If your customers inactive usage hunt engines with integrated results you tin power with SEO, past SEO isn’t dead.

Here’s a flowchart to drill location the message:

So… wherefore bash radical support saying it is? 

Let’s discuss.

People often accidental that SEO is dormant due to the fact that they find it progressively hard to fertile the benignant of contented they privation for high-volume terms.

For example, accidental you merchantability aerial fryers. You’d astir apt emotion to fertile your merchandise oregon class leafage for a word similar “air fryer,” right? 

If we usage Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to spot however the SERP for “air fryer” looked successful 2015, it’s wide that this utilized to beryllium possible. All the apical results were idiosyncratic merchandise pages.

But if we look astatine today’s SERP, it’s a antithetic story. Besides a merchandise class leafage from Amazon, each results are blog posts listing top picks.

Why did this happen?

It whitethorn beryllium that intent has changed implicit the years. But I deliberation it’s much apt that Google has got amended astatine knowing hunt intent. 

Either way, it’s wide that folks searching for presumption similar “air fryer” present privation to spot merchandise recommendations, not idiosyncratic products. So this is what Google ranks. 

Does this mean that SEO is dead?

No. It’s conscionable harder. You request to absorption much connected aligning contented with hunt intent than ever earlier to win in SEO.

For example, if you privation to fertile for “air fryer,” you’ll astir apt find it easier to fertile a blog station listing apical picks than a merchandise oregon class page. If you privation to fertile for “stainless alloy aerial fryer,” a merchandise class leafage is astir apt the mode to go. 

Learn more: Searcher Intent: The Overlooked ‘Ranking Factor’ You Should Be Optimizing For

People besides often accidental that SEO is dormant due to the fact that it’s getting harder to fertile successful peculiar niches. 

For example, here’s a niche wellness site’s estimated integrated postulation implicit the past few years: 

You tin spot that postulation fell disconnected a cliff successful 2018. The tract went from an estimated 240K monthly hunt visits to virtually zero.

This isn’t an isolated lawsuit either. Many niche tract owners person seen Google decimate postulation to their astir lucrative niche sites successful caller years. 

Why did this happen? 

In immoderate niches, the crushed is simple: There’s much contention than ever before. But successful others, it’s mostly due to the fact that Google has been doubling down connected the value of E-A-T.

If you’re unfamiliar with E-A-T, it stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It’s a conception from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which assistance quality prime raters measure the prime of Google’s hunt results.

It’s truthful important that it’s mentioned 130 times successful the document. 

Crucially, however, E-A-T is astir important erstwhile it comes to “Your Money oregon Your Life (YMYL)” topics. Google describes these arsenic those that “could importantly interaction the health, fiscal stability, oregon information of people, oregon the payment oregon well-being of society.”

In different words, the topics that marque up immoderate of the astir lucrative niches. 

As a result, it’s present adjacent intolerable for the small folks to fertile for YMYL topics. YMYL SERP domination is present astir wholly a crippled for large brands and authorities organizations. 

Just instrumentality a look astatine the results for “high humor unit symptoms”: 

Every azygous 1 is written by a doc and comes from a authorities assemblage oregon non-profit organization. There’s virtually nary accidental a solo blogger with nary ceremonial aesculapian expertise tin rank here. 

It’s not conscionable “hardcore” aesculapian topics wherever this is the lawsuit either.

Back successful 2012, I ranked #1 for “best macromolecule powder” with a mediocre nonfiction connected a brand-new blog. It lone takes 1 look astatine today’s brand-dominated SERP to recognize this won’t hap now, arsenic each the top-ranking results are from well-known sites.

Does this mean that SEO is dead?

No. It’s conscionable harder. If you privation to fertile for lucrative YMYL topics, you need E-A-T. 

Of course, there’s immoderate statement successful the SEO manufacture astir precisely what this means. In fact, Google’s Gary Illyes is connected grounds saying that E-A-T is mostly based connected links and mentions connected authoritative sites.

That whitethorn beryllium true, but see however sites pull specified links and mentions successful the first place.

For example, if you’re trying to fertile for a lucrative aesculapian word similar “best fare pills,” you’re improbable to pull links and mentions from “authoritative” sites unless your contented is written oregon reviewed by a doctor. Hence the value of “expertise.” 

As this contented is costly and requires much effort, ranking successful these niches is undoubtedly overmuch much challenging and costly than it utilized to be.

