? It sounds like an equivocation to me.
There is still a place for selling SEO, it's just that cheating and scheming is becoming less a part of the craft.
Also please don't fire me. :)
I feel like "beating the search engine" is ranking by using black hat techniques. Yes you beat the system but it wont last long. Using to your advantage is working with the SE, building your site to make them happy as well as the niche you attract. Build a brand everyone will love without that all SEO/marketing efforts are just wasted time.
I'm going to disagree, only because it is fun :-) it is fun and it is true, ok leave seo professionals, what else any other person business behavior, ok take example of the government employee, a police man, evey-time on call, and say ok i will go there... It is really a beautiful concpt describe here :) love it.
I know you've done many Whiteboard Fridays address this issue, but you should do another one directly addressing this theory!
All the tips and ideas given is this article after saying "stop sellling SEO", is just the new way of doing "SEO". Call it what you want, but start selling that!
That is the big problem. SEO changes, and that will always be SEO. SEO can't be dead. Yeah if Google stops his Search-business...
^Nailed it
We are in the new age of SEO, and with respect to time seo changes...
I definitely agree with the author's input. However, I also agree with the other comments suggesting that it's not that SEO is out - it's simply that we need to do it differently with the practices listed in this article. But the thing that drives me crazy the most is when the first thing out of a prospect's mouth is "I want to get to the top of Google". I immediately explain that getting to the top of the search engines can no longer be guaranteed and it is more difficult than ever. The real goal for today's SEO is to pull in more qualified leads organically. A healthy website will reap the benefits of well researched keywords embedded into rich content with an effective structure regardless if it makes it to the top of the engines.
Ryan, congratulations! This is a post that I have been wanting to write for a long time -- and you beat me to it! :)
The look on the face of the actor from "The Office" is why I stopped saying that I do "SEO." At least where I live, Israel, people still think SEO's a bag of tricks to rank first in Google. I've talked to many CMOs who are still buying links and doing all that bad stuff. And I would give them that look.
Today, I refer to "SEO" specifically as all of the technical and on-page tasks that I'm sure every Mozzer knows about. From the old meta tags to the new schema code, page speed, mobile design, and more. That's crucial and will always be important.
But as you say, Google is getting more and more and more data every single day. I describe it as Google thinking more and more like a human being. As a result, everything that used to be "off-page SEO" is simply just doing the product, PR, advertising, and communications sides well. It's about building a brand that deserves to rank highly -- and not trying to manipulate Google at all. Everything "off-page SEO" is just a new buzzword for existing practices, functions, and professions.
If someone says this to me: "How can I rank first for [widget] software?"
I respond: "Actually be the best [widget] software out there + getting people to talk about you online naturally as you being the best [widget] software."
If you're talking about a company in Gmail, on Twitter, in a public forum, in a comment on a blog, and in countless other places -- Google is indexing that statement and parsing it and almost certainly understanding your natural meaning. It's pretty accurate to say that increasing rankings is just a by-product of building a stronger brand.
Basically, if you want to rank first in an industry category, then you need to be the first company that comes to mind when people think about that industry. If you want to rank highly for [best london restaurant], then you simply must become the best London restaurant. So good that people write about you all the time.
Get all the technical and on-page SEO done right. Then, as Google is becoming smarter and smarter, all the rest comes down to real, human-to-human marketing. Which is what marketing has always been in the first place.
Here's a specific example copied from a comment of mine on this Moz post:
I'm in Israel. If you Google "american bar tel aviv," then one certain chain called "Mike's Place" dominates the SERP (English site). Why? Because they have built their brand so much that it is the bar that almost all American tourists visit in Tel Aviv. It's a tourist bar. The bar gives people a great experience so that people talk about them online and refer people and engage with them on social media and so on.
If you look at their on-page stuff, they seemingly aren't even targeting that phrase or any other certain specific keywords. I know some of the owners (but have not done any professional work for them), and they aren't doing anything to do "SEO" or linkbuilding or anything.
They also rank first for "sports bar tel aviv" (in English) because they're known as the place to go to watch sporting events from American, English, Australian, and other English-speaking countries.
They are building a brand among their target audience, and Google picks up on that naturally.
I agree 100% with everything you said. I appreciate you adding it!
I hear you Ryan and I hear you Samuel.
I also understand why Rand loved this post... because it is actually what it is SEO right now.
So, what are you doing, Ryan, really isn't "not selling SEO"... because, as your own bio below the post says, you currently own and operate Webris, a Miami based search and web analytics agency. Something that you clearly sell as a service (here, here and here).
We all know that SEO has changed, that it is not only "rankings domain.com for keyword A, B and C".
But I disagree, deeply disagree with the idea of SEO reduced just to technical SEO and On-Page (sorry Samuel, but you know well how we respectfully disagree on this).
As I wrote few months ago in a post for State of Digital:
SEO is Technical Marketing:
SEO then, always works now and will work in the future in two bands:
SEO therefore, is the most technical of all disciplines that contribute to the success of a wider digital marketing strategy.
However, the same search engines’ evolution (Google in particular) and the pervasive influence of social media environments in the field of search, means that SEO has recovered as its original focus the users – now SEO can rightly be defined as Search Experience Optimization.
In other words, we do not optimize Search Engines (well, we never did it), but we work on optimizing the visibility of a brand in every action users commit related to that primary human need that Search is.
Moreover, for achieving the greatest results, we base our strategy on the ultimate goal of creating visibility bridges between what users need and what brands can offer them in order to fulfill its needs.
Somehow and despite of what its technical nature could make us think, SEO is deeply humanistic.
(comment part 1)
(Comment part 2)
SEO, hence, has a very precise objective: earn the highest visibility, so a web site will see increased in quantity and quality the traffic it receives from any search-based activity and, therefore, being able to improve its conversion rate.
SEO, as so well Rand explained at MozCon (see his deck here) obviously need to work on things like Branding, Digital PR, Content, UX and others disciplines that not necessarily are meant to "serve" the same SEO objective. And must do it, because all the channels are merging into one bigger strategy.
Digital PR not necessarily has as objective earning links... its main objective is branding and awareness. When SEO cooperate with Digital PR, that's because it need the signals it may offer (brand signals, social signals...) plus the big links (because, yes, they are still needed, apart that they drove traffic, more branding and social engagement).
Content Marketing doesn't have the same objective than SEO. Content Marketing is obtaining leads thanks to very targeted content. It is not strange, then, seeing how the preferred by content marketers tactic is nudging users with the promise of great content in order to obtain an email.
A tactic which is the real meaning of the Hubspot's vision of Inbound Marketing, where SEO is just instrumental for obtaining the highest visibility for long tail and for feeding others channels.
So you - Ryan - are selling SEO and, as the links to your agency site and the quote from your bio testify - you are right in not hiding you sell SEO, even if it is obviously frustrating receiving clients' prospects like the one you cite in the post.
SEO has a brand reputation issue. We all know it.
The problem though, it is not the ignorance that companies can have about SEO. Companies are well aware – although sometimes in a wrong way – of the importance search marketing can have for their success online.
The real problem of the SEO Brand are the SEOs themselves and their (in) ability to sell themselves and then their (in)ability in making stand clear the difference from what SEO really is and what it is not.
SEO has changed and it is the most transversal digital marketing discipline existing right now (see this Venn for easily understanding what I mean for transversality)
Concluding this mega-comment... do you know what really makes me sad?
Those thousands SEOs that decide to sell themselves as "Content Marketers", "Inbound Marketers", "Digital Something", but at the end what they do and sell is SEO.
I am an SEO, and very proud of being an SEO and sell SEO.
Excellent points, as usual.
I think part of the problem with SEOs is that we too often want to define ourselves or allow us to be defined by the least common denominator by clients.
Case in point...SEOs were "content is king" proponents long before "content marketing" was a thing. But of course content is hard, especially good content, so we often caved under the clients' "ok, but...what if we didn't/couldn't/wouldn't create content, then what should we do?" response.
Great SEOs have always view SEO from a technical point of view first, because if you failed that, everything else either failed or was deeply crippled anyway.
Part of the problem may be that SEO has always been very adaptive, while good, also creates a bit of a "flavor of the month" image and therefore, a bit of a "we're selling whatever you're buying" image as well. But I also think great SEOs have mostly adapted and added/expanded to the tool kit, not simply swapped out whatever was "hot."
I still see the best way to view SEO is as a hub and conduit to everything else...great SEO connects traditional marketing, digital marketing, web analytics, social media, PR, site/server/platform technical, etc. together. The challenge for SEO is that it has never really lived well on an island, but helps connect all the islands together, making everything stronger.
Good ideas, Gianluca. It'd be great if you started putting the long ones in YouMoz posts instead of on other posts' comments all the time. (Hint, Hint)
Just a note Greg: as an associate I don't publish on YouMoz anymore, but in the main blog, and sometimes the main blog focuses on different kind of blog posts :-)
Agree with this. You tell everyone to stop selling SEO but your own website sells SEO.
Couldn't have said it better. This guy is saying SEO is dead and he stopped selling it. What a load of BS! He is smart in using this as a tool to drive people to his website, but come on only idiots don't realize what he is doing.
Excellent points, Thanks
Hi Ryan,
I like a lot of your points but I'm going to pick out a couple, hope you don't mind :)
I'm agreed that SEO has changed, but you're falling for the old assumption that a high search volume keyword is a money keyword. If someone is searching for "best headphones" then yeah, they want to find an expertly authored article that tells them which to get. And then if I sell those headphones, I want to be *there* when they search for those.
