I disagree, and I'll also note that being out of a field for a decade in tech is a long time (late 2000's SEO was very different). To prove the contrary point i

I disagree, and I'll also note that being out of a field for a decade in tech is a long time (late 2000's SEO was very different). To prove the contrary point is really the easiest thing in the world. 1. Think of some product niche: say, best dog toys. 2. Google it. 3. Click on the top 5 search results. 4. Now, judge for yourself: Are these good quality links which look like they were written by a smart human who simply bought a bunch of dog toys and tested them, and is speaking from their personal experience? OR, are the search results gamified to hell, and clearly not something any normal person would think to write by themselves? I think it's clear in 2022: you have to write in an artificial style and make a lot of unintuitive choices to rank on Google, which is to say, to have anyone online be aware of and using your website. You also have to compete against giant incumbents now who will crush you if you don't come educated and ready to rank against them. So you no choice but to learn SEO techniques, really. Note: I'm not an SEO guy, I make $0 off SEO. I'm an independent developer who's concluded, if I want to make any money off my own websites, I can learn SEO or I can be poor. And I don't enjoy being poor. So there's not really much of a choice imho, at this point in the timeline.