SEO has no future.  This has been the hot topic on many blogs over the past few weeks, with many of the industry celebrities weighing in on the issue.  I am no celebrity, so my opinion is not heard as loudly as some, but I happen to agree with many people that believe SEO as we know it is coming to an end. 

However, it is my firm belief that we are experiencing an evolution in SEO that will bring about more legitimacy and respect to the industry and get us away from the shady and questionable past that has haunted the profession in its infancy.  

Search engine optimization as an industry is moving away from the common practices of exploiting loopholes to focus more on User Experience Optimization (UEO).  Many in the industry have been practicing UEO for years now. User Experience Optimization is simply building a site that provides useful, relevant content that is optimized for the user experience:  it is easy to navigate, easy to read, and relevant to the topic at hand.  

While practicing UEO, the internet marketer and the search engine are working toward the same goal.  It provides a harmony with the search engines instead of constantly battling against them.  They want a positive user experience.  Give that to your visitors and the search engines will find a way to reward you.  

Sure, there will always be some shady SEOs trying to manipulate the system to make a quick dollar.  However, as search engines add more human generated data into their algorithms, the opportunity for gaming the search engines will decrease.  This will lead more people into trying to work with the search engines instead of against them, thus bringing the SEO industry into a new age of growth and respectability. 

The problem is that we have two distinct camps in this industry that are lumped together in public perception.  The more prevalent part of this industry is the seedy underbelly that will do whatever it takes to make a dollar: scam customers, spam sites, etc.  Unfortunately, the lack of criteria required to call yourself an SEO has led to a swarm of these less-than-respectable SEOs.  

As the industry grows and basic requirements/standards are adopted and self proclaimed SEOs practicing User Experience Optimization becomes the norm rather than the exception, the Search Optimization Industry will receive the acceptance it has so desperately been seeking.