Again with "plumbers in X", yeah Google has you covered because I'm just one plumber and the searcher wants to see who is available, but when that searcher wants to find one she can trust, I want to be *there*, and I want to have reviews and testimonials that show I'm a good choice for that searcher.
So what I would say is that I'm very happy to sell SEO, because for me SEO means "making money from people who are looking for things", and it should for you too. There's a misconception that "search engine optimisation" means "rank higher", when it really means "make the most of people searching for you".
So if I can flip this on its head and assume that a lot of the leads you get are from search, what *are* you selling? What do people search for that makes them find you?
Stephen
Yea Stephen I'm with you here for sure. I feel like "small business SEO" hasn't changed as much as the big brand SEO has over the years, if you're looking for a service company as much as we'd like to believe that Google users are also then doing ten more searches to verify references that simply isn't the case. People see a website, that website has trust signals and third party review sources prominently featured, they're going to trust that brand and make the call. Ranking #1 for those keywords is still hugely valuable, and this whole "we live in a post keyword world" just isn't really true - it might be for some types of keyword phrases but I'm still getting calls every day simply because we're winning at various phrases.
Rand had asked me years back about the quality of the calls I'd get for ranking well for "San Antonio SEO" and he wasn't wrong at the time that the big calls were few and far between, but we've also just closed some really big deals that came exclusively from those rankings, they had no idea who to call so they trusted Google's rankings and liked us after we met.
Again - I'm a small business SEO - I've always loved that small business SEO is somehow a niche from a content perspective, but this is a great example of when bigger businesses and smaller businesses don't necessarily follow the same rules.
If I'm selling "Wedding Sparklers" and I'm #1 for Wedding Sparklers (and assuming my site doesn't suck) I'm going to sell more Wedding Sparklers than the next guy in Google's line. Those keywords are still out there, and they aren't money keywords ONLY because they're short tail high volume keywords, but because there is that buyers intent behind them. Same with "OLED TV's" or "San Antonio Fertility Doctor", national and local keywords, they all lead to a buying decision, and thus ranking for those keywords - BUT ALSO DOING THAT OTHER STUFF - still matters.
We don't live in a post keyword world, not yet.
I agree SEO is not an isolated island, and one cannot hope all their marketing to be SEO-based. I also agree it's becoming harder to do SEO, especially when competitive keywords are concerned. Having said that, I strongly disagree with your title recommendation (i.e., "stop selling seo").
First things first - if your clients still expect you to "dominate rankings" and promise them specific locations, you should've explained better what SEO is, before signing any contract. No one promises anything in the world of marketing and advertising, be it TV, radio, newspapers, and brochures. In the same way, no one can (really) promise anything when digital marketing is concerned, also. Do you promise your PPC clients specific locations or amounts of leads? Guess not. So why should SEO be any different in that aspect?
Secondly - as long as people uses search engines, there will be SEO (and you've said so yourself). You can say SEO is not for every marketer or not for every business. But saying "stop doing SEO" altogether, is like saying "stop doing PPC" or "stop doing email marketing". SEO rules are changing and it's a very demanding field of work, but it still exists.
Thirdly - can't compete with the giant brands and indexes? Perfectly understandable. Instead, offer your clients other, less competitive phrases. A single post about swimming pools made its owner $2 million using low-competition long-tails: https://heidicohen.com/blog-post-generated-2-millio...
SEO is far from perfect.
But so is digital marketing, and indeed all forms of marketing / advertising.
Preach brother preach!
Nice post Ryan - I've seen some of your stuff on inbound.org as well, and I've been pretty impressed by it. I definitely agree that the landscape has changed as Google injects more "universal" results (knowledge graph, additional questions asked, social media, etc), so we need to change with it. If the whole "marketing" strategy some agencies promote are just around Google, their clients will definitely fire them in a few months. You can't solely focus on Google and expect to drive real conversions for clients/business - you need to focus on where you can get referral traffic, and make sure all relevant search engines are covered.
I bet this question is going to come up at some point, so I'll ask it: How do you position your service to customers as "not a SEO service" when you pitch it? What's your elevator pitch to clients on why your service is better than the other agency's down the street when they say something to the effect of, "that other guy has a great SEO strategy, isn't SEO important?" We live in a world of acronyms that confuse clients & other departments; how do you explain an acronym that has been pounded in their head for the past few years is not what's best for their business?
Thanks!
-Eric
Thanks Eric, much appreciated.
That's a great question.
Honestly, it's hard. I find that 99% of businesses are living 2 - 4 years behind when it comes to digital so convincing them to stop looking at quantifiable metrics like rankings and traffic is really hard.
I sell it by living it.
I mean, I own an agency that's growing faster than I can handle, yet I spend 98% of my time creating content, most of which doesn't even live on my own site.
When you live your brand's message, it's no longer a message of "selling" people. People come to you and say:
"I've seen some of your stuff on inbound.org as well, and I've been pretty impressed by it."
It builds a certain of trust and respect - those 2 things allow me to dictate the pitch to the client and override their inputs. When you're doing TRUE inbound marketing, you can kinda be an asshole and say "you found me, I didn't find you". I mean, I'd NEVER say that, but it goes without saying.
When you create truly valuable content, people WANT to work with you.
How do you position your service to customers as "not a SEO service" when you pitch it?
Here's what I say:
Most SEOs will get you rankings -- that will often use artificial means that will get you penalized.
I will get you sales / downloads / users / etc. -- in a way that will also bring you higher rankings naturally as by-products of doing the technical work and then building a brand.
Always keep the main goal in mind. In the end, the #1 goal is conversions or sales. Focus on that, and everything else will follow. I'd rather have a website rank fifth and converts at 50% than a website that ranks first and converts at 1%.
I forgot. Here's my basic definition of what I say I do (in part): maximizing the contribution of your website and overall online presence to your business and marketing goals. There's a lot more to that than just rankings.
In my house that is a definition of SEO :-)
yes, of course
Hey,
First of all, thanks for sharing your thoughts,
but, let's agree to disagree.
"I'm tired of explaining to people SEO doesn't work that way anymore. And I need the rest of you to get on board with me, because we're driving ourselves out of business."
Maybe, just maybe, it is time to do something else. You are 28 years old, you probably love to do what you do and you can reach great things in the world.
Your average customer, presumably, is in his 50-60's with bunch if ideas which wouldn't have worked 20 years ago, but they heard of "internet" & "seo" and that everything is possible.
Those people didn't grew up with SEO, they don't know SEO and probably on birthday talk they hear things like "yeah, if you stuff your site.. blah blah blah keywords blah blah rankings blah blah" Those are the people you have to deal with, you have to explain them what is possible instead of what is not possible. They don't know...
Here, our sales department is working against me, most of the time. "Yeah, your site will be smooth, nice, and easy to use and of course you will be ranking high- *lowers voice* -er then you rank now *rises voice* so let's make the deal!." Damage control is one of the things you have to do as SEO specialist. It is the same, you never get together with the design department. Or with the guys from human resources (because of reasons)
So, go tell those people what is possible and let them know what you can do for them and enjoy what you do. Or stop doing it and start doing other things. But don't say that you're tired of explaining. You're in one of the fastes business in the world, and while typing this i have to answer a mail "You launched my site yesterday, why am I not on top in Google?!!11!!" -- yeah, you get those mails too!
Good luck, and never forget have fun in what you do!
This is a great perspective, glad this made it to the comments. There's a lot of noise out there and part of our job is to clarify things for people. If you hired something new and vague, like an Artificial Intelligence Optimization Firm, I'm sure you'd have a lot of questions too!
This post really got my wheels turning about content (outside of explicit sales pages) that can contribute to the sales cycle! I'd enjoy reading more about how you or others have determined which platforms/search engines (as you call them) to test. Further, what types/formats/audience pains seem to contribute the most to sales... Thanks again - this post got me inspired!
Very good article Ryan!
Good contribution and very clear examples.
I completely agree with you that to position well in search engines, apart from a good seo( on page, off page, etc) the best thing to do is create a high value content to do users fall in live with it. Doing this, oogle will undesrtand (for CTR, time spend on the web, and bounce rate) that should be positioned above the SERPs.
Congrats and all the best, Ryan!
Javier
Preaching to the choir, bro. After 10+ years of marketing other ppl's sites, I am only doing my own properties now.
Glad you enjoyed it Darren!
Very good advice and ideas. We must find new ways of doing SEO.
exactly
I think it's interesting to see Google ranking directories very highly. It kind of makes sense from an end-user perspective but isn't it also removing part of why people use Google? Google WAS that directory. I say it not from a "I want my rankings back" SEO point of view - more surprised that Google would pass the ball like that.
Do these directories provide something that the SERPs don't? Will Google eventually integrate these things like it has with reviews, Zagat scores etc. directly into the SERPs? I think the future is interesting.
That's why I love what we do so much - it's dynamic as hell
Beat their content, not their links. That's what it takes these days.
Nice post, Ryan. You may make some valuable points. It may be a case of a site that hasn't been updated, but there's a bit of hypocrisy in your article vs. what's on your company Website.
When your company site says things like 'We've built a proprietary process to get backlinks from high quality websites whenever we please. We do it so well that we've become a go to outsourced backlinking firm for other SEO agencies...' (on your Services page).
And then a case study has a quote 'Within a matter of weeks we were #1 for our main keywords…'. This reinforces the we can quickly get you ranked for "[keyword terms x, y, and z]" that drove the SEO industry.
