Are SEO Forums Becoming Obsolete?

With hundreds of SEO forum sites lining up on the online superhighway, one might surmise that these forums are fast becoming a novelty --- playing to the adage that too much good can somehow result into something bad. Perhaps, as most SEOs, whether SEO companies or specific SEO services providers,in-house or outsourced, experts or novices, they had to admit the forums played a part in the evolution of their craft.

Do real SEO's go to the forums? This is one burning question that has some truth underpinned to it. The usual answer was: real SEOs used to go to forums all the time. Used to. Consider a fact, one would bet most real SEOs learned the craft on these very forums. Nowadays, real SEOs post all of that hard earned expertise on their own sites or other's blogs. Why buy a cow when the milk is free --- and sell some of it yourself?


Looking at the recent history of SEO forums, they have been the foundation of the search engine
optimization industry's knowledge base since the beginning, but not without their share of controversy or drama. Accountability in such, though at differing levels, has long been a problem for anyone when visiting SEO forums. Many forums allow discussion of black hat or potentially unethical methods or techniques, leaning on their membership crutches to counter or expose the problems with such activities.

Often, this is not always the case and any exchange of knowledge may go unchallenged. Certain forums have their own methods of policing themselves as to stem this tide, especially when exposing spammers or black hat SEOs but even so, the results are superficial at best. Other issues that ran the gamut from political to personal, surfaced in these forums, then observers point out that a steady decline is in the works.

Notwithstanding the membership numbers in most SEO forums that remained unchanged, but saw some decrease in the top ten, another question arises: how have real SEOs used the forums? The influx of SEO forums, most industry observers and experts admit that these have opened the floodgates to irreplaceable knowledge and is a coming of age for most of them, a distinct comparison from previous years. The influence of SEO forums, in the form of educational dividends, sharing of knowledge and information, relationships, networking with friends and clients, business success stories and other non-educational benefits. Today, SEO companies, consultants, SEO services-related entities provide these forums as well.

In addition, another query was raised, if one would recommend SEO forums to those who are willing to learn the trade. The replies ranged from the forums being avenues for participation or discussion, being "the purest places of creative, collective and competitive intelligence, to making good overall sense. Seems SEO forums are here to stay.