TL;DR: SEO is not dead, and never will be.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the art of creating a greater visibility for websites in search engines. SEO is about helping to make websites successful by generating relevant traffic from search engines.
SEO has been proclaimed deceased many times over the years, but each and every time SEO has proven to be very much alive and more thriving than ever.
SEO is not a static discipline - it continually changes and adapts. Whenever Google updates its functionality, whenever Bing releases a new enhancement, SEOs around the world learn all they can about it and modify their strategies accordingly.
Search Engine Facts
On average the first 5 organic results on the Google search results page receive 67.60% of all clicks for a search query on desktop.
The first organic result gets the highest amount of clicks with 31.24% of all clicks.
The results ranked on positions 6-10 receive only 3.73% of the clicks.
71.33% of clicks for a search query go to page one.
According to the Internet World Stats there are now over 5.25 billion people online. Internet Live Stats reports that Google now handles more than 1.2 trillion searches a year - and is still growing. This translates to more than 40,000 searches every second.
What do the experts say?
Those who predict the end of SEO are invariably ill-informed about what SEO really is and what it does. So let's hear it from the experts then, those people actually doing SEO and reporting on the search engine industry. Do they think SEO is dead? Hell no:
The Historical SEO alive archive
People who predicted SEO wasn't dead a long time ago.
Is SEO Outdated? The Answer Is Yes, And No - CoreDNA (2019)
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Why SEO is Not Dead, or Dying - CMSCmedia (2018)
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The death of organic Search (as we know it) - SearchEngineJournal (2017)
Immortal, evolving: why SEO is anything but dead - The New Economy (Oct 2014)
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Is SEO Dead? NOOOOOOOO - Search Engine Watch (Aug 2014)
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SEO in 2014: Fact, Fiction and Sensationalism - Website Magazine (Feb 2014)
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SEO is dead. SEO is not dead. Is SEO... undead? - I've Tried That (Feb 2014)
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SEO Isn't Dead, Long Live SEO - Forbes (Nov 2013)
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SEO is not dead, it's just suffering from bad PR - Smart Insights (Sept 2013)
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SEO is not dead, actually SEO is immortal! - DOZ (Sept 2013)
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Social Media is Dead; Long Live SEO - Polemic Digital (July 2013)
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SEO is dead, if you ignore all that growth - Web Marketing School (July 2013)
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SEO Tactics Die, But SEO Never Will - Moz (July 2013)
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SEO Is Not Dead And Will Never Die - Forbes (July 2013)
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What The Heck Is SEO? A Rebuttal - Smashing Magazine (Dec 2012)
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Troll food: SEO is still not dead - The Wall Blog (Sept 2012)
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What Do Zombies And SEO Have In Common? - Avalaunch Media (March 2012)
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SEO Is Not Dead; Spend is Expected to Soar - Koozai (Jan 2012)
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PubCon 2011: Is SEO Dead (Again)??? - Everspark (Nov 2011)
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The Rumors of SEO's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated - SwellPath Interactive (July 2011)
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Comparing SEO & Social Media as Marketing Channels - Moz (Nov 2010)
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SEO is dead. Again. - Econsultancy (Oct 2010)
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The Dangers in Proclaiming the Demise of SEO - Search News Central (Oct 2010)
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SEO Is Here To Stay, It Will Never Die - Search Engine Land (Sept 2010)
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7 Reasons Why Google Instant Makes SEO Dead-on Relevant - Search Engine Watch (Sept 2010)
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SEO is Dead, Long Live SEO - Level343 (Sept 2010)
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Dear Mainstream Media - Please Remove Foot From Mouth - Outspoken Media (May 2010)
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Despite the News, SEO is Not Dead - Search Engine Journal (May 2010)
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Ignore Robert Scoble, SEO Still Matters For SMBs - Outspoken Media (Dec 2009)
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Is SEO Dead? 1997 Prediction, Meet 2009 Reality - Search Engine Land (Dec 2009)
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Why SEO Will Never Die - SEO.com (Feb 2009)
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SEO Is Dead. Again. - Marketing Pilgrim (Aug 2007)
"I don't think SEO is dying. I do think SEO has changed and will continue to change as search itself changes." - Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land.
"SEO is clearly alive and well and as long as peeps use search engines to find things it shall live on." - David Harry, founder of the SEO Training Dojo.
"SEO is not dead, it's alive and kicking. SEO is moving from being a kid into puberty into becoming an adult: it changes with the world around it." - Bas van den Beld, founder and editor of State of Digital.
"As long as there are Search Engines SEO will be alive and well because we are the keepers of visibility. The more complicated indexing becomes the more SEO's are required." - Terry Van Horne, founder of SEOPros.com.
What do the search engines say?
If you don't just want to believe the SEO experts, what about the people actually working at major search engines?
Both Google and Bing offer SEO advice to webmasters, Google via their SEO Starters Guide, and Bing via their Webmaster Blog. Not only that, senior employees at both search engines speak out regularly about SEO:
Matt also wrote a thoughtful blog post about Google Instant in which he states: "that doesn't mean that SEO will die. I've said it before, but SEO is in many ways about change. The best SEOs recognize, adapt, and even flourish when changes happen."
And finally some words from Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager at Bing, talking about SEO when Bing was first launched: "All of the legitimate, time-tested, SEO skills and knowledge that webmasters have invested in previously apply fully today with Bing. Moreover, investments in solid, reputable SEO work made for Bing will bring similar improvements in your website's page rank in other search engines as well."
It's alive! Alive!
It should be blatantly obvious by now that anyone who says that SEO is dead is clearly ill-informed and/or just wants to get some attention. The next time you hear someone proclaiming the demise of SEO, send them to this site. And for goodness sake, don't believe a word they say. |