Hey Jason - I respect the call out!
In my defense, the site hasn't been updated in about 7 months (we're working on a redesign as we speak).
But you're 100% right - in the past I was a part of this problem because I was too focused on building revenue, not value.
I don't pretend to know everything or that I'm better than anyone else in this industry. I wake up everyday and try to get better - I'm still learning too!
Hi Ryan,
3 weeks ago I had never heard of SEO in my life, so I'm pretty new to it all. Readig everything I can find about SEO and marketing strategies has tought me alot these last weeks and I feel like I only scratched the surface sofar. Hearing you say -or reading it- "I'm still learning too!" gives me comfort! :)
Thnx for sharing, learning loads!
Petra, The Netherlands.
That was funny you noticed, I did too! Haha.
But the content of this post is so true. User intent is truly the key these days. Don't expect to "rank" a purchase or sales page for a generic top-funnel keyword phrase. Serve content that satisfies the intent of the search.
Hey Ryan,
Till now I was following you on quora, watching your videos (how does rel="canonical" tag work?) and I noticed that you wrote Digital Marketing Expert in your bio @ quora, Why ? Do you know canonical tag is also a part of SEO? If yes then why you think seo should stop? You are doing the same thing and telling we should stop? Why you put links to your bio?
Well, I become little bit frustrated if someone telling that they are right before knowing what people think about them. Sorry to say but I disagree with you on this post and you have no idea how much this post will effect on marketers who making money by SEO. Buddy, seo is a bridge between searcher and search engine and the examples you given that is only limited version..
Let me give you some examples - Suppose if someone looking for dental clinic in houston, then is there a specific big brand people should visit only? No man, many dental clinic websites ranking for this keyword and top rank clinic get clicked and this can happened only from SEO (for organic & local result).
If someone looking for air duct cleaning in houston, texas then there is no specific brand people will visit only. So, if you provide air duct cleaning service in houston then you have to create website for online business and must do SEO.
If someone looking for real estate in calgary or toronto, then is there any specific big brand which people should visit only? No, real estate agents have to build websites, and rank for those keywords to get clicked by visitors. There are numbers of examples I can give and prove that why should not stop doing SEO, it is required ryan...
I hope you understand my points and take it positively.
Shubham
Hey Ryan,
Congratulations, finally you post promoted to main blog..Anyway, I did not get back your response on my questions, If you are truly a good marketer then solve my doubts and prove that you were right. I may wrong, so it would be great if you help me with above asked questions....
Gosh, you’ve figured out what many of us have known for awhile, and it goes something like this: “just give me your money, I’ll go ahead and write that content, but gosh, don’t expect any results. Did I mention I’d still take your money?”
That’s about what it is, and it’ll continue. After all, quality content can still rank, and if you can write it, you’ll get paid.
This is why I don’t focus on keywords anymore – what’s the point? Write to the topic, the interest, the long-term questions, and the unanswerable questions. Readers don’t care about keywords – search engines lining up to take your money care about them.
I’m personally very alarmed by our flocking to "pay to play." Facebook ads are wholly ineffective for me, unless you count wasting money. Facebook benefits from them, I do not. If Google is going that route then it’s time to look for alternatives. Sites challenging those search giants will do well. I'm glad you mentioned a few.
I've had a ton of success with Facebook Ads, specifically using them to promote content and create incredibly targeted groups of people that we can then retarget via search, social and display ads.
but do you get real conversions from it?
I’m personally very alarmed by our flocking to "pay to play." Facebook ads are wholly ineffective for me, unless you count wasting money.
Facebook ads were very good for one specific project I once ran.
One criticism that I have with digital marketers -- and I mean this in a constructive-criticism way to help my compatriots in the industry -- is that we think in black-and-white terms all too often. Inbound bad, outbound good. Organic good, ads bad. AdWords good, Facebook bad. Or whatever. People become emotionally invested in their favorite marketing methods and advocate them as cure-alls.
But no specific method works all the time for everyone. There's a time and a place -- and NOT a time and a place -- for SEO, social media, advertising, PR, influencer marketing, publicity, and countless other marketing strategies. Different strategies and marketing mixes work best for different companies and different industries.
The answer? Test everything and see what works for you.*
* (That being said, there are certain strategies that tend to work best for certain types of businesses. But that's for another time.)
wuoo0hhh.... i believe that this is the blog which every SEO Service provider or SEO Consultant wanted for a long time since the Google is being advancing and intelligent significantly! I really wanted it to be described in a great way . and you have done with best examples!!! I am dealing with some clients as a SEO Service Provider, and totally got exhausted! they think they know better, and its damn easy to rank a site by building links with the keywords like "Best Company" :D Someone please tell them, everyone use to search with industry like:
" Best online Advertising company " :S
They don't think that content is important for SEO! You are rite, we must stop selling SEO Services! But i think we must start a 3 Days Class for 2 hours to teach the clients about fundamentals of SEO & "What Exactly SEO Is!" before taking the project :D
Well, Love this article!!!
Interesting article, but doesn't a lot of it come down to what people (i.e. clients) expect from 'SEO'? I wouldn't know how to run a restaurant, or fix a broken boiler, so I think it's a bit harsh to be so condescending when they ring up and ask for what, with their limited experience and knowledge, they think they need. At the end of the day, they want more traffic and more business, they just think that SEo and better rankings are how that's achieved. When they ask for 'SEO', I believe it's our job to explain how things have changed and that, in most cases, it's not just about picking a keyword and then ranking you for it.
Don't get me wrong, I still think you can rank sites for your chosen keywords in a lot of cases - it just might not be a long term business model. But these days, I see building Yelp listings and citations, relevant content creation, and educating businesses as to how to attract reviews and manage their social media as all part of my job, and the service I sell. Like you say, maybe we just need to stop using the term 'SEO'?
I agree with you on that, I didn't mean to come off as condescending to potential clients. It's not their fault, it's ours as SEOs. I partially addressed that in the article.
Loved this post! Was a bit like WHAT?? when I seen the title, but it's spot on. Trying to cheat and play the system was never a good solution, but it's obsolete now and people need to realise things have changed.
Great read this! I'll be honest, when I saw the clickbaity title alarm bells rang - "Here we go, another marketer with an agenda pushing the SEO IS DEAD angle to sell a product/service". I'm glad it was just a provocative twist of words. From the number of comments and likes it appears to be working :)
Although I'm not 100% sold on Google going for a mostly paid platform any time soon, I completely agree in regards to this misconception that we just "do SEO" (ie. press a button) and businesses magically rank. It was like that a few years ago, don't get me wrong, but times have changed.
It's going to take some time for the stigma surrounding SEO to shift. I still get emails most weeks offering me one-size-fits-all SEO packages to "rank number one in Google" for under $200 a month which isn't helping either.
What we really need to be selling these days to set us apart from traditional platforms is a safety net to ensure your site is technically sound, a data level approach to ensure all opportunities are maximised on, online PR, and more importantly an all encompassing digital strategy that invests where our clients can benefit.
If you're asking these kinds of questions, you're doing the right thing IMO.
Well said Dan, thanks for chiming in.
Great examples. I hope everyone "gets" that you should look at what is ranking and see if you can put your product / service / client on the front page another way. Samuel Scott is correct, the main goal is conversions and sales - not rankings.
Samuel Scott is pretty much always correct :)
Oh, wow -- Ryan! I'm both humbled and embarrassed by your comment. Thanks for the vote of confidence! :)
That being said, I'll be the first to say that I'm not always correct. (A lot of other Mozzers would agree, based on the polite but lengthy discussions that have occurred here -- by the way, that's another reason why TAGFEE rules!)
There are a lot of people -- people who also contribute to Moz and elsewhere -- who have been digital marketers for far longer than I have. I learned from them at the beginning, and I still learn so much for the posts here. I just happen to have some decent experience in a few specific areas and happen to harp on those topics a lot (maybe too much)!
The bad quality of search results is not because of SEO people or agencies. It is because the Google algorithm is based on popularity and not quality(read links).
Content marketing/Social media (marketing) is just another way to say "linkbuilding in places where it is just a bit harder then just typing your url and hitting the submit button".
Sites who make it to the top of search results for popular keywords these days don't use any of the SEO techniques discussed over and over again by SEO experts. Sites with a hughe amount of (very) thin content dominate the rankings.
Example: Local restaurants don't have the same amount of links as tripadvisor. Tripadvisor (or any other review aggregator) need just one link to a restaurant listed on their site to beat them all in search engine rankings.
That is why I believe in the future of video. It is much harder to create thin video content. Youtube is going to display thumps down if thin content is detected by it's viewers.
Totally disagree, you can rank any keyword you want in time with the right method. Sorry you're wrong, I rank websites, videos now with no problem so I can prove your article is not accurate
You need to know how to create strategies and changes in your link building
Totally agree..its about time, we SEOs, change our strategy or we become extinct
Nice article. The keywords that you described are ecommerce in nature. Obviously those sorts of keywords (consumer based) will be more shopping around for the best product and yes comparison sites do that the best. But when it comes to b2b for the most part, ranking for keywords in the top is still viable and should be pursued. I think we cannot generalize all keywords are like this. Each industry and competition level is going to do be different.
Why is this not in Moz blog yet???
Preach brother.
It's in brother! Congratulations!!!
