Posted by Slavik Volinsky

In the early days, SEO was about keyword density, stuffing titles and meta keywords, putting misspellings on the page... After that, there were directory listings, paid links, exact match anchor text... Pretty boring! Fast-forward a little, and we’ve got Panda updates emphasizing original content and general quality of your site, Rand saying that being a brand is important (video), Eric Enge writes how businesses should have a clear differentiation (which helps linkbuilding), Vanessa Fox tying SEO to user experience (UX) with Searcher Personas, and there’s a leaked Google document saying that if a website exists just to make money, “it’s spam...”

Going from primarily a routine work, to coming up with business’ unique value propositions, becoming a thought leader, being genuinely helpful to others, establishing customer and searcher personas, even being involved in UX and usability of your site... What happened? Chances are, in your / your clients’ industries, SEO has crossed "The Chasm" and to adjust, you'll need a great strategy.

SEO Today
Yes, there are still TONS of small businesses which aren’t doing much online. How many local