Can SEO Be Automated?

That’s the question asked by Loren Baker over at Search Engine Journal.

I think the answer is “Parts of it, yes, parts of it, no.”

Where automation really breaks down is prediction of trends. Sure, ultimately you can build software that will predict certain trends, but at some point you’ve got to have a human being who looks at an industry and thinks “Hmm, I think this is what’s going to happen, and if I start optimizing this site for that trend right now, I’ll be at the forefront.” I just don’t see software reaching the level of intelligence necessary to make predictions. I’m sure we could come pretty close, but the people developing that software are probably busy working for the Department of Defense and helping Mary’s Flowers come up higher in Google is probably the last of their concerns.

Where automation does come into play is in the processes of running an SEO business. Anywhere that processes are repeated exactly or close to exactly there’s an opportunity for automation. Do you find yourself giving all your clients more or less the same advice the first month you work with them? Then why write out the same words again and again? Have a template you can customize for each client. Do you run the same four reports every month for each client? Then figure out a way to set up your reporting software to run the reports automatically without you having to go in and click on a button.

Certainly there are all sorts of ways the business of providing SEO can be automated, therefore cutting costs and allowing firms to be more competitive on price or more profitable, but at the end of the day I’d say 100% automation of SEO is a pipe dream. But if anyone ever does it I’m sure we’ll all be sitting around saying “Man, I wish I had thought of that.”