There was the a time not so long ago that being an SEO professional was a job unto itself.  It wasn’t just a title, there were goals and tasks that defined it as a marketing discipline.

We had tools and data sets specific to SEO.  We dealt with keyword queries, traffic volumes, meta data, keyword density, SERPs, competitor analysis, and conversion data.  We created content, but it was usually a means to the end of “feeding” the search engine to improve rankings.

For a while we could game the system – so called black hat SEO.  We did crazy things like repeat the keyword 10 times in a 50 word paragraph.  We’d create nonsensical content and stick it on a back page so nobody would read it.  We even hid the text by making it the same color as the page background.

We’d also buy links so it looked like somebody actually thought our content was good.  But it wasn’t.  It was all just part of the SEO job.  Get those page 1 rankings.

But that black hat stuff didn’t go over so well with Google.  They didn’t want keyword stuffed crap nobody could read to rank on page 1.  They didn’t want to reward fake links.  So they started modifying their algorithm to catch and punish black hat SEO.  They’ve largely put the kibosh on it.

But they didn’t stop there.  They also removed most of the keyword data from analytics, making it all but impossible to track data from keyword search to website conversion.  They also mixed up SERPs with personalized results and localization, meaning there is no consistent page 1 ranking anymore – it changes for different users.

Today, some SEO professionals go so far as to say there is little in the way of accurate data tracking for organic channels.  Between multi-channel crossovers, privacy settings, and use of multiple devices, systems can’t accurately track the consumer’s search journey.  Groupon did a test where they found that 60% of the traffic being reported as direct was actually organic.  The SEO being paid by the conversion sh*t a brick.

It gets an SEO professional thinking that Google is trying to snuff out our jobs.  And when it comes to the old school tactics, I’d say that’s an accurate statement.

Organic search traffic is still a viable, valuable marketing channel.  But search engine optimization, as it pertains to targeting keyword phrases and manipulating content to get higher rankings, seems to now be an outdated title.  A few years ago SEOMoz, one of the bigger SEO software providers, actually dropped the “SEO” from their name because they realized the practice had become so interdisciplinary.

Today, SEO is closely linked to branding, PR, social media, and multi-media content.  Google does everything they can to rank high quality content that’s relevant to the searcher’s intent.   Now the SEO’s job is to create that type of content.

It’s an axiom in SEO that content is king.  That has not been actually true until that last few years as Panda updates have taken hold.  Before, as we said, content was a means to an end.

Today the content itself is the end goal.  It needs to deliver value to the searcher and must be of exceptional quality.  Understanding the searcher’s intent and developing content that matches it are primary tasks of today’s SEO.

In the past, we talked about ways to get “free” clicks via SEO.  Now we talk about earning those clicks with content that’s useful, interesting, and relevant.

Search engine optimization.  Work for the search engine.

Today it’s more about content effectiveness optimization.  We do it for our online audience.

It’s tough work for the old SEO pro.  There are no shortcuts, less data guidance.

But for anyone who ever read a keyword stuffed paragraph, it all makes perfect sense.  What ranks is what’s best for the people consuming the content.