There are plenty of bad actors in the SEO world, and it certainly has an overwhelmingly slimy history. But as is usually the case, the issue is more complex than "SEO bad, good content good."
I've been preaching basically what you said as the core tenet of SEO for over a decade. (I would add a "that people are actively looking for" clause to "make content that humans find compelling.") This is much more challenging than one would think, and can really benefit from someone experienced. Whether you call that Search Engine Optimization or Content Marketing or Copywriting or just Writing, done correctly it all boils down to this same principle.
That alone often warrants someone to assist a business, as most businesses don't have the internal resources or knowledge to do it entirely themselves.
But there's more that falls under the SEO umbrella.
1. The technical aspects of configuring a site to be indexable, accessible, and well-architectured. This might have traditionally fallen under the guise of a webmaster, and for larger sites might fall to more specialized experts, but for the large majority of sites the only people working on these issues are "SEOs".
2. Actually going out and promoting a website in some way. The best content in the world will go unnoticed by man and machine if it's not discoverable from some other source. This has traditionally meant "link building" or (for a long time) "guest posting", and might also include PR or advertising depending on who you ask.
3. Monitoring the results and improving the approach. It's great to say "make content that is compelling" but if you're spending the resources to do this then you need to monitor and analyze the effects it has. This can get incredibly complex, but again, for most websites, is performed by an SEO.
I've been preaching basically what you said as the core tenet of SEO for over a decade. (I would add a "that people are actively looking for" clause to "make content that humans find compelling.") This is much more challenging than one would think, and can really benefit from someone experienced. Whether you call that Search Engine Optimization or Content Marketing or Copywriting or just Writing, done correctly it all boils down to this same principle.
That alone often warrants someone to assist a business, as most businesses don't have the internal resources or knowledge to do it entirely themselves.
But there's more that falls under the SEO umbrella.
1. The technical aspects of configuring a site to be indexable, accessible, and well-architectured. This might have traditionally fallen under the guise of a webmaster, and for larger sites might fall to more specialized experts, but for the large majority of sites the only people working on these issues are "SEOs".
2. Actually going out and promoting a website in some way. The best content in the world will go unnoticed by man and machine if it's not discoverable from some other source. This has traditionally meant "link building" or (for a long time) "guest posting", and might also include PR or advertising depending on who you ask.
3. Monitoring the results and improving the approach. It's great to say "make content that is compelling" but if you're spending the resources to do this then you need to monitor and analyze the effects it has. This can get incredibly complex, but again, for most websites, is performed by an SEO.