SEO 3.0 - The New Era In Optimization

 If you have been following all the changes  in SEO then you may have heard the term SEO 3.0 recently. Mike Meyer, an SEO professional,  coined the phrase in late 2010. It is simply an extension  Web 2.0 but more specific to organic search engine optimization. Below is a quick overview and basic timeline breakdown for those of you who are not familiar with this term yet:

 
 SEO 1.0 (1995 - 1998)

This is where it all started. There were no rules and this era was known as "The Wild West of Online Marketing".  Basically an everything goes concept.

SEO 2.0 (1999 - 2010):

This is what we know today. There are lots of rules that are constantly changing.

SEO 3.0 (Oct. 2010 and going forward):

 This is now what we need to know in order to succeed in SEO. These are the new rules and we will need to learn and obey them if we want to succeed in the organic search engine optimization arena.

So what exactly are the major changes you ask....well it is really more like what weren't the major changes? 

Let's take a brief look at a few of the bigger ones:

Bing Merges with Yahoo!

Google Moves from Global Search Engine to Local Search Engine by Pushing Google Places

Google Eliminates the Need to Click with the Instant Preview Feature 

Google Implements the Farmer/Panda Update

Matt Cutts, of Google, Announces That Social Media Marketing is Key to SEO in 2011

JC Penney's Busted for Buying Links

SEO Firm Was Held Liable For Client Selling Counterfeit Goods

So there you have it...lots of new stuff will be on the horizon as well, so make sure you "optimize" your techniques!