Blue Wave Concept's Blog

(taken from Matt Winn, Online Communications Specialist)

SEO needs to die. Like, now. While at a party, I had three different people ask me about SEO. Not only did the questions kill my buzz, they made me angry.
This is what I endured while I watched the ice melt in my margarita:

“Can you help me be found on Google?”
“What do I do for Google to find my stuff?”
“How do I get ‘Googleized’?”

After hearing ‘Googleized,’ I lost it and screamed, “YOU’RE NOT WRITING FOR GOOGLE!”

Here’s what I mean:

1. The goal of SEO isn’t to be found. It’s to be consumed.

Here’s a news flash: search engines can’t buy from you. They can’t read, nor do they consume products (just your souls).

Remember, a search engine’s job is to provide links that answer a person’s question. Your job as a website owner is to provide content that answers these questions.

Even if ranked highly for a certain keyword, if people come to your page and bounce, you’ve accomplished nothing. Instead, you want readers to stay on your page and consume your information. If people consume your content, your pages will naturally become better ranked. Readers will then trust your brand, trust your product, and hopefully buy something from you.

Take that, SEO.

2. Algorithms change. People’s need for valuable information doesn’t.

Another reason SEO needs to die is because it intentionally ruins our lives.

Every time Google and other search engines change their algorithm, the marketing industry goes into a frenzy. And while we scramble to adjust, search engines laugh at us from their big offices.

In other words, we’ll never, ever know exactly how to get ‘Googleized.’

The good news is, regardless of algorithms, you’ll perform well in search engines by fulfilling customers’ need for helpful information. Start by asking what your readers want. You can also look at other popular blogs and forums to find common questions. Try various forms of content, like videos and webinars.

Whatever the case, stop fearing algorithms and start writing for your audience.

3. Good links are better than good keywords.

SEO also needs to die because it believes it has more power than the people.

While there are lots of things everyone should know about SEO (check out my introductory series on SEO), one important detail is that good links are more important than stuffing keywords in your content. Yes, keywords are helpful, but receiving links to your content is critical.

But guess what? Search engines don’t send links to your site – people do.

By creating good content, you’re going to get a lot more links than just placing a keyword in your title. Good content is inherently shared, whether it’s through social media or direct links. In other words, people have the power to make your pages rank better, not these dastardly search engines.
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Final Thoughts

Do the basic tenets of healthy SEO need to die too? No – you’ll always need to know the fundamentals to succeed. What really needs to shift, however, is the obsession of optimizing for search engines. Instead, let’s focus on optimizing for people.

Watch out, SEO. No one ruins a good margarita and gets away with it.