Search Engine Optimization: At its tipping point or not?

The topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is relevant for stakeholders claiming their Web space on the Internet. Optimizing a website, in general, is the process of editing Web code and Web content for search engines. The desired result is a Web presence that shows up at the top of search.

There’s an insatiable appetite for SEO information on the Internet. Experts and amateurs alike are helping feed the proverbial “Internet Machine” with plenty of good and bad calories of information. SEO has made its way into the 21^st century lexicon and the practice is here to stay.

Which begs the question, has SEO hit its tipping point? Savvy Web designers, sleazy online multi-level marketers and even grass-roots bloggers use basic SEO techniques and practices to promote a Web presence. Local small business entrepreneurs to large-scale corporations who operate around the world know of the benefits of SEO.

Nonetheless, SEO goes beyond adequate Web code editing and keyword-dense written content. SEO is a long-term marketing strategy requiring long-term and short-term goals. No matter if you’re running a Fortune 500 company or you have a small niche-food recipe blog, a long-term SEO strategy is a must.

If SEO has hit a tipping point and its basic functions and practices are common knowledge for most stakeholders on the Internet then what’s next? Perhaps it’s time to rename, redefine and rethink SEO altogether.

There are many outstanding experts in the field of SEO. Two of which are Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin. Together Grappone and Couzin have over 20 years of SEO expertise. In their book, Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, they argue that there is an inherit problem with the term Search Engine Optimization. They argue that, “The term optimization really accounts for editing the code and content of your website, which is only one segment [of SEO]. Other components of search marketing, such as link building and Pay Per Click sponsorships, don’t easily fall under the banner of optimization.”

SEO consists of a myriad of ongoing techniques enhancing whatever Web presence you choose to pursue. Consider going beyond mere optimization and rethink your online Web presence strategy. SEO is only a part of your long-term and short-term goals.

Grappone and Couzin consider SEO an outdated term. They state that their colleagues in the industry are pushing for more all-inclusive labels such as SEM (Search Engine Marketing) or perhaps Competitive Webmastering.

I encourage anyone who knows a little or a lot about SEO to read and put-to-practice the techniques explained and described in Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day. If you haven’t discovered so already, SEO has hit its tipping point and the techniques have spilled out into our collective Internet psyche. However, its time to rethink SEO and go beyond mere optimization when considering a long-term Web presence.