It’s 2018… Is SEO Dead?

Some “experts” say SEO is dead. Some say it’s not.

As someone new to the industry, you may be confused. This post will clear that confusion.

To better understand the issues; First, you need to understand…

What SEO Really Is

Let’s start from the very beginning.

Many people go online to get information. Most times, they don’t know which website (or page) has the information they seek.

In the early days of the internet, this was a big problem.Until the search engines came along.

Search engines are just web-based software that search the internet for new pages and keep a catalogue of their findings.

If you want a piece of information but didn’t know where to get it, you visit one of these engines.

Over time, businesses that own websites discovered that when they got found in searches, sales often follow.

With time, competition grew. More pages were competing to answerquestions.

So the pages listed on the search engine result pages increased.

Website owners also discovered something: the pages at the top got most of the attention. And so, the fight for who takes the top spot began.

This was how SEO was born. It stands for Search Engine Optimization.

It’s any action you take to make your web pages get top spot in the search engines.

So is SEO dead? Well, let’s review the facts.

According to Search Engine Land, people used Google 2 trillion times in 2016. And it’s rising every year.In 2000, it was only 14 billion.

And in case you don’t know, Google is the most used search engine in the world. Over 75% of all searches. (Source)

Here is another statistic:

In 2016, Search Engine Round Table reported that Google has tracked over 130 trillion web pages. In 2013, it was just 30 trillion.

What does this tell you?

1.     Search engine use is still on the rise

2.     Competition is getting tougher

If search engine use is increasing every year, how can any sensible business person ignore it?

If competition is getting tougher, isn’t SEO the only way to win and get the top spot?

If SEO is what gets a page to the top spot, how can it be dead?

And if SEO is NOT dead…

Why Do Some “Experts” Say It Is?

The answer lies within another question: which expert did you talk to? 

Your web designer is an expert. Your social media specialist is an expert. Your freelance writer is an expert.

So which expert did you talk to?

Here is the thing: These individuals are experts in their field. They know their onion.

But being good in your field doesn’t automatically make you an expert in other fields. At best, you may just have a good idea. It’s the same with the professionals you work with.

Except they are SEO experts, they can’t tell you, for sure, if SEO is dead or not.

At best, they will tell you about SEO based on their limited knowledge. At worst, they will tell you whatever will get you moving in their direction.

SEOBook has an infographic that illustrates this point:

Here is something else you need to know:

Since 1997, “experts” have been touting that SEO is dead. Yet each year, SEO grows stronger.

So don’t be deceived. SEO is well and alive.

Now over to you. Is SEO dead or alive? Are you still unsure? Let me hear your taught in the comment section.