York Professionals SEO Talk – Changing the Perception of SEO

14th October 2021

“SEO, dead? It is merely evolving” – Colin Docherty.

The legitimacy of practising SEO and its effectiveness has been a hotly debated topic amongst agency and businesses alike for some time. Earlier this week (12/11/19), we set out to educate and inform local business leaders on what SEO is, and what it is not.

With over thirty local professionals in attendance, and the support of the York Marriott Hotel, our 3^rd talk for York Professionals was a great success, bringing together a community of like-minded individuals seeking to grow their business!

“SEO is dead”

A common phrase we hear thrown around a lot, and it isn’t entirely wrong. Google is evolving, changing constantly to better answer searchers queries and direct them toward trustworthy and authoritative information. Therefore, conventional SEO strategies, which we refer to as “black hat tactics”, are dying as Google aims to send searchers to the best possible information, and not reward those who ‘game’ their search engine.

As part of his talk Edge 45 founder Colin Docherty, stressed the importance of this change. He outlined how, and why outdated strategies such as; Keyword stuffing, content spinning, automated link building, PBNs, cloaking, comment spamming, and a plethora of other illegitimate tactics are no longer effective.

But if these strategies no longer work, it begs the question, what is SEO?

SEO is an audition, much more than tricking the algorithm into ranking you highly. It’s understanding searcher intent and creating amazing, engaging content. It’s becoming an active member of the online community that surrounds your industry. It’s proving to google that you are a trustworthy domain, that provides a searcher with exactly what they are looking for.

This is the knowledge we at Edge45 wish to impart. That SEO is now the culmination of many areas which can be optimised to produce a symphony that exudes authority and quality. There are no shorts cuts or cheats anymore, you rank highly by simply being the best.

Thank you again to the local professionals in attendance, for being such a tentative audience and engaging with amazing questions. Thank you to the York Marriott Hotel for providing a great venue and a stellar service. And of course, York Professionals for bringing it together and making the whole event possible. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and look forward to seeing you all next time.