In talking about Google Instant, Matt Cutts from Google addressed the question again about if SEO would be around in 5 years.
Q: Does Google Instant kill search engine optimization (SEO)?
A: No! Almost every new change at Google generates the question “Will X kill SEO?” Here’s an video I did last year, but it still applies:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQArUFRb4Is&feature=player_embedded
Well that’s nice of him to say and I do agree with him. SEO will be around for a long time because it’s always changing. Obviously Google believes in SEO and realizes its importance. Having your site optimized for the search engines is important but its just one of many things you need to do now. You need to optimize for Local SEO, you should have a facebook page, a twitter account, a wordpress blog and the list goes on!