Has Google Finally Tamed the SEO Jungle?

Every few days, a blogger wakes up in a Nietzschean mood and gleefully announces to the Internet that SEO is dead. He or she usually cites examples like Google’s new algorithms designed to punish link farming and keyword stuffing. A quick online search will reveal hundreds of articles and stories with similar headlines. 

While it’s hard to argue that the industry hasn’t changed dramatically, SEO is alive and well in places like Utah. It’s just different. Google has successfully changed the way SEO firms in Utah and elsewhere practice their trade, and everyone is better off for it.

In the Internet’s early days, SEO was like the Wild West. It was a field brimming over with potential, but a lack of regulation made it very easy to break the rules and boost webpages using unethical methods. Foreign chop shops and link farms came to prominence as unscrupulous firms tried to outsmart the web crawler bots.

Google saw the growing problem and intervened. With a series of decisive algorithm changes, they began punishing pages that were obviously keyword stuffing. The web crawlers began to value the quality of content more than its technical aspects. 

Shady SEO practices had been damaging the web, flooding it with low quality content and cheapening user’s experience. The new algorithms were designed to reward webpages around Utah that published unique, interesting content. 

Initially some firms fought back against the changes, but they quickly became irrelevant. Google methodically changed and updated their algorithms for almost a decade until unethical SEO methods were completely useless. 

“For better or worse, the battle over SEO is over,” says columnist Nate Dane. “Google has succeeded in shifting the focus of the SEO industry away from short-sighted SEO tactics and toward creating the best user experience with “high-quality content,” which, of course, benefits Google.”

Google isn’t the only one to benefit. SEO companies in places like Utah now produce engaging, high quality content that improves the Internet experience for everyone. 

“The dust has settled (for now),” concludes Dane. “Google is calling the SEO shots. You still have to beat your competitors to earn high rankings and quality traffic, but breaking the rules doesn’t help any more.”

Modern SEO means building organic attention with thoughtful content. The west has been won. Readers no longer need to stumble over dozens of awkward keywords to find a nugget of interest in a story. Interest comes first for content writers.

Tanner Wadsworth writes for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. He writes for many other clients as well. Follow on Twitter