Within The Search Engine Marketing Field There Are Both Ethical And Unethical Companies In Operation

Posted by Online Reputation Handbook

November 29, 2009

A Search engine optimization company can decide to use ethical or unethical SEO processes, also known as white-hat and black-hat techniques. The phrases white-hat and black-hat come from old cowboy movies where the decent chaps wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats. There are also the lesser discussed grey-hat ways of operating which, while not completely unethical, do cross a few boundaries.

For companies whose main intention is Search Engine Placement, and on top of that abrupt placement on Page 1 of a search, this can actually be achieved by use of unethical processes. Exagerated use of keywords and phrases (known as keyword stuffing), or use of key words hidden in the meta tags or overused in the titles, can all help to advance the position of a company’s web site for a time. However, if there is a elevated bounce rate for a web site, it will lose integrity with the search engines very quickly and end up with the web site being banned. Also, it is highly unlikely that many of these searches will actually create business for the web site.

Link farms can also be used to attach credence to a web site, as it allows large numbers of links within your web site, but these often have no relation at all on what your web site is about and end up exasperating the searcher. Use of mirror sites, whereby the matching content is used on duplicate sites, the only difference being the URL are again used just to manipulate search engines. As search engine spiders become more sophisticated, it is difficult for organisations to cheat search engines for long, and when they are identified, they may be black-listed and find it virtually impossible to get back onto a search engine index in the future. You are then going to lose an opportunity for easy Online Marketing and could end up losing your company.

White-hat, ethical processes can be used by a SEO Company to ensure of a long lasting service, useful to the search engine and the user, and which are not in place to mislead or manipulate the search engine placement for the customer. Initially, optimising the use of quality key words that arise, means that the web site has a good foundation. A good title on each web page, and a site map to help the user and search engine spider to travel around the site are also good ethical processes to employ.

Once the web site has been optimised, search engine placement can be bettered by such activities as link building, producing press releases, writing articles and blog marketing. Over time search engines will accept that the web site has positive results and will improve its credence, leading to good online marketing for the web site.

From this you can see that it’s much better for everyone involved if you stick to the rules (written and unwritten) and treat all the stakeholders in the Internet Searching Process with respect and empathy, and ensure that nothing you do is detrimental to any of the stake-holders. In short, treat them as you would want to be treated. “Do unto others” etc.

Online Business, Promotion and Marketing