• by Rob Garner , September 15, 2010

A major Google announcement just wouldn't be the same without a marketer or blogger throwing out the equivalent of a digital Molotov cocktail, declaring the "death of SEO."  Even before Google officially had its press conference, Internet marketer Steve Rubel posted that Google Instant makes "SEO irrelevant," and effectively "kills SEO." 

There is always an audience of search haters that laps up this kind of commentary, and this time was no different, with yet another frothy swarm of comments, forwards and status updates ensuing.  People are still retweeting that post as a serious SEO critique, but an even greater number of people vocally disagree with this position. 

Several days after his post, and about 135-plus comments below,  Rubel posted this semi-retraction: "It's possible that this was a knee-jerk view and I will be proven very wrong in the future. It's also possible I will be right in the future - or somewhere in between. Hopefully you will see that I am open to learning and seeing where this goes. As always, I am eager for more input. Teach me. It's how I learn. - Steve"

Again, this "retraction" has been overlooked and buried in all of the comments, and its visibility is highly disproportionate to the amount of attention the original post received.

The only teachable moment I can think of here is that popular online marketing experts shouldn't have to be educated on the "death of blank" or "blank killed blank" after making such broad declarations.  Experts should do their own research before making such claims, especially those who get paid top dollar for their opinions.  These types of shoot-from-the-hip topics do not generate meaningful discourse; to the contrary, they are claims that should be defended and backed up by the expert's own reasoning and logic before any worthwhile debate would ensue.  Some say this is an effective way to gain notoriety, but it ultimately comes at the expense of the blogger's credibility.

As a result of "death of blank" or "blank killed blank" statements by any expert blogger, marketers across every discipline must go into defensive positions against unsupported arguments, and often with influential people who know very little about that particular discipline, or have some other kind of agenda.  Dealing with an executive or client who forwards a controversial post can take time: Time to reeducate.  Time to separate the myths and ignorance.  Time to weigh in with your own expert opinions.  Time to be more logical than incendiary. The good news, though, is that if you are good enough, you will earn more respect from your clients after the fires have flamed out.

Knowledge is often the best path to making a wise decision for yourself, or for your own business. For anyone wanting to learn more about search and SEO, here are a few good resources:

- Aaron Goldman's excellent new search marketing book, "Everything I Know About Marketing I Learned From Google."  Over 100 online marketing experts weigh in. 

- More great books on SEO at Amazon.com

- Webmasterworld.com

- SearchEngineLand.com
 
- SearchEngineWatch.com

  - SEMPO

- I've written about 110 columns for Search Insider over the last four years, focusing on the impact and implications of SEO, search, social, and digital PR on enterprise businesses.  Here is a list of my last 30 columns, and with the second link the other 80 can be reviewed.  Each has its own little nugget of search insight, if I do say so myself. 

Last 30 columns

The other 80

- Search Insider

The list goes on...

All things considered, it's a good idea not to make any rash decisions on marketing strategy without becoming fully educated first.  Do it yourself, or hire people who know what they are doing.