The Right Way and The Wrong Way!
Search Engine Optimization Defined
Search engine optimization is simply the practice of making your website or blog more accessible to both search engines and search engine users; in other words, you're making it easier for them to find you.
Ethical SEO (aka White Hat SEO) is achieved by following the rules and regulations of the search engines. Ethical SEO is the only way to ensure long term success.
Unethical SEO (aka Black Hat SEO) uses various methods to trick search engines in believing that a site is highly relevant to the targeted keywords.
What does "Ethical SEO" actually mean? "Ethical SEO" applies to Organic SEO techniques.
Article reference: "A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
The most ethical SEO techniques are the one that;
- produces the most good and does the least harm
- respects the rights and dignity of all stakeholders and treats all stakeholders fairly
- promotes the common good
- helps all participate more fully in the goods we share as a community and a society
- enables the deepening or development of those virtues or character traits that we value as individuals, professions and members of a society
Who are the stakeholders in search marketing?
The search marketing stakeholders are those who have something to gain or lose as a result of search marketing taking place. As such, there are four sets of stakeholders:
- Searchers
- Search Engines
- Site owners, their employees and their agents
- The Web as a whole
Searchers have something to gain if they obtain the search results that best match their queries and, consequently, something to lose if they cannot do this.
Therefore, any aspect of search engine marketing (whether perpetrated by search engines, site owners or another party) that deliberately does not provide searchers with search results that best match their query is unethical from the searchers' perspective. An example of unethical practices in this area is advertisements masquerading as a service or product that it is clearly not. It’s an attempt to try and fool the internet search. It leads them to a web site that is not relevant to their search query.
Who has something to gain from Ethical practices?
- Search engines have something to gain if they can attract a market of searchers that appreciates and trusts the search results and will consequently keep coming back to the search engine. Search engines have something to lose their market of searchers - if they fail to deliver relevant, objective search results or if they lose the trust of their searchers.
- Site owners have something to gain by attracting searchers (self-qualified, relevant traffic) to their site, and they have the most to gain if those searchers convert into something meaningful. Conversions range from reading a message to becoming a lifetime customer.
- Searchers have something to gain! They gain access to meet needs, interest, and requirements. Your services and your products!
The Web as a whole has something to gain if search engines improve the quality, diversity and utility of their search results, and something to lose if search engines fail to do .
Web site searchers obtain better results from search engines and are not deceived by advertisements masquerading as search results; and the Web as a whole is a better place. That is the outcome of ethical search marketing.
Black Hat Search Engine Optimization
What is Black Hat (Unethical) SEO?
Definition: Black hat search engine optimization (SEO) is a technique used to increase search engine rankings in an unethical way. Some black hat methods include:
Black Hat SEO Techniques to Avoid:
· Keyword stuffing: Packing long lists of keywords and nothing else onto your site will get you penalized eventually by search engines. Learn how to find and place keywords and phrases the right way on your Web site with my article titled
· Invisible text: This is putting lists of keywords in white text on a white background in hopes of attracting more search engine spiders. Again, not a good way to attract searchers or search engine crawlers.
· Doorway Pages: A doorway page is basically a “fake” page that the user will never see. It is purely for search engine spiders, and attempts to trick them into indexing the site higher.
· Software applications sold for pennies on the dollar uploaded on your computer systems boarder on unethical.
Black Hat search engine optimization is customarily defined as techniques that are used to get higher search rankings in an unethical manner. These black hat SEO techniques usually include one or more of the following characteristics:
· Breaking search engine rules and regulations:
- Creates a poor user experience directly because of the black hat SEO techniques utilized on the Web site
- Unethically presents content in a different visual or non-visual way to search engine spiders and search engine users.
- They trick internet searcher into thinking a site is relevant to what they are seeking.
A lot of what is known as black hat SEO actually used to be legit, but some folks went a bit overboard and now these techniques are frowned upon by the general SEO community at large. These black hat SEO practices will actually provide short-term gains in terms of rankings, but if you are discovered utilizing these spammy techniques on your Web site, you run the risk of being penalized by search engines.
Black Hat SEO is tempting to some people; after all, these tricks actually do work, temporarily. They do end up getting sites a little higher in search rankings; that is, until these same sites get banned for using unethical practices. It’s just not worth the risk of losing your entire investment. There is no redemption if you have been banned by search engines.
Question: Do You Need Search Engine Optimization?
Answer: Yes if you want your web site to be found by the average prospect looking for your product or services.
