Seems fairly reasonable, but this post set off a big debate in all the places SEO people hang out. It prompted responses like this one from Jill Whalen, who claimed Rand’s post “could potentially set SEO back at least a decade.” Others claimed that a balance between engines and users needs to be struck, and in fact, Rand added an update to his post that stated this was his point all along.

At the end of the day, Rand’s post and all the responses to it served as good linkbait, and I think everyone was being a bit over-dramatic to make for good reading. But what’s a frazzled small business owner or website maintainer to do? Here’s my two cents: SEO is one way to drive traffic to your site. Social media, branding, and online word of mouth is another. Do both, and you’ll have the best chance at the most traffic. Franky, there’s enough competition out there that you need to excel at both to be successful.