Is SEO Evil?
I will be speaking in a couple of months at Web Directions South. The topic, Is SEO Evil? will cover SEO industry topics and how we as developers interact with it, both the positives and the negatives.
I have done a few presentations this year, mostly to SEO crowds which have covered development basics that most Web Directions attendees will know quite well. These include web standards best practice and accessibility, which of course all creates a solid foundation in creating search engine friendly websites.
But is that all there is to building a search engine friendly website? Or is there more to it?
I am looking forward to this presentation as it’s the first SEO talk I will be giving to hardcore web standards developers, so the basic concepts won’t have to be covered in as much detail and we can get straight into the good stuff.
I have many ideas I would like to throw around and discuss. As a developer I still remain somewhat skeptical about some aspects of the SEO industry and it’s dramatic rise in the last couple of years, but I do believe it has it’s place and many developers might not consider this while developing websites.
- Some of the topics that will be discussed are:
- Development communities vs SEO communities
- Positives and Negatives of the SEO industry
- How being a developer helps create SEO friendly websites
- How being a developer may hinder you
- Is it all hype?
I would love to hear some thoughts from all you developers, producers, SEO’s and other web professionals out there. What do you know or think about SEO? What questions do you have that never seem to be answered? What do you want to hear about on this subject?
If there is enough dialogue or contributions to this post I would love to integrate some of it into my presentation and have a stab at answering all these hard questions while I have the chance.
See you at Web Directions South!
Comments
- john Allsopp says: June 21, 2007 @ 8:13 pm
Hey,
crowdsourcing your presentation - so very two dot oh!
j
- Cameron Adams says: June 22, 2007 @ 1:55 am
I always subscribe to the model of “if you build it, they will come”. In terms of SEO, it means that if you don’t have the desire to build something that’s worthwhile to your audience, why should you get search traffic? If you’re actually contributing something to the Internet, why do you need SEO?
- Cheryl says: June 22, 2007 @ 10:18 am
Cam, I think it’s more of an issue of “if you build it, they will come, if they can find it”. SEO isn’t going to help if your content is rubbish, but if can help give you that edge if you’re one site amongst many…
- Standardzilla says: June 22, 2007 @ 11:07 am
@John, not so two-point-oh… I will still have to write my own presso I figure! :-)
@Cam, great point. I am going to address this issue, it’s a common idea that developers have about their apps and websites. Also something that will spark a bit of debate I am sure…
- Jermayn Parker says: June 22, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
I think SEO is important, not the most important but definitely part of the overall family of web design. I also do not think it is right that they should charge so much either…
