Kevin Lee is giving the pot a final stir this year based on his most recent ClickZ article.

To recap the roots of the controversy, my business partner of over 10 years, David Pasternack, touched a nerve recently when he wrote an article for his DMNews column, Troubled Times for SEO Firms, in which he stated, "SEO isn't rocket science."

Apparently, a segment of the SEO blogosphere hopes to continue positioning SEO as just that, perhaps to justify high fees. The debate has sucked in many notable search engine marketing pundits, some claiming PPC search is far from rocket science.

I’ve heard Kevin speak at SES and have ready his columns for quite a while. His advice is usually very logical, but Kevin missed the boat on this one in a very big way.

Many web developers are extremely capable and understand the concept of a visible and easy-to-crawl website. The problem is that they only understand it after we explain it to them through the brain surgery of SEO. Additionally, some developers are in-house employees (or contracted through development firms) who are forced to take direction from traditional marketers who don’t have a clue about search engine visibility (Flash, JavaScript navigation, etc.). So they end up having the most beautiful website that no one has ever seen.

Now let’s discuss the art of proper search engine optimization. The recommendations for keyword focus and execution of a plan to achieve those goals requires significant talent and research that not just anyone can do. Writing solid, captivating web content conducive to rankings also requires a trained copywriter.

And don’t even get me started on Paid Search Management.

So while Kevin has an interesting theory, I’d like to propose my own:

- In theory, anyone can do their own keyword research.
- In theory, anyone can write their own keyword dense content designed for conversion.
- In theory, anyone can host dozens of Web sites; and perform experiments as it relates to visibility and rankings.
- In theory, anyone can analyze months of log files to determine spidering trends followed by a strategy to improve crawl and decrease friction points.
- In theory, anyone can develop a competitive intelligence plan that capitalizes on competitors’ weaknesses.
- In theory, anyone can research a target market analysis to determine user preferences and increase conversion rates.
- In theory, anyone can implement an effective inbound linking strategy.
- In theory, anyone can open a Google Adwords account and start driving traffic to their website with an appropriate keyword bidding strategy.

- But in REALITY, smart companies either hire in-house professionals to manage their search engine marketing or outsource the function to the brain surgeons who live and breathe it.

SEO has been used to describe the keyword research associated with a website, but it encompasses so much more that that (see rant above). I will agree with Pasternack’s article in the sense that an SEO professional/firm that only focuses on keywords will not survive. The industry has most certainly evolved beyond, “you’re #1 on Google.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to get my annual physical from my barber.