Old Hat SEO is Finally Dead. The Bar Has Been Risen For The Next Generation.
SEO isn’t a checklist game. What once moved mountains now barely moves the needle. Critical thinking, storytelling, and cross-discipline skills win. Templates don’t.
Thanks to this week's #SEOForLunch Sponsor: SEOTESTING.COM
I'll be attending SMX Advanced (Boston) this week, where I'll lead a roundtable discussion on advanced technical SEO. Use code SMXSpeakerFriend to save 15%Fun story!
When I was maturing, aging growing up, I must’ve been five maybe ten years of age I’d often visit Nana’s, Grams, Gma’s… (wait, what’s that keyword again? Oh right!) Grandma’s farm.
… and dang, did she ever support our dreams of a cooking, baking, BBQing, I mean, culinary career. Her motto? Win today. Worry about tomorrow… tomorrow.
This is a story of a little SEO who grew up to become a legitimate growth marketer.
Let me share their foolproof recipe for search success:
Start by exporting your targeted keywords from your favorite tool.
Sprinkle them generously into Title Tags, always at the front. Don’t be a rookie!
Shape meta descriptions for maximum clicks (but don’t call it a ranking factor!).
Carefully craft H1s that look human but speak fluent robot.
And of course, publish every possible blog post loosely related to your product, service, or industry.
To prove it’s “quality”? Slide that content order form from $0.02/word to $0.05.
Because AI is for weirdos, and you’re investing in real humanwordswriting.
Obviously, the Google Gods will reward your noble sacrifice. It’s not like you’d ever cheap out and take shortcuts to pad margins… right?
This is the kind of bullshit SEOs pulled to game Google. Just good enough to snag rankings, drive traffic, and maybe convert a few leads or sales… UNTIL NOW
No wonder the industry is the laughing stock of the marketing world.
No real standard for success. Just a laptop, Wi-Fi, and a pulse.
But that’s changing and yeah, it sucks right now.
But for those who adapt? The reward isn’t just rankings.
It’s becoming a respected business leader. A strategic contributor.
Someone who finally gets a seat at the table. Also, Something SEO’s lacked for far too long: Respect.
This week’s #SEOForLunch is sponsored by SEOTESTING.COM
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Hang Up Grandma and Grandpa’s Cowboy Hats
Since the dawn of SEO, we’ve had two camps.
On one side, the rule followers… AKA “White Hats”
The ones who kissed the Google ring and devoted their lives to preaching how SEO should be done.
They wrote the blog posts, built the SOPs, and worshipped the algorithm.
The only thing more validating than results? Social media ‘likes’ and internet followers.
On the other hand, the rebels…. AKA “Black Hats”
The hustlers who chased dollars, not “best practices”.
If it didn’t break the law, it was fair game. Google’s rankings were just that—a game.
And if Google didn’t want to be gamed, maybe it should’ve plugged the holes.
Going this route required valuing your bank account over your ego, because the moment your ego allows a “tactic” to become public, the countdown to its worthlessness begins.
The great debate is over.
Want to survive in SEO? Ditch the hats. Deliver impact!
SEO’s Barrier to Entry? There Never Was One
Let’s be honest: SEO has never had a gatekeeper.
No degree.
No certification.
No formal “Google recognized” training.
If you had Wi-Fi and could follow instructions, you could technically call yourself an SEO and even collect a decent paycheck.
Success was a lot less about strategy and more about how well you executed someone else’s playbook, smiled, and navigated client or internal stakeholders’ expectations.
But that’s changing—fast.
Google’s evolving. AI is rewriting how content is created, found, and consumed.
The “do what the SOP says” crowd is about to be left behind.
And weirdly? That’s a good thing!
For the SEOs who think like marketers, who care about messaging, business impact, and long-term visibility, this next era is an opportunity to thrive.
Forget the Hat. Focus on the Impact.
It’s no longer about how well you play Google's game.
It’s about whether you’re driving real business results.
Modern SEO isn’t just about pleasing algorithms. Hell, I continue to argue that organic search should encompass all organic marketing and not be limited to just the search bar.
It’s about becoming a marketer who understands how organic visibility fuels revenue, retention, and long-term brand growth. Real business metrics, not rankings, not impressions, not “almosts” hidden behind proprietary algorithms.
You don’t need a hat.
You need a strategy that earns trust, drives value, and proves its worth in the boardroom, not just a rank tracker.
Less “keywords” and More Solutions
The days of building traffic and then figuring out your product problems are over.
NerdWallet, now flirting with a multi-billion-dollar valuation, built on content that solves high-intent user problems, not just ranks for them.
(This post from Ross Simmonds is a must-read, dissecting Nerdwallet’s SEO topic clusters)
Or look at Wayfair, born from a portfolio of niche, SEO-driven sites that eventually merged into a category leader.
The point? Rankings don’t build businesses. Solutions do.
And delivering solutions starts with thinking beyond traffic.
It requires a skill set most checkbox SEOs simply don’t have, and honestly, one that used to be optional in yesterday’s SEO.
Today? It’s becoming non-negotiable.
The mindset. The instincts. The strategic lens.
That’s what today’s SEOs need in order actually to drive meaningful growth.
The New SEO Stack: Brains > Tactics
The SEO of the past was built on checklists, plugins, and page-by-page audits.
The SEO of the future? It’s built on business context, product understanding, customer pain points, and strategic clarity.
If you want to stand out today, you’d better know:
The product you’re selling
The audience you’re serving
The problems you’re solving
And how to communicate that value (everywhere, not just in Google!)
Because that’s the real gap,
It’s not about getting better at AI prompts, and it’s certainly not about chasing silver-bullet tactics.
It’s mindset, instincts, and a strategic lens that most SEOs were never taught to develop.
That’s the difference between being a marketer who drives growth…and a technician who gets replaced by AI the moment rankings drop or budgets tighten.
What Smart SEOs Are Doing Right Now
The next generation of SEOs isn’t refining checklists, and they are completely rewriting the job. And no, it won’t be easy at all.
A lot of people will quietly exit this industry.
And yeah, in the short term, it will suck (hello 2025).
But for those willing to reinvest in themselves? They’ll thrive no matter what five moves Google makes next, because they’re not focused on “SEO wins” but business wins.
Here’s what that looks like:
Investing in product knowledge and aligning with business goals
Not just pulling insights from keyword research spreadsheets.Collaborating early with content, brand, and product teams
Not counting words and sprinkling SEO in at the end.Experimenting with AI-powered workflows (without outsourcing their brain)
Not blindly pasting prompts, using AI to amplify their existing knowledge.Learning marketing fundamentals: positioning, messaging, value props
Not just optimizing H1s and hoping for the best.Reporting on business metrics that matter
Not hiding behind rankings, impressions, or traffic. Business results - revenue!
Great post!
One thing I've begun noticing, however, is the difference in Local SEO and "general" SEO.
General SEO appears to be completely within the realm your describing (but I do think you're missing discussing the importance of authority, beyond just marketing for solutions).
Local SEO appears to be stuck in 2015. Slam your keywords into a variety of pages with different city names, and you'll start to come up for people doing local searches (especially if you've got some local business/organization schema).
This could just be the e-commerce realm I'm in, but I think there's a very big difference in the sophistication of SEO between the two types.