Mashable: The Atlantic no longer cares about SEO

[The Buzz]

Interesting story on Mashable last week about how SEO isn't as important as it used to be, at least not for big established media companies.

Here's a quote from the story ...

“Sixteen months ago we received the same number of monthly referrals from search as social. Now 40% of traffic comes from social media,” Scott Havens, senior vice president of finance and digital operations at The Atlantic Media Company, said in a phone conversation ahead of his on-stage interview at our Mashable Connect conference in Orlando, Fla. last weekend. “Truly [our writers] are not really thinking about SEO anymore. Now it’s about how we can spin a story so that it goes viral.”

Full story here: http://mashable.com/2012/05/09/the-a...-seo-strategy/

So what do you think? Is SEO dead? Is social media - and spinning a story so that it goes viral - the future of the Internet?

[universal4]

I like how they said "spin a story".....in other words....most media doesn't really care about the facts....just that the story is sensational enough to get the viewers.....

....oh yeah I forgot for a second, most "media" has always been that way....

Rick
Universal4

[Harry_IA]

I think a very important point here is how "40% of traffic comes from social media".
This just shows how powerful social media is and how much it is growing.
That being said, SEO practices are not to be forgotten about. Remember, Google favours quality content in their page rankings these days.
Also, I don't know whether Scott Havens knows it or not, but a strong social media presence can definitely help your PR. It's a great way to create free, quality back links.

[Chris.ubinary]

I think there's a lot of truth to this although SEO will never disappear for good it's no longer as reliable as it once was. So many are constantly on eggshells from the changes google constantly makes that it's hard to keep a stable business going

I think the term 'social media' is just really broad though so going deeper and looking at what kind of social media does the trick is important to do and really look at the way it's monetized and as mentioned above use it as a great way to spread PR as well as get quality backlinks.

It's also about the interactive side of things and getting real feedback from end users who will end up signing up if it's done right