The acronym "SEO" (search engine optimization) is ubiquitous in the minds of all business owners and marketers in today's digital world. There is a disconnect, however, to what SEO is perceived to be and what it actually is.If you ask five different business owners what they think SEO is, you will probably get five different answers. This is because most non-marketers only see SEO as a means to an end. Or in other words, it's not the SEO itself that is valued, it's the results that are produced from SEO.That's where the confusion begins.
So SEO Was Easier a Few Years Ago?
Whitehat, or "legitimate" SEO has always been time consuming. Building real links has always consisted of developing relationships with other website owners.In the early to mid 2000's, it was relatively easy to achieve high ranks in the search engine results by utilizing "blackhat" SEO tactics. Someone with limited experience and knowledge in Internet Marketing could read a few forums and become an "SEO specialist" in no time.You could register for said forums, go to the Buy/Sell section and for a few bucks you could boost your rankings to the front page pretty easily, no marketing strategy required. All you needed was a Paypal account and someone who was gullible enough to believe that you were an "SEO specialist".And then Panda and Penguin happened.
Everyone Needs To Wear A White Hat
Panda and Penguin essentially wiped out any trace of scalability in legitimate SEO. The era of buying links in bulk, spinning articles, building link pyramids and link wheels, and spammy guest posting ended. Tons of businesses lost their beloved rankings. Accordingly, many "SEOs" lost clients and closed shop or pivoted into other online marketing opportunities.To survive in this new world, the major search engines required website owners to focus less on the quantity of