Let's see if I can get up this forum! Where I would discredit the statement of no longer having the necessity of selling SEO would be in the situation of keeping up the authority of those big brands that are being challenged by the smaller businesses that are producing the right signals even if some are questionable,. Sometimes these big brands can still struggle to maintain their ground in the SERP's. There is still a need of the right mix of marketing for even the bigger brands especially more local This is where SEO still has it's place on the market. It is our responsibility to educate advertisers what SEO is today!
I wouldn't say that SEO is dead, it has just matured. Gone are the days of cheap advertising. We now focus on CRO as a way to maximize every clcik our clients recieve.
Agreed - it's all about value.
Yes. SEO will never die as long as search engines exist. But what's happening is that all of the old "tricks" are dying one by one as Google becomes smarter and smarter and thinks more like a human being. The answer? Do on-page & technical SEO and then do real marketing that build brands -- just as marketers did before the Internet.
Thats the issue right there i think Sam, I believe its time to stop saying SEO=Marketing or vise versa, they go hand in hand yes but im starting to associate SEO with the on-page/technical aspect and marketing is the building of a brand/trust.
It's all about authority.
we need to understand that how much power given to big brands and trusted sites.
we can initially check any ranked page authority with OSE :)
Great post Ryan!
You mentioned the paid local listings with the example of "plumbers in san francisco". That's the first time I've ever seen one for myself! Is this currently a U.S-only thing? I'm based in the UK - is there any information when/if we can expect Google to roll this out for UK users.
It's currently in beta only in that area. They may or may not go ahead with it, but like I said, Im willing to bet they do!
I can't even tell you how many client calls I have where they've got X data sample from Y rank checker and they're asking me why they don't rank for blah keyword and how their business would be so successful if they could only rank for it...and my epic eyeroll commences.
I want to bottle this article in tiny jars and distribute it anywhere sound advice is sold.
Great article Ryan.
I totally agree...with one caveat.
I agree that more than just what I'll call "traditional SEO" is needed. You are basically saying that all online marketing efforts need to be integrated. You need the SEO team, Social Media team, Content team, Web Design team, Outreach team, etc., all on the same page. And that's how you will really succeed in building your online presence...get more relevant traffic, and become a successful business. It's not enough to just use SEO practices anymore...your whole marketing team needs to align and focus on the same goals. An Omni Channel online marketing strategy is needed.
However, and here is the caveat, these are all separate "services". In a large organization, you will have multiple people on each one of these teams, each getting paid a salary. This goes beyond SEO...
So, when pitching that to a client, it sounds like you are going to take over all of their marketing efforts...when they really just want the "SEO" part of it because they already have the other teams built out (such as a content team and social media team). In that case, would you offer SEO + Online Marketing Consulting as a bundle package?
Where I'm at I don't say I'm doing SEO because they think its black magic of some sort. I practice my craft under the umbrella of digital marketing, which comprises of basic SEO for on page & offsite campaigns, but with a huge focus on audience engagement thru social channels. This all due to our business goals.
This article is brilliant (I know many have said it). Great stuff!
I too came to the same conclusion - the diminishing of the importance of SEO marketing companies (many of which STILL call us at office daily - from the Philippines to India and back to the UK), and the increasing of the importance of high quality content, unique content, helpful things, and - looking forward to the future - write for the consumer, targeting your niche, and....not being afraid to invest in highly targeted ads!
I also realized that it's getting increasingly difficult to show up on the front page of google on general keywords, but it can be easier to show up in the google ads section if you target the people you want to reach. It takes much more thought and analysis to reach your end customers who will eventually pay for your services, but it's a new era, a new google, and a new way of searching and optimizing the websites!
Thank you Misaras!
Hello Ryan,
I like a lot of your points of view but i think that the SEO is changing and adapting to the local market. So the more important think for us and agree with you, is work in capture more web traffic with Pay for it, Create valuable content and Optimize your website for the web.
For us is the best way to make the successful SEO or at least in Spain works.
Regards and have nice weekend.
Key sentence that I really like here: "Yelp is a search engine. Facebook is a search engine. Twitter is a search engine. Amazon is a search engine. Quora is a search engine. Pinterest is a search engine. YouTube is a search engine." People forget that other search engines are out there and not just Bing and Yahoo but all of these social sites act as search engines as well. They are just as important and website owners and SEOs need to be aware of capitalizing on opportunities within these by generating awareness via alternative content and participation. Google is the big guy on the block but do not discount these others...they even help your Google presence! Networked businesses perform the best...this goes for on and offline.
Great post and topic Ryan! I think this post can serve as inspiration to other SEO's out there who contemplate taking on clients who want to rank for keyword x, y, z but whose company is sub-par.
Good article with another take on how we present and own our value beyond rankings. Been preaching this for 2-3 years now. I presented "Stop Selling SEO" at Pubcon SFIMA back in spring 2013 on a panel with Dave Rohrer outlining how the work and market have changed so much between 2008-2012. It's only getting more complex, it's a completely different job. The term "SEO" doesn't do the effort justice, at least in the minds of the typical buyer looking for SEO services.
Great Ryan, i like it...
You hit the nail right on the head. I manage quite a few e-commerce websites and SEO just don't work the way it used to. We've had to move into a lot of comparison shopping, Google & Bing PLAs and obviously social.
When I search for certain categories or products related to our sites, you're right, it's Brands that dominate the first page.
Anyway, thanks for the great article,
Thx for you post Ryan! For 90% I agree with your post. However, the fact is that SEO is always evolving and that is why we as online marketeers have to adapt to this and broaden our services (not only Google any more). Look at the linkbuilding strategies that are not working any more, this changed to qualitative content. And now we see that other platforms like Facebook act more and more in this SEO area. Don't be too negative about SEO, it creates also a lot of new opportunities!
Great article and you're totally right about paying being a great option. The only problem is for small businesses paying google is way to expensive. For a single click you easy pay over $1 while people tend to open several pages. Lets say only 10% becomes a customer. You'll have to invest a lot of money and your profits go down.
Great Post, Ryan. I've been hammering our sales team with this for months now, but there are always such huge barriers on the customer's end. And God bless my salespeople, but they often crack when push comes to shove and they see a deal walking out the door because they're up against 3 groups that are giving keyword proposals and keyword projections for ranks. The customers eat those up and then my team cracks and makes the mistake.
From a Founder/Executive perspective, I think we all agree with you. From the boots on the ground perspective, it's going to be a bit of time before the education takes hold and we can get away from this.
FYI - When I see a sale come across that has anything to do with keyword rankings and such, we either cancel the kickoff call or get on a call with the client to reset expectations with an executive. This helps, but we have walked away from a lot of deals where customers just won't change their frame of mind.
I totally agree, especially if there is fighting for visibility related to the ecommerce universe. The classic SEO can be a marketing lever only if the ecommerce is appointed to sell niche products.
Fantastic read and honestly this makes the point clear that SEO is just becoming more of a profession and taking finesse to accomplish tasks. Too many times the goal of a client is just to rank for a term, but when you can break that mold and show that the entire user experience and conversion rates are based on so much more that that. Perfect example on expectations also when a client is like "Why am I not ranking" not realizing citation sites are the only one above them. Setting the right expectations and also putting in the right work is what SEO is taking nowadays and it is a good thing as it cleans out the marketers that have done little but gained in the past.
Thanks Moz and all the contributors.
Great post.
What a refreshing read. Thanks, Ryan!
As a side note, the company where I work has noticed a large influx of clients who are coming to us with the same story, "I just fired my SEO agency because they think it's all about keywords, keywords, keywords. The cost wasn't yeilding results, etc." This post does a good job at summing up why we're seeing this trend. Thanks again.
well, I believe the BDMs or people who sell SEO should STOP selling it on Keywords basis and ranking basis and at the same time we should all start educating the customers that if you want to rank for such keywords then you should spend like the big boys in the market. I had clients who were in direct competition with likes of HP, Canon and Nikon and expecting 50% of his keywords to be in the first page within 3 months, given that his website was for back in 1998 and he is only marketing strategy was SEO. The SEO should be based on generating traffic with no sales promises. in my opinion it should be like ok we are going to maximise your traffic and generate leads now turning those leads into conversions is going to be your Digital Marketer job. By the way I'm in Australia.
Really Nice
This article expose what i am thinking & observe about SEO (Not for Only Ranking purpose & Not for Optimize Google only).
This poster says he stopped selling SEO services yet as Gianluca properly pointed out he most certainly still does attempt to sell it: here
P.S. cursing in your videos does you no favors and probably turns away potential business
Great post and very interesting view of reality.
At all times who has had more money to invest in advertising or company typically it has been who has gone up, and that Google is selling position through its Adwords it is not surprising, because it also wants to make money out of the desire to people have your website and your business well positioned through advertising.
The SEO will continue to operate until the "Mr. Google" wants it that way but gradually payment for advertising will surpass the natural Seo.
Super like the content experiment & explanation with proper formation. Good Luck !
Thank you for this great information. My buddy and I have started a new Online Marketing company and torn if we should still continue with it. We do have several of our own sites we seo so not sure if we want more clients or just stick with our own sites. Thank you for sharing.
https://www.supremitymarketing.com/First Thanks for this article! but i don't think you are totaly right, let me explain.
if out there you have big companies (like you stated) that make big money from seo even today at 2015 it means alot.
someone is making big money from it
start ups companies create softwares to help you with your seo analytics and softwares to improve it.
thousends of blogs and posts and articles about seo are out there.
