So let's say you pay an expert to improve your SEO rankings. It's working. Well done to you. Do you think this is the end of the story? Not really. Just because you rank well doesn't mean your visitors will call or email you when they click on your site. This is where the problem lies. Rank alone means nothing. At the end of the day, if your website isn't building mutual relationships, it's a waste of time and money. It's like spending a lot on plastic surgery, but you have a crappy personality. Many people will look, but no one will contact you.
The answer to the question "Is SEO dead?" It's... no, but it might as well be for practical purposes. Anything that costs so much and produces so few tangible results has a limited shelf life. Meanwhile, look for more effective ways to boost those reciprocal relationships with or without SEO.
If you search for this title, you will find that there are many claims that SEO is not dead. He may not be dead, but he stinks like a corpse that's been in the Texas sun for ten days.
Millions of people do everything they can to make you believe that he is still alive. There are so many SEO experts, bloggers, gurus, and oracles on the internet that educating and reading about SEO can be a frustrating experience. When a snake oil seller is spitting out a lot of acronyms and business terms, it's always a sign that the pitchman is working hard to keep you, the buyer, in the dark. If you have to keep Wikipedia open to read a blog post, it sure is a sign. The average entrepreneur doesn't have time for this, and that's the point.
Do you really think you can win at this game? Well, if you are willing to invest in one of these gurus every month. And we're not talking cheap. On the other hand, is winning all this real?
Building mutual relationships starts with meeting a need. Once the visitor arrives at your site or blog, provide or give them access to what they are looking for, or at the very least point them in the right direction to link to helpful resources. Because let's face it, unless you're a celebrity or already have a cult, they're not on your site because of you. They came because they want to believe that you have something of value that can help them solve their current problem.
An even better option than giving them information or pointing them in the right direction is offering them to solve their problem themselves. This works especially well if you're in a service-oriented industry and communicating with your visitor is the ultimate goal anyway. The main point is that getting traffic and traffic to your site is not the end of the journey; convert visitors into the role you want them to play. Focus your entire strategy on meeting the needs of visitors and you will get a lot more out of your SEO campaigns.
Ali