Existing SEO agencies, but also tool providers, could consider which path they want to take. Do they want to occupy the SEO niche that they have specialized in for years or do they want to venture into the communications world. Marcus Tandler with Onpage.org and Tobias Schwarz with Strucr , for example, have clearly focused on the core SEO tasks.
In May 2013, the tool provider MOZ decided early on to take the step towards a marketing tool (see Goodbye SEOmoz. Hello Moz! ). Here are some statements from Rand Fishkin :
Calling ourselves “SEO”moz is no longer transparent and authentic. With products like Fresh WebExplorer, FollowerWonk, GetListed, and the beta of Moz Analytics (alongside the vast array of non-SEO content we publish), we're no longer purely an SEO software company. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous, and that violates our core values.
For many folks outside of our community, the acronym SEO has (unfair) associations with spam or manipulation. To quote an all-too-frequent comment we see when our site is mentioned around the web, “Don't trust any domain with SEO in the name.” That feedback is hard to hear, and it's wrong, but that doesn't change the influence. We know that the “SEO” in SEOmoz has, in the past, hurt our ability to persuade people about the incredible value of organic search marketing. Moz gives us a chance to do something all marketers love – test something new and observe the results
For the sake of transparency, I need to be honest that this is brazil phone number data also a marketing move – a rebrand is a chance to earn a second look from people who've long known us and had associations with the company. We hope that second look is going to lead those who haven't yet seen what we've become over the last few years to check out our content, Moz Analytics, and the many functions our research tools provide
Even if a well-balanced backlink profile is still a guarantee for good rankings, especially in competitive areas, one should not hope that this will continue to be the case in the future. At least not when assessed by SEO metrics. And that brings us to the backlink tools that are currently available on the market.
Backlink tool providers in particular could, for the reasons mentioned, waste some time focusing on new target groups outside the SEO industry and expanding their functionalities. I think focusing on functions for cleaning up damaged backlink profiles is not the way forward. In the short term, there will still be great demand for such functions, but in the medium to long term, they will only serve a niche of those who have long since missed the boat and are still struggling with legacy links instead of dealing with building an online reputation. Instead, tool providers could consider how they can really focus on the core SEO tasks or address the needs of corporate communications or content marketing. This could include, for example, media monitoring and/or functions to support content project management. This then inevitably includes repositioning in the perception and focus of a target group outside the SEO industry in order to address the right groups of needs. Focus on the really important functions that help companies to be successful in the market. Focus on the market, not on Google. This applies to both agencies and tool providers, as long as they want to focus on off-page and not on search engines.