- Oct 29, 2021
- 8,419
- 3,570
I think so. There is still room to take billions of dollars from this industry.
Is SEO dead or just black magic now?
- Thread starter Alfa3
- Start date
- Jun 26, 2018
- 1,150
- 594
One prime way to accomplish this, in a post-SEO dominant era, is to position your site as authoritative not from the POV of search engines, but from the POV of humans looking at other sites. Examine the best 50 sites at a time with huge traffic, imagine the best article on your site that relates to, or benefits visitors to that site. Write the editorial post about that on your platform, and a matching post for the hi-traffic site.
Quality site, with your matching guest post, linking to your quality post on your site. Repeat for all 50 sites, rinse and repeat. Sounds basic, but this emphasis keeps the focus on directly connecting good content to relevant high traffic sources. The key dynamic is not "will Google find this link to be high authority?" but "will a million folks at this place also want to click a link there to read this article?," with SEO treated as gravy, or a secondary issue.
davemeyers
Newbie
- Jul 24, 2021
- 44
- 12
SEO is alive and well. I own an SEO agency and made 10 grand in one month from my clients. I don't make this each month (about 5-7 grand take-home) but it's still very much worth it. I primarily do Local SEO with some regional and national in the mix but 99% is Local SEO. I started with small businesses and now have some top players who pay month by month or some year by year in one chunk. In short, SEO is not dead; it allows me more freedom to do what I love doing without having to work 9-5. Today we went boating and swimming; last weekend to an amusement park; last year flew my family out to Toronto's Canada Wonderland, Toronto Zoo, Aquarium, etc. This isn't a brag; before SEO I was barely getting by. Now, because of my career change to SEO, I'm able to provide for my family with whatever they want. Of course, this could all come to an end if my clients aren't happy so I don't take it for granted.
If anyone here is looking to make serious money from SEO, let me know and I'll write up the method I use for client sites that's worked for me to get each of them on first page (locally) as well as nationally. Employing these methods has gained me so much and would love to pass along the methods that have worked for me doing SEO on Wordpress (I refuse clients who don't use WP as I'm only familiar with Wordpress for the SEO I do).
SEO is alive and well!
If anyone here is looking to make serious money from SEO, let me know and I'll write up the method I use for client sites that's worked for me to get each of them on first page (locally) as well as nationally. Employing these methods has gained me so much and would love to pass along the methods that have worked for me doing SEO on Wordpress (I refuse clients who don't use WP as I'm only familiar with Wordpress for the SEO I do).
SEO is alive and well!
Mamba Noir
Junior Member
- Jan 10, 2025
- 148
- 278
I don’t think SEO is dead, it’s evolving and like any other business you must evolve with it. Unfortunately evolution comes with growing pains. It is what it’s going to be.
OliverMason
Newbie
- Jul 15, 2025
- 21
- 8
SEO still works. Just focus on good content and real link.
Seo Captain
Elite Member
- Jun 16, 2022
- 2,103
- 587
Since when you notice this ? The basics might have changed just a bit because of updates from Google.
LiamWalker
Newbie
- Jul 15, 2025
- 16
- 2
SEO is not dead. Good content still works.
reviewconnect
Newbie
- Jun 26, 2025
- 27
- 1
As is always the case, it depends. I see niches where the first page is filled with ads—SERP ads, local ads, ads everywhere—and if there is moderate search volume, then SEO does not make much sense. In niches with few ads in general, it will make sense.
ankeyreviews
Newbie
- Nov 30, 2024
- 6
- 2
Your journey is really inspiring, especially how SEO has helped you build such a good life for your family. It’s great to see someone using their skills not just for success, but for real freedom. If you don’t mind sharing, I’d love to learn the method you’re using to rank your client sites both locally and nationally. I’m also into Local SEO and work mainly with WordPress, so any insights from your approach would be truly valuable.
proneistforcehearts
Newbie
- Jul 20, 2025
- 1
- 0
ai is the new seo
thats how things evolve
thats how things evolve
zajecwertsein
Newbie
- Jul 20, 2025
- 1
- 0
nowadays its just about quality than just quantity
- Oct 9, 2013
- 3,471
- 14,474
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/seo-is-dead-after-the-humbing-burd-algorthum.622141/
Thread from November 2013.
What's definitely not dead is negativity.
Most people are inherently fearful and negative.
People who make a lot of money just don't think like that.
They just see business landscapes as ever-evolving and make adjustments along the way.
SEO is not what it was in 2020. And how it was in 2020 is not how it was in 2015, and how it was in 2015 is not how it was in 2010..
It will never die. Ever.
What it will do is slowly change over time until the thing that's there in 25 years barely resembles the thing we have now.
Likewise, SEO today does not resemble SEO in the late 90's.
Chaos is where money is made.
You don't make money in stable markets. You make money only in chaotic ones.
Thread from November 2013.
What's definitely not dead is negativity.
Most people are inherently fearful and negative.
People who make a lot of money just don't think like that.
They just see business landscapes as ever-evolving and make adjustments along the way.
SEO is not what it was in 2020. And how it was in 2020 is not how it was in 2015, and how it was in 2015 is not how it was in 2010..
It will never die. Ever.
What it will do is slowly change over time until the thing that's there in 25 years barely resembles the thing we have now.
Likewise, SEO today does not resemble SEO in the late 90's.
Chaos is where money is made.
You don't make money in stable markets. You make money only in chaotic ones.
intzackwidth983
Newbie
- Jul 20, 2025
- 1
- 0
stick to quality links and you will be fine
davemeyers
Newbie
- Jul 24, 2021
- 44
- 12
Nope. AI isn't essential in SEO. Not even one iota. It can be used as a complement or secondary but it's not necessary... at all. I've been doing SEO for many years and have used AI only a handful of times due to being in a rush. Other than that, it's all without SEO and results are excellent. Don't get me wrong; I love AI...but it's certainly at the bottom of the list for essentials.
SEO isn’t dead, but it’s definitely gotten trickier. There’s a lot of AI spam and shady stuff out there, which makes it confusing. But if you focus on real quality content, honest outreach, and good backlinks, it’s still worth the effort. It’s not magic—just hard work done right.
- Jan 11, 2012
- 3,246
- 398
Trust me, it's still there, and people are generating decent revenue out of it! If you can help a Business rank and keep them there, you gonna get paid otherwise, if you have no clue what you are doing, then just like any industry, you will not have a pay!
If you can understand the algorithm and provide VALUE to the Search and its Users, then your website will be pushed ahead! Simple...
I see websites with fewer links but fantastic UI, Silo Structure, and Great Helpful content outrank the ones with 2x-3x the amount of links! So if you can optimize everything correctly, then you will know SEO is not a BLACK MAGIC!
Good Luck
If you can understand the algorithm and provide VALUE to the Search and its Users, then your website will be pushed ahead! Simple...
I see websites with fewer links but fantastic UI, Silo Structure, and Great Helpful content outrank the ones with 2x-3x the amount of links! So if you can optimize everything correctly, then you will know SEO is not a BLACK MAGIC!
Good Luck
- Jan 3, 2013
- 839
- 310
SEO is not dead nor it is a black magic. It just need our constant attention. We just need to keep us updated with the industry. Still SEO is the main thing for organic growth.