Google is really strong, search engines are really important
and without seo experts html documents will not make sense.
i still have not met someone that is not using google to find
for examples:
recipes, services, advices, flights tickets, news, pictures and the lists go on....
it's like saying no more job for web designer --> 'wordpress is all over so stop being a web designer'
the only hard part is off page seo and back links, and probably for new seo service it's hard to provide it.
clean url, meta tags, title, and the structure of your page is under your control.
off page seo is important but hard to get there.
if you have any good article on off page seo i would like to read it.
thanks for your
Great post! I feel that this is a conversation many "SEO's" have tried having in the past with clients, but only getting discouraged about altering old ideas about SEO. What success have you had in altering your client's mindsets?
Nicely written, I was ready ti disagree with you but you quickly won me round. I'm still getting people calling thinking we just need to make one or two tweaks to the code to gain rankings.
The link to this article should be given to all people calling for ranking their websites to all agencies.
They don't know or they don't want to know how Google works and that it's changing all the time.
In the other hand, it's not their fault because they don't have enough knowledge so... they're calling and asking.
It's some kind of vicious circle.
That's odd, Webris' /services/search-engine-optimization/ page is still up.
I agree with Ryan Stewart post and well written by the way, but to me it seems Google put out some rules about 10-years ago and majority of the updates have been paraphrases of the original content. These recent changes/ rules I like to call filters where just enabled/ put in place to keep websites that use black-hat tactics to rank.
Ranking is easy and correct me if I'm wrong.
When an SEO/ Digital Marketer says "it will be hard to rank your site for that keyword because it's too broad".
They mean because when they look at the search volume, how long your website has been live, your competitors and their number of backlinks it will take a long time to start seeing rankings, but it doesn't mean it cannot be done. As Stewart said "you have to use the internet to your advantage" and I think what he meant by that was simply
If you have a client that has a fashion e-commerce site, Google+ would probably not be your likely choice to bring that client targeted traffic. But sites like Pinterest and Instagram would be a great benefit. As well as reviews on their G+ Page.
Am I wrong?
I agree and disagree with this post at the same time. I would never guarantee to get a page to rank in any organic position. That's just silly and as a whole hurts us all. However, I have many clients websites ranking within the top 5 organic results on Google that fall under some of these areas you've outlined here.
Search any of these and you will find websites on page 1...
So, it's not ture that these review sites and and such are "always" listed first. They have a slight advantage becuase of how large thet are, but they can get out ranked.
Personally nothing makes me more happy than out ranking mega sites. If you want to stop selling SEO please send your business my way. ;)
I'd feel better if the headline suggested that we stop selling "only SEO."
I agree it's much harder to make a difference with it if you don't have a major brand, but I still run into examples of small sites that rank well using old-fashioned SEO if they don't face stiff competition for a particular niche topic.
Great article. Love this! and yes, at #theface lol sooo over it. ;)
Cheers - Joy
SEO changes, but it's always SEO and is always valuable for small and big businesses alike. This is why we have transitioned to the term "online presence management," or OPM, at our agency - it includes Google rankings but broadens a client's understanding of our focus to the review sites, articles, and listicles that you refer to.
Great post Ryan, hopefully I have interpreted your post correctly, I do agree we are kind of no longer SEO specialists, but more OOM specialists, OOM being : Online Optimisation & Marketing.
It is now all about getting your site working at its technical best before marketing to the internet as a whole, be it on search engines, social, niche content sites, adverts, emails etc....
.We live in an ever-changing online landscape but that's why I love it :)
Yeah, well if you don't want to sell SEO Services anymore, you'll eventually start having a hard time selling PPC optimization service as well now too https://davidscarpitta.com/wait-google-is-now-call...
Fortunate for me that I'm much more than just an SEO or a PPC sales guy.
If a client asks you to rank for a ridiculous fat-head keyword, learn how to educate them and set expectations. For everyone who doesn't do that, our industry takes a credibility hit.
We'll never stop selling SEO when we think if can help, but you should also be ready to alternative services.
Also, your "best headphones" example is flawed. I had this exact challenge so instead we ranked them for "headphones Toronto" "best headphones that don't leak sound" "top 10 headphones that won't break" etc.
This article is so negative! My advice? Hire some creative people to solve your problems!
Nice point, but for me SEO is only being sure that our customer name will be displayed on google SERP. But I like the keyword list again :p In this case let's let them pay for adwords. That the unique option !
Thanks for, really good
I gave up on SEO and trying to write for Google a good few years ago, in frustration I started to write more for my audiences needs, my community, rarely ever looking at keywords or meta tags etc. That very tactic of creating valuable content for people has worked a treat, and as a result has gotten me results in the SERPS that never thought possible. I think people get too caught up on the whole SEO and keyword ranking thing, they just need to focus on creating useful problem solving content and the rest will follow I think.
Thanks for this informative article. It's an eye opener to a newbie like me.
My concern is that optimizing your site in all the search engines is a tedious work unless you have the bugdet to employ the necessary automating tools. Otherwise one may be overwhelmed manually handling all that is required.
Could someone recommend if there be, easier simpler ways to stressly go about the new approach to SEO. I would appreciate. Thanks.
Ryan, Great post. Almost wish I could take "SEO" out of my business name!
All the best, Steve
Florida SEO Hub
This was a fantastic post, Ryan. I love the title and fully agree. This is why I've changed my whole business model from an SEO company out in Orlando to a content marketing company that serves clients all across the country and helps them get leverage and eyes from their target demo wherever they are online. Write content that speaks to your future clients and they will appear
The key takeaway is this: "SEO is absolutely not dead. As long as people use Google search, SEO will be alive" which in turn means there will always be a need for SEO Services. Great headline, though :)
thanks for your post mate
You threw in the towel dude, you grew tired we will now crush you on the SERPS. We can still outmaneuver the search engines, those algorithms are made by humans just like us. We are still crushing it no matter the changes, You just have to evolve when you stop evolving you become a slave to those big sites you mentioned - and there is no way I am doing that.
Yes I agree with you.
Great Article. I liked way the way you have approached this topic. Search Industry is constantly changing. And, SEO need to evolve accordingly. Thanks!
Yeppers........ I totally agree! You have to explore every online marketing channel. Woohoo!!
I have a huge problem with google at the moment. It keeps telling me it is providing me with relevant searches and things i want to see. Deep down it's utter bs. I don't want articles that have been paid for id prefer to see a resturant website check it out and then check out articles. I don't want a top 10 headphones list id rather grab a great make and check out their site. Im sick to death of these top 10 and comparision sites. I don't care their main purpose is to sell you stuff that's it don't sugar coat it. At least when i go to "sony" i know there trying to sell me products where as "mybsarticles.whatever" is trying to stuff it with aff links everywhere.
Ryan, this article was an eye-opener. I've been chasing Google like folks use to chase the Phen-Phen dragon. Very impressive story about how your girlfriend completely avoided Google. Looking back, there are times I never go to the search engine neither while researching a purchase.
I'm late to the party, but I love this post and I'm with you.
Interesting read thanks Ryan & Moz. Thankfully however, here in South Africa (even though it's now 2017) we haven't yet encountered a number of the issues you mention above. So we're really grateful to our SEO Agency who have managed to get us ranking beautifully. Yay!
I agree
Have you checked your search examples lately? I do all my clients with a topic related system. Second, optimize for voice search by using phrases to search for clients products as many ways that make sense. Provide the answer to the search question using great headings and easy to read answers. Last schema 3.0 on as much as I can. Besides that I continue to do all of the Digital Marketing aspects with a even keel. I don't outsource. And I do not pick domains that have not one other close comp. WEBRIS is actually genius because I bet you were on page one from the outset. Problem with that is you really do not have the data to prove why your site ranks so well for the Brand. Try a more difficult URL where data analysis is needed. Mobile First....Google Maps Second.... Questions that lead to client site third...Last solid foundation on the site with speed and efficient page elements. Not going to mention all the orignal must haves but do those as well. Chill and keep reputation on point and respond instantly if possible and watch the magic happen.
One freebie: Linking to your Instagram page and Phrase matched album on Facebook does better than adding images that just take up space. Use links to go back and forth from site to social to give the user what they need. This replaces galleries and speeds you site up. SE's seem to be instep with this. Use method based on how you use your phone and you win....Oh I do outsource to my girl's friends and ask them to jst spend a few hours hanging out while I watch how then master the art of mobile browsing, messaging and multitasking. Best outsource method and its free!
Overall I have respect for your blogs, they are all great and inspire debate.....damn I gave away another tip for free!
PZ
I hope this is an extreme generalization. I agree that things have changed. But I also know that a professional organic SEO'r on top of their game can outrank review aggregators like YELP and other directory sites all day long. Granted, it's very difficult to do it but then again, not for an experienced pro. Funny that you mention Zagat. You are certainly spot on with that. I'm surprised Google has not really monetized the three box yet. They will and when they do professional SEO'rs better have their organic ducks in a row.
I wrote an article about 5 years ago regarding how the Zagat purchase happened roughly around the same time that Google really started giving priority to directories and the review aggregators. How the landscape was on track to change and Google's purchase of Zagat was foreshadowing this. The article was actually an email I sent off to one of my clients, a small group that own a restaurant chain out of Orlando, (still my clients). After it was passed around I converted it into an article.
Anyway, I don't post much at all. Hardly ever in fact. But sometimes I read posts that help me realize how much better I am than the majority of other organic SEO'rs in the game. And as narcissistic as it sounds, I am stating this fact for a reason. I never post to promote sales. I don't need to. Never needed to. My intention is that this will be a useful post to anyone who is searching for an SEO pro. There are lots of levels. Be sure you check long term results and the person you choose has an arsenal of case studies that date back well over five years.
