I was catching up on some reading and an article in, ugh, Mashable asked, “Are We Coming to the End of SEO?” That’s a bold statement considering the ongoing struggle to be found on search engines has created it’s own niche in the economy. Search engine optimization is by no means dead. This article just slightly confuses some points. I think what the author was trying to say is the tricks of the old “SEO professional” are over.

Google’s updates are calling out fakes and search queries now reveal more true and honest results. Yay. The search engines are more “intelligent” using many more signals than keywords to make the call about a site’s value and authority.

The author notes that much keyword information became unavailable due to Google changes. He is referring to keywords that appear as (not provided) in Google Analytics. This was a result of some privacy updates Google made. The truth is (not provided) keywords can be found in other places such as Google Webmaster Tools. The idea that keywords became harder to find was then extrapolated to mean that Google was downplaying SEO. That is kind of true if SEO means keyword stuffing to you. Well, keyword stuffing and link farms have been gone for years now.

Search engine optimization is not dead. That’s dumb. SEO is evolving and Google’s updates are weeding out gray and black-hatted hacks. The phrase, “we can make you number one in Google search results” is irrelevant because of many factors these days, but content and social strategies, as they apply to SEO, need to be stronger than ever. “Stategery “in web builds involving everything from URL structure to graphic design and user experience are part of SEO. Answering questions like, “do I put my blog on a subdomain or sub-directory?” relate to SEO. Proper protocols for adding and removing pages from a site, creating meta copy, linking strategies, and evaluating code and technologies to ensure the quickest page load times are all viable SEO chores.

SEO is more nuanced now, blending creative and technical. Understanding the keywords people use to find services and products like yours helps you tailor content. Just stuffing your site with those words won’t work. It might be more accurate to say “SEO as we knew it is dying” – sort of.