On June 20, 2017, I released “SEO: The Movie” online.
The movie covers the early days of search engine optimization, when webmasters could rank a site by “spamming and jamming.” The film also tells the story of how SEO evolved over the years to where it is today.
You can watch it here and read more about why I made it below.
Here’s why you should watch SEO: The Movie.
It is a Great Way to Learn About The Topic
My business mission is to help others through digital marketing. This movie does that.
The film is a great way to introduce students and new digital marketers to the subject. Also, it can be helpful to marketers and people in business who are not familiar with the topic. In 40 minutes, you can get an idea of where SEO has been, where it is now and where it is going.
It Shows That SEO Is Constantly Changing
The only constant is change. That’s more true of SEO than anything else.
In fact, it’s possible that SEO has changed more in its brief existence than any other aspect of marketing. If you’re new to digital marketing, you might even be shocked at how easy it was to rank a website in the late 1990s.
But search engines also started to crack down on spammers around this time period. As a result, some businesses suffered. This trend of massive updates rocking businesses has remained true. As such, the movie covers the biggest Google updates. The Florida Update, Panda Update and Penguin Update and more.
It Offers Insight Into the Future of SEO
Speaking of the future, the film covers that, too. I interview some of the smartest digital strategists to talk not only about where SEO has been, but also where it’s headed.
When you watch “SEO: The Movie,” you’ll see interviews with people who are well-known among online marketers, such as Danny Sullivan of Third Door Media and Search Engine Land; Rand Fishkin of Moz.com; Jill Whalen, former CEO of High Rankings; Brett Tabke, founder of Pubcon and WebmasterWorld; Rae Hoffman of Sugarrae; and Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land.
There are many more key players featured in the film as well. John Muller, Maile Ohye, Aleyda Solis, Cindy Krum, Will Reynolds, Brian Dean, Michael King, Bruce Clay, Loren Baker, Eric Ward, Cyrus Shepard, Bill Slawski, Garry Grant, Chris Sherman, Jim Boykin, Shawn Hogan, Mike Graham, and Eric Enge all make small appearance.
Those folks have immersed themselves in SEO for years (in some cases, decades). They offer insight that you’re not going to get anywhere else.
It Delivers a Warning
Think you can disregard Google’s guidelines and still rank your website? Think again.
If the history of SEO has taught us anything, it’s that Google knows how to put a stop to the various “tricks” that some black-hat practitioners use to rank.
Those strategies might work in the short-run. However, when the folks at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California get wise to them, you can be sure that they’ll accomplish nothing.
Of course, when that happens, people who operate on the dark side of SEO will just look for a new way to outwit the Google algorithm. And the cycle continues.
In the movie, I cover a guy named Matt Cutts. He led Google’s anti-spam efforts for a while.
He’s no longer with the company, but his legacy lives on. You can tell that’s the case because black-hatters curse his name to this day.
Be advised, though: just because Cutts isn’t part of the Google team, the search giant is still on the lookout for webmasters who break the rules. If you’re one of them, you’ll likely get caught.
It Offers Inspiration
Finally, I made the movie as a way to inspire fellow digital marketers.
The documentary is filled with interviews of some of the greatest minds in SEO (people I have tremendous respect for). When you watch them enthusiastically talk about their experience with search strategies, you’re going to get energized.
You’ll want to read more. You’ll want to learn more. You’ll want to do more.
In fact, you might even pause the movie just so you can do some research on an SEO strategy that comes to mind as you’re watching it.
SEO: The Movie will inspire you to reach your potential as a digital marketer. It also comments on the future of the industry. That’s why you should watch it.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.