🔎 chainsaw into the hot tub

The resounding sentiment to this post I had on Linkedin was..

“Sure, if you have absolutely no idea how SEO works.”

Consider myself owned.

Yes, I know the name of the SEO game is change. Google updates and their side effects on user’s websites are nothing new.

What I was speaking on more was the community of SEO. 

You see, for too long the name SEO and Google have been inextricably tied together. SEO was always Google’s game to lose. However, with a myriad of competitors, that dominance has come into question.

I wrote last week that people are outright hostile to Google (which again is nothing new). However what’s different this time around is that they have legitimate alternatives and competitors.

If you’re a writer like me, it’s harder, but you can start to diversify your content for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or hell even Linkedin. Young people are starting to search on other platform in droves.

The attention is spread thin. And it seems like Google is losing their monopoly. So when ire is directed their way, it feels different this time around.

No one can seem to arrive on a consensus of what should be Google’s next play in search. Should they continue to promote AI-generated content or should they denounce it? Should it Google be promoting Reddit so much? Or should they go back to supporting big websites with a lot of authority?

Me? I think that there will be AI backlash and it could be in Google’s best interest to not go down the AI rabbit hole with Microsoft and so many others.

They could instead lean into the human element of search and say, “hey, get real answers to your question from a real human”.

And this point that’s novel again.

Ultimately, I’m not sure what the future holds for Google. I know one thing, there will be always be chaos in the SEO world, just like there is always change in it.

I’ll write next week. See you then.