There are many components of an “SEO engagement” today. Some of those that existed years ago that are now “hot topics” include:

Content Marketing: This buzzword has caught fire over the course of the past few years. Many people define “content marketing” as “writing content”, and I suggest that without “content”, you can’t have a web presence. So, is this really all that new? Nope. Been doing this forever, but it is much more than “just” textual content on a web page, now. Infographics. Video. Viral/shareable content. Content takes many forms. The definition of what “content” is has certainly evolved over the years.

PR: In the SEO world (years ago) this abbreviation was strictly used for “press releases”. In today’s SEO, it’s more about “public relations”, finding influencers and pitching stories/content or using services such as HARO to find opportunities to have our clients contribute to an article. Yeah, we’ll still involve ourselves in press releases, but it’s more about the promotion of something of substance in order to gain traffic, awareness, and the possibility that someone might actually write about (and link to?) what we’re promoting. “PR” has evolved.

Link Building: It’s still important – dare I say “vital” – to work on gaining links for a website to gain a natural presence in the search engines. While the engines work toward lessening the importance of link building, the value of links isn’t purely for SEO. And, today, as we all know – it’s not just about “links” but rather “citations”. These can take many forms, but essentially link and citation building is about “good marketing/promotion”. Link building has evolved.