SEO in 2006 and beyond. Techniques to think about.

I was just reviewing some SEO predictons for 2006 which have been published, and then was thinking into 2007….here’s some of what I was reading about 2006 SEO predictions:

Jim Hedger offers great 2006 advice on SEO with among other things:

• Usability and Search Engine Optimization
  “First, search engine algorithms are increasingly taking user-experience into consideration when calculating ranking. Secondly, mainstream advertisers are moving back towards SEO but those advertisers will require something stronger than Top10 placements to justify spending money on the mysterious marketing miracle SEO represents. When an SEO can tell his or her clients they will not only get strong placements but will also get a website redeveloped specifically to increase conversions, that SEO will make more sales. “

Todd Malicoat (stuntdubl) predicts amoung 40 listed items:

1.viral link attraction – “under the radar” text link purchase
2.user generated content
4.on-page naturalization
5.”non-seo” links
6.trusted links
16.information architecture and strategic deeplinking
32.page view maximization
33.page view duration optimization
35.content contribution incentivization (See all Todd’s 40 seo predictions here)

2006 SEO =
User:
Time
Trust
Traffic
Applying carbon conceived criteria to silicon based intelligence

It’s much easier these days to learn how to build a good site and business model than it is to crank out affiliate junk that is based on low value arbitrage. It’s pretty TOUGH to learn new business models constantly and evolve them quickly enough for SERP manipulation anyhow!

I think I’ll focus on making sites better for engines and users in 2006 and use whichever new technology that has the greatest ability to produce growth in the short term with an eye out for changes to help from becoming collateral damage.

Seems everything is coming full-circle now that search is established. I truly believe the following basic formula will equate to proper organic rankings:

1) clean code including following the dom correctly
2) relevant, well-written copy
3) longevity of the site and domain owner
4) strong number of quality inbound and outbound links

3. Every web design company worth their salt will hire a usability person because, wake up!, user centered design is all the rage now.

Google will have a major index update in February which will be heavily discussed by the search engine industry. Several sites will be kicked out of the index, and several businesses along with it. Probability: 70%

(Jim’s side note: Everyone should prepare for something like this and everyone should have as part of thier plan “what do we do if we loose Google traffic”)

A few days ago I tacked on 3 predictions at the end of one of my threads. Two of those were:

I think that for serious SEO in 2006 you’re going to see less people trying to “game” the search engines on serious websites. I think that serious websites are going to have to move into trying to create the worlds best resource for that topic with their website.

Sticky Wins

I’m sure I missed a lot of other SEO predictions, feel free to post your own predictions or links to others who have done 2006 SEO predictions.

What’s your guess on SEO for say June 2007?
Want my guess for 2007? The Search Engine start hiring thousands of SERP Editors.  They will say, “there are computer forumlas for rankings, but human review via thousands of “quality control” engineers is better.” (who’s to say this isn’t happening today…because it is to some extent). I’m going to try working on making sites that are good in case a human reviews wants to check out the content….at least that’s the goal in mind.