Ranking is dead and Microsoft is supporting the open source movement
Why is ranking still alive and kicking ?
I understand the importance of headlines when it comes to CT rates, user engagement and sensationalism. But what I don’t understand is why people use simple phrases to explain very complicated trends and processes? Especially when those phrases are dead wrong. Bruce Clay and Matt Cutts (in a way) pronounced rankings dead recently. And it would be funny if it wasn’t sad.
Ranking is as dead as Microsoft’s determination to keep their grip on the operating system market.
To make things even funnier, Bruce Clay added that rankings are no longer a measurement of success for search engine optimization. What a shocker.
Rankings were never the best KPI for SEO work. Since the dawn of internet, from the time before Larry met Sergei, it was all about qualified traffic, conversion rates and ultimately, the ROI. Nothing has changed in that department. And nothing ever will.
I would have agreed if he had said that “general” or “objective” ranking is going to lose its importance during the course of the next year. But Bruce was so definitive in his statement that we shouldn’t have any room for doubt about what he wanted to say.
The scope of SEO work is already changing because of “personalization”, “localization”, and universal search. Building engaging sites has never been more important then now. Importance of being a part of the SERPs for many different vertical search engines has been growing and will continue to grow because now results blend, and no one can afford to miss out. But your site won’t get wiped out of the SERPS this year just because you don’t have a video as it was hinted by Bruce Clay.
Google wouldn’t make such a move. Not yet, at least not until an overwhelming majority of users start expecting a video on every site.
Google is the best search engine around only because it provides the best user experience. Their algorithms change to improve user experience and to diminish the efforts of spammers. Users on the other hand, mostly click on what appears at the top of SERPs.
Whether you want your image, your listing in “ten pack” , or video to
get you a visitor that will hopefully take the actions that you want, your best bet is to be at the top of the SERP for the keywords that you choose.
How will you make that happen in the face of these changes is a challenge in its own right. Just don’t think that ranking is dead. It’s just getting more dimensions, and a number of extra factors.
