Is SEO Dead?
Of course, before talking about all these topics in depth, the question that must be on the minds of both professionals actively involved in the SEO sector and some in the digital marketing sector is this: “ Is SEO dead ?” Glen Conybeare, CCO of StickyEyes, a UK-based digital marketing and SEO agency and sponsor of Webit 2013, made a presentation on this subject .
After his speech, we had the chance to discuss the subject in more depth during our conversation. The conclusion we finally reached was this; No, SEO is not dead, but it has indeed become much more complex and strategic. In Glen’s words, it has become a difficult task. When you first read this, you may see it as a negative development, but in fact, it is a very positive development. If you ask why, I can attribute the reason for SEO becoming more difficult to Google’s evaluation of websites based on many more and different criteria.
In the past, as you have both experienced and watched, search engine optimization was a set of studies that were quite open to manipulative work and therefore could not be expressed within a completely legal and logical framework. However, today, SEO can be expressed as the set of studies carried out to inform and satisfy the end user, not Google.
So, to summarize, I can easily say that SEO done to deceive homeowner database Google is dead, but SEO that prioritizes user satisfaction and experience and accordingly informs Google correctly has come to the fore.
So how can we define SEO today? As Glen simply mentioned in his presentation, I would like to show you the main headings;
Technical work: We can include all on-site SEO improvement work in this.
Content: We can evaluate the number of content, its quality and the purpose for which it was written within this criterion.
Increasing brand awareness: This is not just about getting links, but also about the entirety of the work that can be done to earn links. This can include press releases, social and creative content that is written with quality and subjectivity that will actually be shared(!).
To summarize, SEO is no longer just about content written for Google or backlinks purchased for Google .
We can say that the new SEO is to please the user and share extraordinary and social content that they can benefit from, to make the website where this content is displayed technically perfect, and to obtain backlinks by creating truly shareable press releases, content, visuals and infographics rather than buying backlinks(!) . In conclusion; SEO is not dead, it has just changed shape, evolved, become more difficult but more ideal.
Does Adwords Affect Organic Rankings?
This is a subject that has been going on for years and has many question marks from both SEO and search engine marketing professionals, and is also commented on by many people at the same time. I have researched the opinions of well-known and respected professionals in the sector on this subject and combined them with my own ideas. The conclusion I have reached is this: No! Adwords is definitely evaluated by Google on different parameters than organic results. The head of Google Search Quality Team, Matt Cutts, answered this very clearly about 3 years ago ;
To summarize the Turkish; "-Today's question comes from the Bay Area, California. And the question is; If I buy Adwords advertising and become a publisher, can this increase my organic rankings on Google? -My answer: No. If you decide to buy Adwords, this can never be a factor that affects your organic rankings. In other words, there is no connection between Google Adwords and Google organic search results. You should definitely not rely on this possibility.
But instead, try to produce interesting, quality content that will trigger people to link to you, because that's really the best thing to do. Again, when you buy Adwords and become a publisher, don't expect simultaneous SEO success. Don't count on it at all." I guess this was the answer to a question that many internet entrepreneurs and website managers were eagerly waiting for. And I guess the answer by the head of the relevant department at Google doesn't seem to leave much of a question mark on this issue anymore.
Is the Concept of PageRank Still Valid?
PageRank, which has been an important parameter in Turkey especially since the mid-2000s and even a serious criterion when buying and selling backlinks from web pages using methods we call black-hat, is not as valid a metric today as it used to be.
We can safely say that the concept of PageRank technically continues, we observe this. However, I think that Google now has a very small share in the criteria for evaluating websites. In my role at the agency and in my personal observations, I have noticed that PageRank values in Google SERP are not very decisive in rankings. What I have noticed, both from our own customers and from my personal observations; the most important factors determining the ranking are;
Engaging and shareable content
Quality and reputable backlinks obtained through organic means
Ideal on-site structure (Title, Heading, Meta Description and URL structures)
Current publishing
Within Google's PageRank algorithm definition, there are actually the items mentioned above. However, web pages that have all these ideal structures and are produced for the user, not for SEO, continue to be listed in high ranks, even if their PageRank values are low. It should not be forgotten that there is no official statement that PageRank is completely invalid, but I think that websites prepared in line with the 4 items I shared above should not exceed the PageRank value too much.
