04/17/2024
SEO is Dead; Arise Information Optimisation (maybe).
The SERPS are a mess.
However, SEOs arguably forced Google to take a hard stance.
The reality of the SEO industry is that many SEOs fill the web with low-quality content, first through minimum viable payments to content writers and then through AI.
All while trying to manipulate ranking signals by paying for backlinks.
Add to this social media, and you will end up in a terrible situation.
A wealth of low-quality information and a poverty of attention.
Or, to put it another way, the SEO industry raced to the bottom and urinated on the very thing that pays the bills.
And so, 2024 has seen Google attempt to address this.
Arguably, it's not going well, but they would probably say it's a work in progress.
There is simply too much information out there, and the sources are too similar.
When you throw AI into the mix—literally a tool that knows 'everything'—you can see how much threat Google is under from both SEOs and AI.
Search is going to change, and SEOs will need to adapt.
I feel the future of SEO lies in information optimization.
Our role is simple.
We optimize information so that people can make the best decisions within the time frame they have for gathering information.
This aligns with information foraging theory.
This would suggest that our role will revert to 3 core activities.
1. Technical SEO (I feel this will lessen as website technology advances).
2. Information architecture.
3. E-E-A-T.
Information architecture goes beyond writing content. It focuses on buyers, revenue generation, CRO/UX/ behavioral science, machine learning, information gain, and much more.
E-E-A-T is not just links.
It's online and offline credibility, brand mentions, publicity, Brand SERP, and, yes, links.
SEO of the future is likely to require a far stronger focus on the source of information and not only the quality of content. But also the speed at which machines and humans can extract the information at a reduced cost.
As painful as it might be for SEOs and website owners right now.
I feel that the future will make SEO (or whatever it gets called) more professional.
Better information, increased investment, and more scientific.
But this will also radically change how many sell SEO and the services around it.
For example.
Rather than what links people need, the strategy should be 'how do I make myself/ our brand more credible.
Rather than deciding what keywords to target, we consider what information our customers need to make better decisions about what we sell.
This way of thinking is slower, harder to productize, and takes more effort to deliver.
But isn't that the point?
That good SEO takes effort.
But perhaps the industry can't change while we still call ourselves SEOs?
Perhaps we need to shed that skin to move towards a more credible future.
Food for thought.
