Why SEO is a big fat lie

[WW2010]

I stumbled across a piece by a senior techy for the web which pretty much sums up the current state of SEO.

A great image accompanies the thread which can be found here

http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/13/wh...VentureBeat%29


I think its a great write up and its shows the direction google is leaning now that they understand that google searches are pretty much rubbish. Sure google searches do help..but as you can see by this image

http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.c...gle-search.jpg

They no longer have the prominence they once had. Social is the new search and will continue to do so in the coming years

[ray_223]

Hi WW2010,

I don't know if SEO will be irrelvant anytime soon - but yes, the value of current SEO will drop and social SEO will rise.

BUT - how many people are using Google Plus? Which I assume is what Google will be using for social SEO proof?

At this stage I don't see how Google Plus will beat facebook without a paradigm shift.
Microsoft beat IBM when the focus went from mainframe to PC.
Apple beat Microsoft when the focus went from PC to portable.
How will Google Plus beat facebook? Maybe years and years of chipping away - but it will be many years before the tipping point!

I beleive Google Plus "may" be the start of the end for Google!
Googple Plus looks like a very well designed and engineered product - but - for the majority of people who struggle to attach pictures to emails - the extra complexity of circles may be too great for them to switch.
Possibly if Android ends up being the dominant phone/tablet OS the excellent integration may sway the balance.
It will be interesting to see from a marketing point of view what Google does.

[bridiej]

I absolutely agree with everything in your post Ray.

I love social media but found G+ rather boring... there was just no "wow" factor that differentiated it from anything else and I quickly lost interest.

[craiglongmuir.com]

Yep, G+ did nothing for me either... Anyone have any stats on the usage ?

[seocourse]

Originally Posted by WW2010

Social is the new search and will continue to do so in the coming years

One of my customers produced Diesel Engines for Planes.
One of my customers produce high tech solution for food processing companies.

How many leads they get from Twitter? From Facebook? From Google Plus + ?

None.

Find me a study about the ROI in social media vs the ROI in SEO to see where you can see the clear difference.

Obviously, Social media is vital... but as a PR tool, to engage existing clients, to improve your brand.. but to generate the same quality leads you may get from organic traffic? mmm challenging.

My 2 cents

[Tiggerito]

Originally Posted by seocourse

One of my customers produced Diesel Engines for Planes.
One of my customers produce high tech solution for food processing companies.

How many leads they get from Twitter? From Facebook? From Google Plus + ?

None.

I have similar clients and would agree. But there are other clients where social fits in nicely.

I'd like to see what this new Google+ your world thing does. In industries where there are influencers we will start seeing them endorsing websites by just +1ing them. Imagine if an influencers image shows up next to your website....cool.

[seocourse]

I think we forget about the politics/business behind Google +

Google Plus was created for one reason: To hurt facebook.

It's all about getting more of the facebook market.... I guess....

Google Priority for 2012 = profits, profits, profits....

[ray_223]

Originally Posted by seocourse

I think we forget about the politics/business behind Google +

Google Plus was created for one reason: To hurt facebook.

It's all about getting more of the facebook market.... I guess....

Google Priority for 2012 = profits, profits, profits....

where's the problem?

[seocourse]

Originally Posted by ray_223

where's the problem?

No problem if you understand that SEARCH RESULT has nothing to do with "quality" .

If people think that updates like PANDA Update was created to "improve quality" , then they clearly don't understand how Google as a company works.

Each Algorithm change it's pushed by Google towards more profits of their core sponsors... not towards "improving the search result" for the end user.

http://searchenginewatch.com/article...rge-Publishers

[ray_223]

Hi Gabriel,

My comment was based on Googles attempt to compete against facebook.