Sometimes search engine optimization becomes so complex that it is not really possible to know for sure. What will the results be if we stop using tags on the site, remove 10,000 pages, and add a substantial amount of high-quality content? That question can only result in a qualified guess as an answer. Often, however, search engine optimization is simple, so why do people insist on believing otherwise?
Have you ever heard someone say that “Google should consider social signals important because…” or “302 redirects should be handled the same way as 301 because…”? You may very well think so, and you may very well imagine that things should work that way in the future. In that case, you can choose to prepare for it. What you cannot do, however, is believe that something works a certain way today. You can know, or you can not know. You cannot form an opinion into existence within an algorithm.
Google is extremely vague in what they say themselves, and often they say things that are more than a little ambiguous. I can accept that testing, due to the nature of the algorithm, becomes limited and that you also have to rely on your experience as a craftsman. But testing must be the foundation. When Google does not explain how things actually work (which they have done in cases such as PageRank and social signals), you cannot philosophize your way to a conclusion. Not even when they are clear can you get away without testing.
If someone were to decide to sell search engine optimization as a service and then sell a bundle of dogmas, philosophies, and best practices learned from some generic American blog, I would argue that it is not far removed from other types of horoscope peddlers.
The very idea of claiming that search engine optimization is a matter of opinion is, in my eyes, repulsive. It is based on the idea that there is some kind of guru or wizard sitting in a dark basement performing magic on a website. Whether that magic is ranking via Facebook likes or curing cancer with heavily diluted water is, in my view, irrelevant.
I am of course aware that it is not possible to understand every part of such a complex algorithm; no one can. But not even having the desire to understand how the search engine actually works and acting based on that understanding is unacceptable for an industry. You are, of course, free to do as you wish, but the industry as a whole needs to take its role seriously. Otherwise, we are nothing more than the quacks some people are eager to claim that SEO professionals are.
When I started blogging about search engine optimization in 2007, my goal was to eliminate the magic tricks, the quackery, and the shady practices from the SEO industry. I feel that Swedish SEO has come a long way since then, but we still have some distance to go before we have gotten rid of the wizard hats and replaced them with professionalism. I believe there are often personal reasons behind the image of the basement-dwelling wizard, the prodigy who only drinks Jolt Cola and “hacks the internet.” It is a self-image created to be something, and that something is not good for an industry.
Consider this post a call to action to help out. If you also believe that the SEO industry benefits from scrutiny, transparency, and a certain level of seriousness, then help me. Blog, tweet, post on Facebook, or whatever it is you do. Speak up when someone spreads myths, demand that actors put their money where their mouth is, and share what you discover yourself.
