Unlike many headlines stating that “SEO is Dead”, I disagree because I feel that SEO is evolving.
Search Engine is a program that collects and organises data all over the internet, at the same time allow users to find information on the internet. We can search for anything and everything on a search engine, and matching results will be made available.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of getting traffic flow from search results/engines. The higher the traffic, the better the company’s position. It is organic, once a website reaches the number one spot in the search results, the goal is achieved.
People claim that ‘SEO is Dead‘ because it is an easier term compared to expressing how it is evolving. With technology, traditional SEO is shifting towards higher quality content.
Have you searched for information yet not being able to find the answer you’re looking for? This is a common problem amongst everyone, creating a perception that SEO is ineffective, because of the amount of spams and irrelevant posts that appear in search results. These results do not bring real value to users. Keyword stuffing and low quality content will also appear.
When searching for a restaurant to dine at, do you use google, social media or take advice from friends? Personally I’d ask friends and read reviews made on social media because information gathered is quicker and more genuine, blog posts appearing on search engines tend to be sponsored posts. Therefore, people claim that SEO is dead, alternatives are appearing and people are going towards social media for a more real experience.
However, as a marketer, SEO is important and useful to keep track of web traffic. SEO also allows a high user intent, fast results, in-depth measurability analysis and also a greater brand awareness. Advertising on search engines are easier to implement, users will still search for information on search engines because there is a larger amount of data available. Marketers will be able to analyse the number of clicks to the websites to keep track. Consumer behaviour can be assessed based on the webpages visited, allowing companies to better understand the trend and current needs of their target market. Voice search from smart devices eg, google home, amazon echo will generate more web traffic when the user asks for information.
Google has also purged spams and low quality content, minimising keyword stuffing as well. To give users a better experience and information they need. If SEO is truly dead there will be no platform to find high quality information.
Internet measuring metrics are essential to measure and evaluate the success of marketing efforts online. There are a few ways to measure, I will be talking about my top 3 choices.
Firstly, Overall website traffic, the higher the website traffic, the more successful the campaign. Measuring overall website traffic will allow the marketer to analyse the campaigns that are more engaging and more popular. If website traffic is poor, it might be because of google algorithm penalty, broken links, poor content that does not appeal to the audience.
Secondly, New vs Returning users, the higher the number of returning visitors, means that the content is suitable for them and they enjoy reading it. New users will benefit organic traffic monitoring. This will create a sense of loyalty towards the website/brand.
Thirdly, Engagement Rate, this factor determines interaction between writer and users. It can be measured from the sum of the number of views, shares, likes, comments, upvotes, etc. generated by a content piece. This is essential because if engagement rate is low, consumers will not be returning and they will feel less connected to the brand. For example, in the cosmetics industry, reviews are very important. Reviews made by purchasers and makeup gurus on youtube, Instagram, blogs, allows potential users to analyse if the product is worth the hype and money. Existing users can comment on the product’s functionality on their skin and potential users would be able to make a decision after reading their honest reviews
Successful Campaigns
Pepsi’s campaign at the Super Bowl in 2017 garnered 555,675 interactions with the audience. It was really successful because after the event, especially with its guest singer Lady Gaga.
Coca-Cola selected K-Pop group BTS as FIFA World Cup spokesmen in 2018, this garnered 1,005,475 conversations, it became the talk of the town. With the number of likes, shares and comments from this 2 campaigns, it was needless to say that the campaign was successful because of the data collected, after measuring internet metrics.
Failed Campaign
The campaign had a low number of views, it had around the same number of likes and dislikes, viewers commented that the message of the campaign wasn’t clear so it was a waste of time. Pepsi had a successful campaign with Lady Gaga performing at the Super Bowl, they also had an advertisement that sparked controversy over protests, and these were measured through the interactions of users with their thoughts.
I feel that SEO is evolving to complement technology advances, internet measuring metrics help to determine if SEO is successful and this helps companies analyse their marketing efforts. Do you think SEO is dead or is it alive? Is measuring internet metrics useful? Let me know your thoughts below !
