Solution Grove - Don't Bother with SEO. Did it Ever Work?

Don't Bother with SEO. Did it Ever Work? [www.cincomsmalltalk.com]

Jeff Jarvis says that as Google makes search more personalized, search engine optimization will be less relevant.

"What does that mean to brands? The world gets confusing once more. But I think it means that true relevance becomes more important than SEO tricks"

James Robertson says it has been irrelevant for awhile.

"Trying to "optimize" for Google (et. al.) is a game whose relevance is vanishing."

I agree, it has always been irrelevant if you were actually providing useful content for your visitors.

This depends on what you mean by search optimization. Techniques such as using HTML headings, proper page titles, and providing useful, on topic content have always been useful. It is not clear to me that trying to fool search engines into ranking a site higher was ever more effective than providing useful, timely, frequently updated content.