The Long Term Value of Search Engine Optimization

The effectiveness of many old school SEO tactics have been diminishing for a couple of years now, but the last few months have really been rough on them. Google's tighter indexing, phrase based filters, and harder focus on pushing aggregators out of geotargeted SERPs has a lot of SEOs wondering about the future of SEO. Hordes of SEOs have flocked to the social media and linkbait camp, but this isn't for everybody. It's really not SEO either, it's marketing. So the question remains: Will Google's algorithm progress to a point where SEO is no longer a viable profession. The answer is NO.

The Key Talents To A Durable SEO Career

If you have an interest in a long term career in the SEO profession here are the talents and skills that can ensure your survival:

• Keyword Research and Interpretation: This is one of the oldest skills for an SEO and one that will still retain value. Even after the introduction of LSI and Phrase Based Indexing. However, the value of keyword research will evolve over time. It may not always be as simple as finding a keyword and putting it on the page. Over time the value of keyword research will have more to do with the information it provides to marketers. Why do people type what they do? What are the looking for? These kinds of questions can be answered with keyword research.
• Knowledge of the Buying Cycle: Consumers go through a distinct cycle in the purchase process. The process is longer for some products than for others. It's amazing how few search marketers incorporate the buying cycle into their SEO strategy. It's a powerful tactic and can have a profound impact on the conversion rate of your keywords.
• Niche Engine SEO: If you can tweak site search to return more relevant results you can improve the usability of a website. Even Jakob Nielsen recommends highering SEOs for this type of issue. If you can understand how sites like Amazon and other smaller search engines rank products you can add value. This skill involves knowing how search engines work, in general. To practice, try downloading a open source search engine like Nutch and play around with it.
• Rich Media and the Bleeding Edge: There will likely always be a difference between what humans can read and what a bot can index. Make sure you stay on top of how bots index Flash, how they handle AJAX, and other emerging technologies.

These are the skills that seperate the long term SEOs from the stubborn old schoolers who are starting to wonder what they'll be doing for work 3 years from now.