This article by Newsweek was highlighted by
Matt Cutts on his blog - I just wanted to give my own two cents worth.
I feel like the SEO world is slowly creeping into the mainstream. Every day I see another article about optimization. It's just that lately, those articles are coming from more and more mainstream journalistic sources. One year ago you would never had heard the terms "white hat" or "black hat" in Newsweek...
These days it's getting tougher and tougher to be entering the SEO game, because there's a lengthy learning curve, and the people that have been in it for a long time have such a head start. But, the amount of press that it's getting, combined with the allure of easy money and work-at-home mentality will flood the Internet with new SEO's, and further bring the industry to the tipping point. The 'tipping point' being defined as the point when search engine optimization is a household name, a recognized industry, and not a black art practiced by shadowy figures in dark rooms.
The interesting thing is that while site optimization is getting all the press, it's only one of the many ways to promote your site - and not necessarily the most cost effective. Most people will hire an SEO for hundreds or thousands of dollars to write articles, post links, submit press releases - with the promise of results down the line. They could very well be spending that same amount of money on PPC ads, or email newsletter sponsorship and seeing immediate results, instead of waiting to see what will happen...
Interesting times ahead!
TG
Labels: seo