If you follow SEO blogs like Search Engine Land and SEO Round Table you’ve probably seen the latest Google gossip. You’ve got Bruce Clay proclaiming that search engine ranking is dead at PubCon during the Top-Shelf Organic SEO session. You’ve got everyone buzzing about the 2009 Predictions and how the first half of 2009 is going to be nightmarish for SEO companies and more importantly their clients who depend on Top 10 rankings to drive traffic. We’re talking something very similar to the Florida Update is about to happen.
Is all this speculation? I don’t think so. Google’s Universal Search has been out for over 6 months now and they have been experimenting with blending the rich media content into the SERP’s. Read the Google Universal Search 2008 article at Search Engine Land to better understand what I mean. In addition to all this you’ve got Google launching Google SearchWiki to personalize everybody’s search results on an individual basis. Gone are the days when your SEO company can send you a nice little report once a month showing how you rank in Google. The third major shift is the socialization of Google SERP’s via the Google Notebook which is the Googlified version of Delicious and other social bookmarking sites.
What is the takeaway from all this exciting Google gossip? Build rich media content that is genuinely helpful to your visitors. As the marketing director for an Internet start-up I’m sticking to PPC for the first half of 2009. We had been evaluating SEO companies but with a major shake-up happening I think its best to invest in PPC and building that rich media content. Right now, when I get proposals from most SEO companies describing their services they consist of what Jill Whalen says SEO is not about which is essentially manipulating Google. Keep in mind that Google changed their 13 or 14 algos between 300 – 400 times in 2008 and is about to make massive changes. Universal Search is adding so many more variables that even Bruce Clay admits major sites could be losing their rankings overnight.
So what do you think? Would you spend your SEM budget on organic SEO or PPC if you had to choose?
admin said on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 11:46
You make a good point here. While highly targeted PPC remains a great alternative, everyone can do their own SEO by optimizing their content pages and providing good and useful content to the public…
Your Publicity To You » Blog Archive » eCommerce Share » Google Gossip - Is SEO Dead or Dying? said on Thursday, December 4, 2008, 2:50
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