Is the SEO industry doomed?

Every time the search engines alter their algorithms, a collective gasp runs around some of the search engine optimisation industry. Is this, finally, the end? Is the heyday of search engine optimisation over? For such a technical industry, the SEO community has a penchant for drama. Again and again, doom has been declared but no doom has followed.

This is disappointing if you’re given to dramatics, but not particularly surprising for the thinking SEO pro. Search engine optimisation is an industry that grew up in response to the presence of the search engines. No matter how it has to change, it will exist for as long as there is a search industry to optimise for. This doesn’t prevent people from getting into a debate about it every now and then, putting fear into the heart of the average site owner who’s just invested in SEO.

There are a couple of reasons that search engine optimisation isn’t going anywhere for a long time.

Reason 1: Good SEO works with the search engines

The main reason search engine optimisation isn’t about to keel over as an industry is the white-hat SEO experts, who keep time with the search engines. Most of the complaining about SEO dying as an industry comes whenever a popular technique gets outlawed by the search engines. This is understandably frustrating, and causes not a few problems for the people who use that technique extensively. Yet running alongside these changes are SEO innovations, which rise up to take the place of old techniques. The pattern of technique development-technique decline has been happening ever since the first webmaster figured out what a keyword was, and it’s unlikely to change.

This is good news for the average website, which stays on the right side of the rules. If you stick to the search engines’ recommendations, most of which involve developing your site to please your site users, you’re likely to stay ahead of the game. Getting the help of a reputable, positive SEO company can be helpful too, and you can talk to us at SEO Consult.

Reason 2: New areas of optimisation

Not only is the SEO industry not dying, new areas of growth are constantly emerging. With the growing trend towards social media networks, SEO professionals have set their sights on new optimisation possibilities. Google may still dominate the traditional search industry, but the social media sites each have their own way of searching through their information, and each of these presents an opportunity for the thinking SEO pro.

This shift from traditional search has made the SEO industry a vibrant place to be. There have been a few challengers to Google over the last decade, but all of them have been based in traditional search. These new search types mean that a site needs to be optimised for different areas of search, meaning that SEO is doing the exact opposite of dying.

As time goes by, new areas of optimisation will take up more and more time for the average web site. SEO is growing in complexity. Doomsayers beware.