The Death of SEO Blogs – What Does This Mean for SMB Marketing?

Over the past two decades, blogging has been one of the most important marketing tools for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Businesses could reach their target audience through their own platforms, strengthen their brand, and attract new customers through search engine optimization (SEO). However, the continuous changes in the digital world, the development of algorithms, and new technologies – including artificial intelligence – have fundamentally rewritten the rules of the game.

“Traditional, SEO-based, keyword-filled blogging is practically dead,” says Mihály Tóth, marketing communications expert and founder of KERKOM delegated marketing. – “The industry that produced content just to generate clicks and advertising revenue has collapsed. Businesses now need different tools and a different approach.”

But what does this change mean for SMEs, who often saw content marketing as the key to cost-effective growth?

The old model: SEO, keywords and illusions

In recent years, much of blogging has been dominated by SEO. Hundreds of businesses have built a strategy to rank higher in Google search results with articles built around keywords, often of low value. The traffic gained in this way has often been an illusion: visitors have arrived, but engagement, brand loyalty or actual purchases have not occurred.

“This method has actually created a shadow economy,” explains Mihály Tóth. – “The internet was flooded with content that had no real value, just served to play the system.”

SMEs often fell into this trap because it seemed to work in the short term. However, Google’s constant algorithm updates and the rapid spread of AI-driven content production soon made this model impossible.