"The most sophisticated SEO strategy I've ever heard about is "remember to provide a back link whenever you put a link on you[sic] website". What's this, if not

"The most sophisticated SEO strategy I've ever heard about is "remember to provide a back link whenever you put a link on you[sic] website". What's this, if not a joke." The joke being that the author feels qualified to make a blog post on a subject they clearly haven't researched. Even assuming they meant "request a backlink for every link you put on your site" it's nonsense advice with just enough truth to it for it to seem credible that the author actually has received this as advice. It's like a networking consultant advising you to throw handfuls of your business cards into the crowds at conferences. The SEO industry has more incompetent individuals than some industries who claim expert status but we shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush. There are SEOs out there sufficiently knowledgeable to make a real difference to the profitability of businesses. As dandelany says, as long as that is true companies will continue to, happily, pay them.