There was a bit of a digital brawl that broke out on SmashingMagazine.com over the topic of SEO. Since SEO will continue to be something that businesses will be bombarded with through sales calls in 2013, I want to air both of the arguments for discussion. I will say that my opinion leans harder towards the SEOs response, with the caveat that Paul Boag is absolutely correct when he says that content is a core part of ranking success. However, his Ludite response to the many quality SEO based solutions that can help grow businesses and website traffic is quaint at best, but dramatically ill-informed.

The Inconvenient Truth About SEO

• By Paul Boag

What The Heck Is SEO? A Rebuttal

• By Bill Slawski, Will Critchlow