|
The Issue
of Ethical Search Engine Optimization
One client prospect
called me recently to say that his site had been kicked out of the major
Web search engine because he didn't keep an eye on what his so-called SEO provider
was doing with his site. Turns out they were using multiple, mirrored domains
to gain multiple presences in the listings and greater collective PageRank.
This is the most common form of spam currently.
They may have been
doing far worse. But how would he know they were doing something wrong? His knowledge
of search engine marketing was limited. He trusted
these people to do the right thing. Now he wishes he had used a more reputable
SEO company.
The average business
Web site owner can't distinguish between disreputable and reputable SEO
companies or incompetent ones. And, he/she isn't going to know that certain
tactics can result in a ban or severe penalties that diminish their rankings.
Is the site banned forever? No, rankings will come back eventually when they undo
what they did and avoid doing it again. Once a site earns a reputation for bad
behaviour, it may be banned forever regardless of who did the deeds and who owns
the Web site.
Ethics in SEO is a
troubling area since search engines don't explicitly say what specific activities
constitute spamming. They make generalities, but don't want the legal liability
of stating specific policies or saying why a particular site was deleted. What
makes it even more unpleasant is that many serious spammers actually gain good
rankings and traffic for short periods of time. That gives them an appearance
of legitimacy to unwary SEO services buyers.
The new situation with
a search engine's anti-optimization penalty is a case
in point. No one can prove it exists, yet a quick visit to webmasterworld shows
the collective screaming and crying of SEO people who have had their hard work
turned into a Web site curse.
There are no explicit
rules for all search engines since they are all individual businesses competing
for marketshare themselves. Some SEs have guidelines such as the one Google
provides. Most are trying to monetize the search engine industry and increase
their profits. This means legal liability and ethics are grey areas no one wants
to talk about. Google's now famous position on spam is "Don't be Evil."
Nevertheless, a few SEO companies have continued with their usual practices and
this has lead to all of their clients being banned.
Even though there's
no official government policy decreed, there are activities that are easily viewed
as spam. You'd be surprised at the number of large
corporations that get involved in spamming. From multiple domain spam to scumware
re-directs, they believe they can't get caught or be punished for doing these
things. It is well-known in the SEO, design and web master sectors which SEO activities
are against the rules of search engines.
There is no guarantee
that your site won't get caught in some malicious search engine filter that was
designed to catch general infractions. So even if you didn't do anything deliberately,
you can still be penalized.
Since most SEO companies
don't publish who they've worked for, you have no idea what they've been up to.
Just use the same good judgement you would for any other services purchase. It's
not just the money, it's your business' future. Be good to your business. |
