Google’s Muller Cautions SEO Pros On Changing Business Needs via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, suggests that SEO professionals should reconsider how their work fits into the modern web stack.

He references a “vibes-based” visualization highlighting how developers’ focus areas have shifted.

Mueller notes a disconnect between what industry pros pay attention to (such as JavaScript frameworks, performance optimizations, or new AI-driven tech) and what online businesses need.

However, he sees this as an opportunity for SEO professionals. He provides advice on staying relevant amid shifting business priorities.

Changing Business Priorities

Laurie Voss, VP of Developer Relations at Llama Index, shared a chart showing the areas of focus of software professionals from 1990 to 2025.

Screenshot from: Seldo.com, March 2025.

In the early days, developers were mainly concerned with hardware and networking. By the mid-2000s, the focus shifted to HTML, CSS, and server technologies. More recently, we’ve seen a move toward client frameworks, responsive design, and AI-powered development.

Although the data is subjective, Mueller highlights its value for SEOs. It shows how quickly areas like server-level work have become less critical for average web developers.

Mueller’s Take

Mueller’s point is straightforward: as web development changes, SEO must change, too.

Screenshot from: Seldo.com, March 2025.

Mueller says:

“If you work in SEO, consider where your work currently fits in with a graph like this. It’s not an objective graph based on data, but I think it’s worth thinking about how your work could profit from adding or shifting “tracks.””

He adds:

“What the average web developer thinks about isn’t necessarily what’s relevant for the “online business” (in whichever form you work). Looking at the graph, if your focus was “SEO at server level,” consider that the slice has shrunken quite a bit already.”

This matches Voss’s argument in the article “AI’s effects on programming jobs.”

Voss believes AI won’t kill development jobs but will create a new abstraction layer, changing how work is done. The same likely applies to SEO work.

What Should SEO Pros Focus On?

Reading between the lines of Mueller’s comment and the chart, several areas stand out for SEOs to develop:

In other words, step outside server-level optimizations and focus on client-side rendering and user experience elements.

Our Take At Search Engine Journal

Mueller’s advice hits home for us at SEJ. We’ve watched SEO evolve firsthand.

Not long ago, technical SEO mostly meant handling sitemaps, robots.txt files, and basic schema markup. Now, we’re writing about JavaScript rendering, Core Web Vitals, and AI content evaluation.

The most successful industry pros are those who expand their technical knowledge rather than stick to outdated practices. Those who understand traditional optimization and new web technologies will continue to thrive as our industry changes.

Mueller’s reminder to adapt isn’t just sound advice; it’s essential for staying relevant in search.

Featured Image: B Desain28/Shutterstock