Those were really great examples to show how fast pace the search environment and online marketing changes. The SEO services industry have been evolving second and unfortunately unless Google set the pace most would still be doing the same old tactics. As an SEO professional thinking ahead of the game is a must, and that includes doing tactics that won't get you penalized and most importantly become aware of latest SEO strategies available in each marketing channel in order to attain the best ROI and lowest CPA.
Ryan, I like how this is more relevant today than it was when it was initially published. I have a screaming crowd of dentists that want to hear from you on my youTube show. What should I tell them?
Although I'm reading this article a year later it still holds true to this day. Thanks for your perspective Ryan!
Great article, thank you. As a marketer who is doing the best I can to service my clients the article brings it all together for me. Straight SEO hasn't made any sense to me for the past couple of years. You touched on all the major points with content being king and creating a web strategy that goes across the complete platform to offer value to prospects that are interested in your product. You really summed it all up very well.
Really Nice article. I agree with article's meaning.
Love this post. Really inspiring.
Completely agree with article's meaning. I've felt similar frustration trying to deal with customers expectations
Every one want to make there brand higher when amazon was not there peoples used to buy the products online too , when Google was not there people had knowledge ,
I like your post , but you can't claim stopped selling is the solution , customers are coming because they want improve there won brand awareness on search engine.
If we target ebay , amazon , yelp and think about our pages to be appear on Google then that's need a lot of time to do R&D about others website algorathim instead of following Google people will start searching on yelp too .
It is great to see that I am not alone in what I share with my clients! I agree with everything you said. Thank you for posting such an informative and timely article!
Hi Ryan!
This article got mentioned on Adrienne Smith today so I had to check it out as I'm in "dig for online success info" mode, though I know I'm a bit late to the original party. Plus I can't believe no one brought up the brilliant addition of Stanley from The Office - that expression is priceless! I'm a sucker for clever memes on blog articles - especially at just the right moments. Anyway, I do agree with some comments on the fact that you are simply bringing up the "new" SEO - some of the old ways no longer apply. I liked how you brought up how your girlfriend did your apartment furniture shopping and the process she went through - very clever because I'm sure that is a common route these days for shopping for things. I do it too. I go to Amazon, Pinterest if I'm not sure of things and want to get more opinions, then sometimes check out Ebay as a 'let's see if they have anything useful', then Craigslist if I remember about it, and then whatever links Pinterest sends me to, then back to Amazon to cross-check things and reviews. And so forth. This is typical for me. I bought our most asked about piece of furniture on Etsy. And other ones off craigslist.
Thanks again for the useful tidbits!
-Maria
Maybe it's just me, but I feel weird about saying "SEO used to be X but now it's not." In 2006, I had a hospital client and they wanted to rank #1 on terms like "clean" and "AIDS." It was just as ridiculous then as it would be now. Would it have been easier to rank for the terms then than it is now? Probably. Was it the right business strategy then? Definitely not. The fact that it's harder now is almost a benefit because it forces us to provide the right services to our clients, and ensures a better user experience for searchers (as a frequent searcher, this is something I'm very grateful for).
Thank to your post clearly, I find the weak point of my site and I can edit it.
Thanks
Great post Ryan. A little Clickbaity but you made your point and got our attention. SEO is not dead but morphing into a smarter, full stack approach to web marketing. I used to introduce myself at cocktail parties as "webmarketing professional" and be asked if it was like SEO specialist??!!!. Then I specialized into Growth hacking and would still be asked if it was like advanced SEO??!!! Now when someone asks me what I do I just answer : " I fix websites". I am a web plumber/electrician that fixes what prevents websites from not getting traffic.
An eye opening blog post for all SEO experts..these all are very practical things, which we are facing daily for providing SEO services.
Massive Awakening. Extraordinary. Totally hardcore!!
that good article, I now understand that the public is aimed google consumer. we will reach an age where our web pages appear only paying a gross basis to google without the possibility of a natural positioning. I wonder if google take such action.
WoW, This is wonderful article. At first i thought it would something i shouldn't be reading because of the title. but to be honest i read it because of that curiosity. In short This is very beautifully written. I wish people could understand what SEO really is and how Google works.
Nice Post. It is way to often that people concentrate on GO rather than SEO as you have rightly mentioned. The sponsored local listing I have never seen up to now, and if it does come anytime soon, it should definitely become very important.
A very enlightening post, indeed. Just like to say cheers for speaking on the various challenges that the SEO industry is going through. Thanks.
Thanks! I agree that things are certainly changing and you've really nailed it. But what do you call your service now?
Fantastic post, Ryan ;)
As you said, the hardest thing is to re-educate clients who still think that is possible to rank a concrete web (normally with a low PA and DA) with a specific keyword. And they actually want it right here and right now.
Of course, with a good SEM is possible. Expensive, but possible. However, generally the Clients are not willing to pay a good SEO service, because they don't appreciate the plenty of time and work behind it.
Saludos!
Quite possibly the best post I've ever seen that breaks it down how SEO has changed. You really dive into the why's it has changed and offer terrific examples! I keep telling people, "Google is much smarter now." The problem is that, often, folks that work with us don't understand these changes as well. Now, I can just point them to this post as the ultimate reasons why and how. Thanks!
Google is making rankings difficult everyday
Great article, with a surprising amount of candor (for someone in marketing). :-)
I might argue that selling "SEO services" is still necessary, but the definition of "SEO services" has now been refined. It's no longer a bag or quick fixes, tricks, hacks, or cheats. It's solid website design, relevant content, and a good user experience.
Great article, although I think all the comments are just as interesting (and entertaining).
I think you watched the movie Jerry Maguire one too many times. THE THINGS WE THINK AND DO NOT SAY. Thoughts of an SEO Expert.
I agree with your mission statement. This trend has really come to light the last 2-3 years. I think it might be time to change my screen name to OLDEST_SEM at least I got the facebook.com/sem.expert url lol
At the end of the day its all about getting the client the MAXimum ROI: PPC, SEO, Display, content marketing, Social and PR whatever works best for a particular client.
I had ranked the keyword "sex" on Google's first page results pointing to an adult site once upon a time so yeah times have dramatically changed.
That sponsored search you showed doesn't show in our country yet like that, for us it is still organic listing in the top 3 search. (we call it the 3-pack). Anyway, I think "ranking" for words by paying an agency is probably more of part of a strategy - than the strategy itself. Content is top of that strategy list, to attract search but also to engage people who find your site in other ways. 2nd is traffic, either paid or offsite content, including social.
I think you have a strange headline to your article because anyone in the industry would know you can't do just one thing to rank on top of Google (except ads - and that is not a financial probability for most businesses for long).
But why shouldn't an agency just offer SEO, if that's what they want to do? The reality is - who wants to be an expert at everything - not me. The rules keep changing, so we need people who just do one thing and do that one thing very well, and then you need project managers (eg. Digital strategists) who bring it all together for a business, brand or company.
Until our clients are better educated on what is really involved to rank well on page one of google they will continue to get sucked in by spammy ads, predominantly from one country, and there is not a lot we can do about it. Some clients have to learn the hard way. There is no short cut - and Google ads are expensive, and they are only getting more expensive, its not a long term good plan for many businesses who sell low priced items and google ads are not viable.
Another great post, Ryan!
In the context of what Google is doing, this is an important conversation for all of us in this industry - so thanks for putting it out there so well.
Any good post sits at the axis of a shift and the conversation about what to, why to, or how to do it. You've done just that, which is the important underlying lesson here (as it relates to doing the same for a client).
Reminds me of the old "markets are conversations" point from Cluetrain Manifesto. Keywords and all of the artificial ranking tactics in the world don't amount to any actual human conversations. THIS is a "market conversation". THIS is the stuff that actually drives engagement with a media asset or brand like Moz or Ryan Stewart.
How to make that fly with a plumber is debatable, but for those moving up-market, it's a necessary pivot - no matter what acronym you or your client/prospect is using. Frankly, for the former I believe G will soon make that choice for everyone - of not simply to offset the display decline. Till then, this is the right approach and good luck with it man!
Cheers,
Jon
Great article and it has also been my approach. Some of it is based in semantics however. Helping clients maximize the performance of their content through search engines is as relevant as ever. The methods, content, technology and success criteria have obviously evolved significantly. SEO is no longer something that exists as a stand alone service (if it ever was), more of an bi-product of doing user analysis, moments optimization, content, local social, multi device marketing correctly.
Does anybody have a good job title that accurately describes consulting in the field now?
Lovely Post Ryan! I was reading your thought on “We're moving into the 'pay to play' era with Google” and two questions in my mind.
1) I looked at the image of local results you used in the content and I can clearly see a Sponsored result there. Is this an ad by Google? If yes, then then results are same when we click on “sponsored search link” and “more plumbers to view or contact”. Don’t you think there should be different results if this is a paid result? Would appreciate if you can please explain this.
2) You are saying it is a result of paid local listing but long days back Google showing paid ads in a different format in search results by placing text “Ad in orange colour” under all the sponsored results. These paid local results don’t have such formatting.
Look forword to hear from you and thanks in advance!
I've learnt and absorbed from experience so much information about SEO client management over the years and just when I'd got it pretty much sussed out, I decided to throw in the towel and just train business owners and their staff on how to do their own SEO. My advice is pretty simple nowadays - if you want to rank above your competitors then you need to build a better site/product/brand. I believe that a combination of a website which is well optimised for technical SEO (including fast loading speed and good UX), helpful, well written content including user testimonials and consistent brand promotion via social media all count highly towards strong and consistent search engine rankings across a broad set of industry related keywords. I now only work with clients who particiate in the digital marketing process with me.
