Talk:Search engine optimization

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Search engine optimization is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on July 2, 2007.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
April 7, 2007	Peer review	Reviewed
April 9, 2007	Good article nominee	Listed
June 1, 2007	Featured article candidate	Promoted
June 23, 2008	Featured article review	Kept
October 14, 2012	Featured article review	Demoted
Current status: Former featured article

Search engine optimization copywriting was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 23 October 2012 with a consensus to merge. Its contents were merged into Search engine optimization. The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please see its history; for its talk page, see here.

Image search optimization was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 14 September 2011 with a consensus to merge. Its contents were merged into Search engine optimization. The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please see its history; for its talk page, see here.

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The content of SEO specialist was merged into Search engine optimization on 21 August 2024. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists.

This article is prone to spam. Please monitor the References and External links sections.

Why does 'SEO spam' link to this page, when this page contains absolutely no reference to SEO spam?

The page doesn't even contain any indication that SEO has any relevance to spam, or that anybody has ever connected the concepts.

According to the archives, the page used to contain information about the pros and cons, controversies, negative effects and social impacts.

Now all the discussion seems to be about exactly which SEO practices and companies can be promoted more.

Is it really just me that thinks if a practice is so frequently exploited for profit that the world's richest companies have spent decades trying to combat (according to Google, anyway) the Wikipedia page linked to 'SEO spam' ought to contain at least a section on the negative impacts, rather than a vague paragraph on 'black hat SEO' presenting the multi-billion dollar scam industry as a quirky trickster who occasionally changes hats? Moubliezpas (talk) 10:16, 28 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Where are you seeing this page linked to as "SEO spam"? I believe there should probably be a "criticism of SEO" section on this page and have been planning to create one. But I don't know what you're referencing. Dflovett (talk) 02:30, 3 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm considering adding a "criticism of SEO" section. Curious what other editors think before I do so.

The best source I have is this Verge article: https://www.theverge.com/features/23931789/seo-search-engine-optimization-experts-google-results

I think it would be useful to have a few more. Interested in what others think. Dflovett (talk) 20:52, 3 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 2 October 2025

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This page has multiple errors. The notes that talk about a sitemaps program is incorrect. Google does not have such a program. It offers tools within Google search console currently to edit sitemaps and upload new ones that Google can then reference. The more accurate information can be found here https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap The quoted section is "Google has a Sitemaps program to help webmasters learn if Google is having any problems indexing their website and also provides data on Google traffic to the website." Kowabundant (talk) 16:34, 2 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Please specify exactly what the current text should be changed to. Day Creature (talk) 17:17, 2 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal: Add 'SEO as a Marketing Service' Section and 'Criticism of SEO as a Service' Section

As much as the SEO as a service industry can feel like a scam, there is no denying that it is a huge industry. Reports show that in 2024 Search Engine Optimization Services Market was worth $80-90 Billion (USD) and is set to grow to $170 Billion (USD0 by 2029: https://www.researchandmarkets.com/report/seo

There are many people working in the industry, either as in-house SEO teams, in SEO departments of marketing agencies and also freelance SEOs. Freelance SEO is probably where the biggest scammers will be found. Google themselves doesn't deny that having a SEO expert can help them better understand websites. They even have a Google Search Essentials documentation online: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials

As long as 'Criticism of SEO as a Service' is also discussed in this section I think it is an undeniable aspect of Search Engine Optimization that should be included.

Interested to hear what other's think. Stokkies (talk) 13:17, 6 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]