Search engine optimization is a tactic. Ok, it’s several tactics. But the intended result is to drive visitors to your site by making your web pages as appealing to the search engines as possible. The way that works now is by making sure the code is "clean", the content is quality, and by getting links pointed at your pages.

Google Engineer Matt Cutts recently posted on his blog, "In my ideal world, a site owner wouldn’t need to think about SEO at all: Google would always find your content with no help." Backhandedly admitting that search is not perfect and that SEO is valuable as it bridges the gap between web sites and search engines.

But will SEO as a profession last? I’m sensing a bubble, and I don’t think I’m alone.

Being professionals within a marketing niche, we have done a lousy job of marketing ourselves. If that trend doesn’t turn around soon we will continue to see what is already happening: SEOs are specializing into link brokers, content generators/aggregators, programmers, etc. or moving beyond SEO with a wider range of services.

SEO has some inherent problems. One is marketability. Who knows what SEO is, how it works, or even what it really does if they are not an SEO themselves?

Another problem is defining what SEO is exactly, and what it is not.

The case has been made to limit "strict SEO" to include only onpage factors. If this is the case it is the designer’s job to make sure the code, layout and structure are SE-friendly from the start, eliminating the need for an SEO "specialist".

Benjamin Cook, a.k.a. Skitzzo pointed out, "SEO is almost more of a supervisory roll. I mean if you are directing a team of web designer and a copywriter you are still doing SEO but you aren’t doing any of the grunt work."

Another problem SEO faces is legitimacy. A discussion at seomoz.org brought up certification. I doubt certification would do much to enhance legitimacy as it would probably end up a book-based test instead of something useful and practical.

Universities are starting to notice SEO but it is always within the context of online marketing. The school system seems somewhat inadequate to keep up with constantly changing trends. Plus there is the problem of categorizing SEO within the school structure.

At its most basic level, SEO is coding and structuring a web site so that it doesn’t interfere with the spiders’ ability to crawl while providing content that the search engines will eat up and making sure the pages actually get in the index. Everything past that becomes search manipulation (as pointed out by Jammer).

Finally, the search engines themselves are likely to squeeze out SEO. Aaron Wall posted about a political slider that could be used to get information about hot button issues based on party loyalty. He further states that search engines are not likely to include the slider, just adapt to what the user wants. Google and MSN have both been working on this technology.

Looking forward the reliance on search is likely to dwindle. Blogs, shared content, community building, and social bookmarking are taking over. Search traffic, while still important, will not be the primary focus for web site owners intent on getting the best return on their investment as multi-faceted strategies for online success evolve.

Many SEOs have already moved onto larger methods as "targeted traffic builders" with an emphasis on conversions. The tactics used are often non-SEO. PPC programs, offline promotion and other techniques that are ineffective for SEO purposes can be very effective for conversions.

Again, these services are running into confusion as to what to call themselves, most using the terms like "eMarketing" or "Internet Marketing". But the reality is, it’s all becoming just marketing. The lines between the online and offline worlds are blurring.

I think SEO is a step in the evolution of the Internet. The day will come when the tasks of SEO are all conceptual or specialized. SEO will be a chapter in a broader Internet Marketing course at a university or a certificate received through a trade school that covers core concepts.

This doesn’t make SEO less valuable. It will continue to be another tool for marketers to add to their resumes - and another tactic to deploy.