SEO is like Kenny in South Park. They’re both said to be “dead” over and over again, yet they always come back perfectly healthy. Every year there’s a new set of experts who offer their own Internet forecasts for the New Year. There will often be an expert among them who’ll say that this year SEO will finally be dead.

It is true that many traditional SEO methods are no longer used. But that doesn’t mean that SEO is dead. It only means that SEO methods have changed. The SEO landscape has changed, and it’s your job to adapt and evolve as well. Check out what happened to the dinosaurs that couldn’t evolve and change with the times.

So what changed?

• Well, Google changes constantly. They keep updating their search algorithms.
• More and more searches are done vocally in smartphones.
• Many searches tend to use complete sentences and questions.
• There’s a lot more local intent.

So how can you keep up? Here are 3 good tips to live by:

1. Instead of worrying about keywords, prioritize answering questions that your customers might be asking. This should be the key on what kind of content you should feature on your website.
2. Use “long-tail” keywords that basically match the kind of questions people ask when they vocally search on Google.
3. Always keep your local listings current. With more local searches today, you’ll want to make sure that your addresses, phone numbers, and other info like opening hours and days up-to-date.

The significance of SEO will, in all likelihood, never change—it will always be important. The SEO landscape does change, so be sure to adapt or else you’ll end up like the dinosaurs.