Learn more: What Is E-A-T? Why It’s Important for SEO

People sometimes assertion that SEO is dormant due to the fact that the SEO techniques that utilized to enactment nary longer do. 

This is true. Take my earlier illustration of ranking for “best macromolecule powder.” In 2012, each it took was a fewer mediocre impermanent posts to fertile #1. I besides managed to fertile that aforesaid tract for a lucrative affiliate keyword by asking a person for a nexus from The Huffington Post.

It’d beryllium overmuch harder to crippled the strategy and fertile these days. 

Why did this happen?

Google has got amended astatine spotting the techniques utilized to manipulate the SERPs. In different words, it (often) knows erstwhile your links are bought, your contented has nary unsocial value, oregon your UX is trash. This makes them little trivial to fertile than before.

Here’s Google’s John Mueller pointing retired that this is however it should beryllium connected Twitter:

Does this mean that SEO is dead?

No. It’s conscionable harder. If you privation to fertile successful Google these days, your contented had amended merit to rank. And you had amended beryllium consenting to leap done immoderate hoops to beryllium to Google that’s the case too. 

You need to:

• Earn high-quality backlinks, not conscionable wage for low-quality ones.
• Craft unsocial content, not conscionable rehash what the top-ranking results say.
• Provide a bully idiosyncratic experience, not conscionable propulsion up immoderate old site.

Learn more: How to Rank Higher connected Google

People assertion that Google is sidesplitting SEO by stealing clicks with nonstop answers connected the SERP. 

For example, instrumentality a look astatine the SERP for “who played russ connected friends”:

Given that the reply is close there, it’s just to presume that astir users won’t fuss clicking.

Data from Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer backs this up. Despite an estimated 1.2K searches per period successful the U.S., we estimation that determination are lone 0.35 clicks per hunt connected average.

This isn’t an isolated illustration either. According to 2020 information from SparkToro, 64.82% of Google searches extremity without a click to immoderate web spot successful the hunt results. 

Why did this happen?

Google is much utile for users erstwhile it provides answers straight connected the SERP. It’s arsenic elemental arsenic that, really. 

Does this mean that SEO is dead?

No. You conscionable request to prioritize keywords that can’t easy beryllium answered connected the SERPs if you privation integrated clicks.

For example, Google answers “how bash hunt engines work” connected the SERP arsenic it does for “who played russ connected friends.” But bash you recognize however hunt engines enactment from that abbreviated paragraph, oregon would you request to click?

Judging by the information successful Keywords Explorer, it’s the latter. There are 0.84 clicks per hunt connected average.

This is due to the fact that it’s hard to recognize however hunt engines enactment successful conscionable a fewer sentences. It’s a analyzable taxable that needs further explanation. As a result, keywords similar this are somewhat immune to Google’s efforts to beryllium an reply engine.

That said, it’s worthy noting that immoderate SERP features, similar featured snippets, tin really beryllium seen arsenic an opportunity. This is due to the fact that Google usually pulls the snippet from a apical 10 result, truthful you tin often shortcut your mode to the apical of the SERP by winning the featured snippet.

Here’s a speedy mode to find low-hanging featured snippet opportunities connected your website:

1. Enter your domain into Site Explorer
2. Go to the Organic keywords report
3. Filter for keyword rankings successful positions #1-10
4. Filter for featured snippets wherever the people doesn’t rank

This volition amusement your site’s first-page rankings wherever there’s a featured snippet you don’t own. 

Nobody knows exactly however Google chooses the featured snippet. Your champion stake is to reappraisal the existing snippet and effort to reply the query much eloquently connected your leafage (in an arsenic concise way). 

Given that you privation clicks, it mightiness look counterintuitive to bash this. But you’re astir apt going to get much clicks from ranking #1 successful the featured snippet than #8 arsenic a “blue link” result. 

Learn more: How to Optimize for Google’s Featured Snippets

Final thoughts

SEO is inactive live due to the fact that radical are inactive utilizing hunt engines with integrated results that you tin power with SEO. It’s conscionable harder than earlier for the reasons stated above.

However, this isn’t needfully a atrocious thing. It conscionable means you request to prime your battles much wisely and support your digit connected the pulse to recognize what does and doesn’t enactment going forward. 

Got questions? Ping maine on Twitter.