First of all, wonderful writing, Ryan! Very refreshing and nearly non-geeky. Yes, SEO has come to mean optimizing your site for the entire web and not just Google. Sometimes, It makes sense to spend an entire month optimizing product descriptions of your client's e-com site (because that's what matters) than "build links" because you have to. SEO has moved on; SEO's should follow suit.
Great post, Ryan. Provokes some serious thought about how we are all approaching SEO as a product. An ex workmate of mine in sales recently said "I don't believe in SEO any more", and while I think his reasoning is flawed, there is an element of truth in that success is no longer mostly about website rank. Ironically, he has continued to sell websites independently and doesn't practice any of the contemporary methods to reach his market - still relying on SEO and search rank. I'll take on board what you've said. While I am SEO focussed, I not closed to dramatic rethinking.
I'm sure your post will be the focus of some discussion today.
Thanks again.
Perry Bernard
"Google shows search results based on what's best for the user."
If you truly believe that, i have Bridges for sale!
Cherry picking search phrases? Surely, you can do better than that?
But that's the whole point! You pick a search phrase that has the most conversion potential, that's why you do a lot of keyword research and analyze them one by one to pick out the best. The real challenge is how you get them to convert. Oh come on. It's 2015 already.
I vote this one of the best articles on SEO for 2015. Great job Ryan.
While it's awesome having access to such targeted advertising, the worrying trend in the pay to play move that Facebook has triggered is that for smaller brands with limited budgets, the playing field is starting to look more like a mountain range.
Thanks Samuel, much appreciated!
Ryan Stewart your post always interesting, i like it.
Thank you.
Great article, Ryan.
I wish more businesses around my area would consider this before polluting their website with over stuffing keywords that are of no value to the user.
I did tweet you yesterday about this blog, but I thought I'd leave a comment too ;)
I want to use this for my Romanian websites.
I realize online catalogs with companies in my country (Romania) (on various narrow niches: automobile junkyard, energy certificates for buildings, playgrounds for children and more).
Like how you mention you "allowed" your girlfriend to manage the process for you. What is that about?
Hi Ryan, Thanks for the Interesting post. Yes you are write. But it is not true always. Searching "plumbers in San Francisco" logging in with your Gmail account will exactly shows as you have shown. But without loggin in with your gmail account will not going to show you those profiles. Rather the normal listings are showing up first.
But yes it is true that Yelp or Google Local or any other locals are coming ahead of the websites. Though a single website is in top 10 with "plumbers in San Francisco" .
Hello,
May I ask how do you price your clients? For work hours, projects or results?
Very good point of view!
Hey Ryan, thanks for your great article. It should be an inspiration for every »modern« SEO worker :)
Well written and described the exact issue faced by all not only by you. Many people think you just need to choose keyword and do some random stuff and get the ranking.
They dont know how algorithm chgange day y day and we more focus on opur online presence, share useful information which is useful for user, doing stuff which help to get desired result for user but many people not aware of this things.
I am totally agree with you and hope people read it and will come to know about seo. You get one share from my side definatelly.
I absolutely LOVE this blog! I sympathise with it completely and face these same issues daily. It's incredibly frustrating when you have a client / potential client stuck in the dark ages of SEO and unwilling to "buy in" to modern day SEO. I think part of the problem is the sheer amount of bad advice and out of date content about how SEO actually works and clients struggle who to believe and who not too.
I've often toyed with the idea of stopping SEO services but I'm convinced in time, clients / potential clients will finally realise there are great SEO's out there and things have changed.
Blogs like this help tremendously and I'll be making a point of pointing clients and potential clients to this blog regularly.
Well done!
Great read Ryan!! Just encountered this situation this morning where someone asked for help to rank a brand new site in the top 3 results. :-0
Looking forward to more posts...
According to current situation you are right @Ryan Stewart we faced same situation . Everyone called and want their website on top "For 5 or more " specific keywords. Its tough to understand them how Google is chainging their SERP. But yes, you provide nice informaiton. But before few days Nail Patel also wrote a blog similer to you. Where he was also talking about focuing on other huge traffice sites like Youtube, facebook, etc.
Thanks Man!!
You're welcome Sanjay
great reading each piece of content is enjoying, totally agree with this.
oha - one of the best youmoz posts in 2015 i think, i was a little bit skeptical when i read the title, wich changed when i read the post. I'm lovin' it
Thanks Andreas, feel free to share it to help it get to the Moz blog :)
funny - that was what i tweeted ;)
This post is Gold!!! I couldn't agree with everything you said more. Reviews of multiple products allowing a user to better decide what is best for them is far more useful for user experience that being force fed one URL each time.
Good to see Google is taking this up and doing things the right way!
Thank you!
I always tell any new client that they require quality content on their website and that my main aim is to increase the traffic to their website by using methods approved by search engines - content marketing, technical seo, on page SEO etc. If they insist that they only wish to rank for keyword A , Keyword B or keyword C I do not accept the work.
Agreed - it's a tough sell at first, but the results are much better
Hi, Ryan. I read your post on Inboud.org earlier today. I couldn't agree more. As a matter of fact just a few hours before I read your post I was discussing similar topic with my colleagues at the office.
Glad you read it at the right time!
Very Inspiring especially to an inspiring digital marketer like me. Read it first on growthhakers! Thanks Ryan!.
Much appreciated Robert
Great post Ryan. Couldn't agree more it's sorta sad here in australia as the top four-five agencies here all just push SEO for $500 a month or get page 1 in 90 days. It's the wrong way to go about it and I feel it is hurting how people see online marketing as a whole. SEO is not everything and it's good to see others agree.
Also interesting point with the ads for maps, I have heard google testing it in the UK and a few other places. Also I have a client who gets capped 25,000 map views per day. I think they will move to paid listings for sure.
People always forgot Google is a for profit company but they are great at PR!
Google is Google because they're good at what they do, no doubt about that
I'm agree! The SERPs have changed. Now we'll need reevaluate the game if we want to capture that new traffic. We focus on create valuable content and optimize our website for our target audience.
Great article Ryan! It was about time to face some of the realities in the search industry.
It is funny how many people pursue rankings without stopping to ask whether or not it is a good ROI. Sometimes, search marketing isn't the way to go, and that's quite OK. And if there is a way to utilize search in order to boost awareness, sales, branding, subscribers... There are many ways to go about it that don't necessarily limit yourself to "#1 ranking for this competitive keyword X".
Content marketing can get one further in the SERPs and then by utilizing the sales funnel all kinds of flowery things are known to happen.
Here is my take on how to make things interesting and still have a fighting chance in some verticals by utilizing content marketing.
There are still industries where SERPs for partial match commercial keywords are, by and large, occupied by e-commerce stores. This is a great chance to create amazing content that is either informational or educational, and earn social shares and links by the thousands easily outperforming those e-commerce stores, especially since they are often ranking for queries with a slightly different intent.
Affiliate marketers can leverage this strategy and push content that will have a bigger chance to earn them search traffic.
Even those that sell their own products can leverage this as well. Look at this piece of content for example- it ranks fairly high in SERPs for many related keywords that bring in a lot of traffic. The author included her own product inside the content, and it probably generated a lot of traffic, leads and sales...
https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/13-killer-wo...
And that's how you can still leverage search for high volume partially related comercial keywords, without much in the way of using content marketing to speak to larger audiences.
Great post, I couldn't agree more. I must be one of the lucky ones, most of my customers now realise that its not all about getting to the top of Google. Incorporating a range of platforms to build relative traffic is the only way forward.
This should be mandatory reading for both agencies and clients. Outstanding article, about the best I have read in years. We have long been pushing this thought process and I am glad to see someone finally put something up on it. Nice work Ryan.
Awesome article! I will definitely be sharing this with clients who are looking for SEO and I keep trying to push them in a more current "inbound" centric and quality content direction. As you point out people are living years behind the game. Explaining to them what they need to do now can be tough without alienating the client and sending them to some "SEO professional" making false promises with old tactics.
This will definitely be helpful!
Smart post Ryan. Totally agree with you. People where used to interpret SEO in a wrong way because manipulating google was relatively easy. This is not the situation anymore...
Leave it to Moz to speak the truth!
Internet is changing and seo specialists have to change too. Keywords focus is over, I don't understand all seo that are selling keywords based services. Seo is not dead but the name seo specialist is a little reductive perhaps. But is only a name: the most important things is, as you write, that some services are dead but there are a lot of new services to sell.
Lovely article.. Agree 1 million %..
Educating prospect clients for today's SEO output is part of the business and for that matter, I think this article will help to enlighten people to understand for what they can expect in SEO.
Come on guys, repost this on the Moz blog. We are waiting :)
Preach...
But don't these also suggest local businesses need SEO now more than ever? So it's still an opportunity to keep selling SEO Services, even website development for businesses with zero to very little online visibility. Maybe instead of mere SEO, marketers should start thinking about brand equity strategy to claim visibility on search terms that are highly relevant to their businesses.
Google is a mirror of capitalism. If you want a piece of that pie -> pay for it. It was only a matter of time until this process reached local results. The SERPS have changed towards a "pay ground" within a couple of years and, face it, this game will be won by those who spend the most money (at Google).
Excellents points here that most clients refuse to acknowledge most of the time.
Great post, you really nailed it! SEO is evolving if you don't evolve with it, you'll be left in the dust.