Moving into the Digital World 
Hmmm, personally I do agree that SEO isn’t dead and that it is indeed involving. However, I do feel that paid searches can complement SEO very well. Imagine a competitor of your is doing more or less exactly the same thing you are. This runs the risk of them overtaking you as the number 1 search spot on the various search engines. So perhaps, in addition to effective SEO, perhaps you could consider that businesses should spend a tiny amount to differentiate their posts as compared to their competitors to direct more traffic to their own websites? Nonetheless, a very enjoyable read and your relevant use of examples made it all the more worthwhile!
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I didn’t consider that factor, thank you for pointing that out to me! Paid searches will definitely be necessary to have more traffic be directed to the websites, because there are too many competitors on the internet. I suppose frequent monitoring is also required because number of clicks will change overnight and more paid searches are required to always be in the top search results.
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In my opinion, I feel that SEO as a whole is not dead yet. It is still used by most business like Apple, Samsung to secure the top spot of the results page. However, given the current digital age, I think the businesses need to change the way they perceive about SEO as it is not just about securing the number one spot anymore. Instead, they should focus on integrating keyword that is of use to the users. If the business content is not relevant to any users, it may seem to indicate that SEO might not be suitable for them after all. Overall good read. Hope to see more of such content in the future. Cheers~:D
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Keywords will filter out irrelevant data on the search results. Reducing spam and low quality posts. SEO can be used to see which factor of the website is appealing to more crowd and which areas of the website they should improve on. Be it generating greater content, better website interface, more creative taglines, etc. This can be measured with the measuring metrics as well, for a clearer analysis, on new viewers and returning viewers. Thank you 🙂
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I can be certain that SEO is still very alive! Although certain tactics under SEO might be gone for good. But nevertheless, SEO could still be very much relevant in this digital era so long as you make some changes instead of keeping with the old. Topic research instead of the usual keyword research is an example 🙂
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That is true, SEO is also moving on from the traditional ways. With voice search being a popular technology now, SEO is also accustomed to voice search features. Topic research will also help in filtering out search results that do not exactly match what users are looking for. I agree with you that SEO is alive too. Without this, companies will not be able to know how many users are actually visiting their websites for product knowledge or updates about news related to them!
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Social medias are trending nowadays, where some of them have analytics functions built in for you to keep track of your likes and followers. It will depend on the purpose of your data acquiring. If more complex data are needed, SEO will come in helpful. However for SME to big companies, SEO will deal more impact as they want their own brands to reflect in the top search. In my opinion, it does not really appeal to an individual as compared to a corporate, what do you think?
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SEO targets the corporate more than an individual. It only allows the individual to analyse how the company is doing, so they can change or remove portions that are not doing so well on the website. For example, maybe certain posts are not generating enough traffic because of a boring headline, or the website interface is very messy and not user-friendly, thus users shun away because it is inconvenient for them. Companies can improve from here and know what their customer preferences are. This way, new products can be created to cater to their needs!
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Interesting read on SEO. Personally, I feel that people likes to do use social media to do an accurate review check because it’s more convenient and accurate. Additionally, I also feel that it’s because there is not many writing an online review which result in limited search on SEO. What do you think?
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The lack of honest reviews in search engine results is true. As a user myself, when I am looking up reviews all I see are good reviews and sponsored reviews. I usually have to scroll to the 5th or 6th page to actually see a negative review. I do not enjoy reading sponsored reviews because it is just a lie, it has to be well written to bait new customers, but these customers might not return because the product does not work. However, I feel that companies made it that way because they paid searches, therefore these websites appear at the top spot. It doesn’t benefit the consumer, it does benefit the marketer. Since there are so many positive reviews online there’s nothing to fault them for.
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SEO is evolving! People claim that SEO is a slow way of marketing because to reach the number 1 spot it takes time, and keywords can be quite expensive. However, there is no better way to analyse data than the number of times a user searches for something on the search engine. In schools, teachers will teach students how to source for data through the search engines. Therefore everyone would still be using search engines to find information they do not have. Marketers should not give up on SEO because if they do, they are losing their opportunity. Do you think this can replace marketing on social medias or digital channels?
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SEO is a minor part of marketing. However, true engagement and interaction factors are determined through social media platforms in my opinion. SEO helps the marketer track and analyse data. Interaction and engagement happens more through social media because it is a platform where people can comment, like and share news. Marketers should not give up on SEO because it still has its purpose, it is not useless. Paying for keywords may be expensive but it is much cheaper than hiring a celebrity, if you think about it!
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