The Search Ninja

Today at the office, the boss and myself were enjoying a lively game of pool and discussing the future of search engine optimization. He felt that SEO would eventually become recognized as a minor aspect of traditional “Marketing”. That is, according to his prediction, SEO would remain a common aspect of Search Marketing, however Search Marketing would (eventually) be recognized as an aspect of Marketing (proper).

I feel that while this may seem (intuitively) to be the logical course for SEM/SEO, the increasingly technical/scientific nature of true SEO may always earn it a distinction as unique profession/practice. The skillset of a true Gen2 SEO is significantly different from that of a marketing professional. Accordingly, I predict that over the course of the next few years we will see a greater distinction between search engine optimization and traditional marketing. I would even go so far as to say that a clear distinction will exist between SEO and SEM. The later I see as being focused more strongly on paid placement avenues for achieving visibility.

Today in the office, my colleagues and I were reviewing client campaigns and it spawned some interesting discussion about whether or not a strict SEO campaign can ever reach a plateau or a point in which no further progress can be made and therefore no further SEO efforts are required.

Before anyone starts ranting and railing about being forward-thinking and building long-term business success through diversification and expansion, STOP!, Shut up and listen. I’m talking about a very particular type of campaign. One in which the client has defined their goal as being rankings for specific search phrases and nothing more. They have no interest in expanding or even building upon their success (They really do exist!). And despite our expert council and visionary strategy for helping them build their business into the future; these clients simply will not budge. In this case the SEO Plateau Effect most certainly exists.

The question is; What do you do with clients that choose to bathe in their own stasis?
A few years ago, these types of campaigns were favored by many SEO’s because they eventually resulted in being able to collect MRC’s from clients even though no actual work was being performed. I think that in today’s search marketing arena, there really is no place for these types of campaigns. Perhaps at some point it’s simply best to let these clients go.

This is my personal blog on which you will find posts related to my experiences and thoughts within the realm of search, the web and SEO.