YES YES YES! I am SO glad you mentioned other search engines. Usually the mention of "other search engines" results in the rolling of eyes and a sarcastic mutter of Bing. People underestimate the power and significance of social search engines, including all of these review sites/directories.
its good examples are posted in the article, but i dis agree with the title!
So now when anyone asks about ranking for specific keywords we can all just politely forward them this article :D At least it then comes from a reputable source and won't seem like you just can't achieve what they want.
Yeah SEO has obviously changed, and mainly for the better really, but I guess SEO just has to change with the times, I know many start up sites might be lost when looking at how to build their presence. As you say, you are more likely to get your restaurant appearing through trip advisor or similar "directory" than the actual website when you search for it, so SEO can help put you on those directories if you don't know how yourself. It's just a changing world... as ever.
I never refer to myself as an SEO - I feel like I'm swearing at people - I prefer digital marketing. At least the majority of businesses know what marketing is.
If a potential client can't get their head around ranking for the one keyword that will create world domination then I don't work with them.
And the older I get and the more knowledge I gather, the less I trust brands!
"I never refer to myself as an SEO - I feel like I'm swearing at people" - Christina Radisic
- Worthy quote!
Really an awesome post Ryan. It definitely deserves a place in the main blog. Keep writing such awesome stuff for your followers :-)
I feel the general term SEO has morphed a long time ago to mean exactly what you are describing. I personally refer to my services as Internet Marketing just to try and differentiate myself from just SEO because this shift was obviously apparent (unless you live under a rock) a long, long time ago. But, for the people that you are actually trying to provide services for, using the term 'SEO' is still the better way to reach them. 90% of the time they don't really care to know anything other than they want you to get them leads via the internet. You can call it whatever you want, SEO is just a term that they are familiar with. Who is still just optimizing for Google and doing nothing else? Or, let me refine, who is optimizing just for Google and NOT doing all these things already? The vast majority of the points (other than PPC) that you used to say what you should be doing instead of SEO, WERE SEO: create valuable content, optimize your website, and create and manage online directories. I guess I'm just confused on the layout of the article.
The headline caught my attention because I'm am often hired to do SEO, but end up contributing in many more ways for my clients as successful SEO & traffic growth requires improvements in content quality, product quality, PR, usability, user experience, social media, and many other areas. However, the article didn't resonate with me for these reasons:
I don't entirely disagree with you - I've had many publications and top web destinations as clients, but there is certainly a place for SEO consultants/services. I just think your definition of SEO is too limited and the types of customers you are pitching are not very knowledgable. I do wish I could sell my services as something else - like inbound non-paid traffic optimizer, but most companies don't think this way (yet).
Hi everyone.
I think this is one of the best emails I have received in 2015.
SEO will never die but will change constantly.
My opinion is that Google want the best for us as users/customers (to find the best information before you can blink) but to be honest the only way to finance all new Alphabet companies (Calico, Nest, Google X...) and still make a profit it is called Adwords or PPC or display in every possible form.
Thanks Ryan. Will help me a lot to decide what to do in the future.
Different strategies and marketing mixes work best for different companies and different industries.
The answer? Test everything and see what works for you.
Great Post Ryan Stewart. You have wrote what many of us think on a daily basis.
As far as people are searching for information on Google, SEO is going to stay alive.
For your queries, for example "best headphones", Google is exactly giving you the results based on the query. If you search for "buy best headphones", you will definitely get product pages as result.
So that's not fair if you expect to get product pages for "best headphones".
I've been negative at the outset and that's probably because of the title. The content nailed it though.
This is a really good (bad might be a better way of putting it) example of something that is only true for one portion of SEO, but is just plain stupid wrong for the rest.
I'll just go ahead and believe him on this in regards to mega corporations and uber-high competition national and/or global terms. I don't do work on clients of that size, so I wouldn't know. But it's just stupid wrong at the SMB & local level. There is a direct correlation between executing on SEO fundamentals and and rankings for relevant websites.
This is definitely the best article I've ever read these days.
SEO will never be dead but we just have to change the way we see and do about it.
Thanks Ryan. Great article.
Great article Ryan, it's one of the best I've read about digital marketing in a long time. I've been telling our clients for years that SEO as a standalone service doesn't exist anymore and that paid search, affiliates and social all form the basis of a good strategy
Thats really a great article and I have been getting same type of search results on different niche...We can not just do SEO for any keyword terms. Before choosing keywords we have to first search those keywords on Google to know who is our competitors.
Finally I guess that after some years, SEO will completely be dead and Google will only show search results of webpages who pay for it.
Amen!!! I've been trying to educate both business owners and digital marketers for the past 4 years about the changing landscape. I've found a few who "get it" but most don't want to believe that they can't approach things in the same old way they used to. I've almost entirely turned my focus toward doing strategic website evaluations and helping companies develop quality content. Any "SEO" services that I provide focus on what's happening with the organic traffic a site is getting, how can we improve the content and overall experience and not "what words am I ranking for."
Well Done!! thanks
Well, with the title, I was bit confused how Ryan published these kind of stuff. But after gone through I have realized that He is going to right way but I disagree with to stop SEo selling services. because SEO is only one part of the online marketing and specially in Inbound marketing it has significant role to make the website technically strong.
Yes, There are lots of traditional stuffs people still using which can i Say need to stop. If we are focusing on marketing centric rather costumer centric then we need to stop selling SEo Services but yes if we are doing things according to your buyer persona and buyer journey then we are at the peak of the mountain in search engine optimization.
But Ryan has done good job here for the people who are still sleeping and working on spammy activies. Well I have started follwing Ryan on twitter past 2 months.
Based on the examples provided, should this not then become a case of the expert advising the client of what would be better to increase organic visibility for, whether specific keywords or semantically related terms/topic?
SEO evolved to something more broader, encompassing many more methodologies with some overlap and this is what should be educated. Businesses still need SEO, just perhaps not in the way that they may be thinking and how it *might* have been 10+ years ago.
If a business is wanting to rank for "best headphones" and "restaurants in miami", then there is some definite scope for educating and advising accordingly because that's not the right way of thinking anyhow.
As such, the title is misleading and this would have got the thumbs down from me if I could see this any longer.
This post should promote to main blog :) Amen! Just love the way you address this point.
Dr Pete done awesome job here to revamp the search results and how dynamic they are changing. So " user intent + content relevancy + link equity " this all matters i guess now a days.
Appreciated Ryan & wonderful read :)
Really great post - articulated what I've been slowly beginning to realise. As well as noticing and reacting to this change, should we be discussing what we actually think about paid local search listings? For some types of local business (that don't have clients searching on pinterest etc) that are primarily found through local search listings - this is going to have a massive impact.
Great article! I wish more people who are selling SEO services actually understood how Google works.
Completely agree, Ryan.
Wow this is a great article. I'm was trying to find a way to explain exactly this to my clients. Thanks for the share :)
First of all a really nice article... mostly I agree it's the fault of the SEO's that we do not try to educate the client, specially in countries like India where the clients yet do not understand the SEO fully. Most clients I face want the exact rankings for a keyword that too in a very short time & yes there are lot of agencies/freelancers who do wrong promises. I try to make them understand the current scenario & that results in losing clients too :) but yet I am happy with few clients I can stick too rather then promising something vague & having a issue after 2-3 months...
@Ryan this post is a landmark. The situation you have mentioned, is faced by almost all of us. Most of the client behave in the same manner - i need my website on top 3 position on these keywords and my budget is this. Sometime it become very ridiculous to make them understand about the situation. Most people think SEO means only putting your website on top position.
I loved the post as it has effectively described the situation which we are facing and will face on regular basis. Great work Ryan..
One more thing - this post should get more viral as much as it could be. Clients should get aware about the current scenario and how SEO is working nowdays..
Thank you for sharing the concept. It can help the customer to change their concept about sSEO and only focus on Google SERP.
Wonderful article, I've been ranting a dumbed down shorter version of this to my clients and anyone who'd listen locally in Quebec for the past year. You've given me a different way to look at the issue and communicate it better!
I completely agree. Now-a-days SEO is no more link building or ranking a particular keyword. Now it's completely Marketing your brand. And I 100% agree on the fact that "Marketers ruined everything".
Its really true to understand SEO, we have to know who our target audience are and where they spend their time cos sites like Amozon, Yelp, FaceBook, and so on can build organic presence. We have to became more intelegent. But the only think that hearts me or can say with whom I disagree is TITLE of this wonderful article that somehow mislead.
Very nice post. This is gonna very helpful for me to educate my clients. Thanks a tonn.
This article is informative and explained about the today's SEO. Keep it up.
Great artlcie Ryan, I'm on board with you!
Excellent post Ryan Stewart! :) Thanks
Completely agreed with Ryan. I also used to prefer Pinterest more than Google now a days, as it delivers more accurate and interesting results :)
Pinterest is a powerful platform that I don't think gets enough attention in the marketing community. It's the only network and primary search engine that my girlfriend uses.
Great post Ryan.....!!!!!!
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Well, this is an interesting topic that you have told us by your blog.It actually gives us not a particular information of the seo but the starting information for the beginner to understand and motivate him to make a career in the future and to more know about this please visit here:-
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Thanks @Ryan.
I am Totally Agree with your post.
Awesome post. thanks for the shared with us.
Regards:
Thanks @Ryan.
I am totally agree with that..
Awesome post, thanks for the shared with us..
Regards:
Thanks for the article! It will help me to get decision about marketing for my sites...