SEO companies will go out of their way to prove that they offer only the purest, 100% white hat SEO services out there. And for good reason. Recent months have seen big name company after company get busted for using not-so-pearly white hat SEO techniques. We’re talking major profit losses and national shame here–not just some insignificant Google slap.
Heck, it’s gotten so crazy that Forbes publishes an article surrounding the whole JCPenney hoopla, while just a few weeks earlier Forbes themselves admitted to getting the Google red flag. Yeah, it’s that crazy.
What is white hat SEO (sometimes called ethical SEO) anyway? It’s not an easy concept to explain, but it’s important to understand what it means if you’re looking to create a stable, uninterrupted online business.
Pure White Hat SEO Isn’t Really SEO
Let me first say that there is absolutely no such thing as pure white hat SEO services. And if there is such a thing, it can’t be very effective.
Let’s think this through for a second. Search engines aim to display the the most relevant and authoritative results to searchers. But SEOs seek to optimize sites for search engines, not for users. SEO, by definition, involves some form of manipulation because SEO doesn’t actually make your site more valuable, it just makes your site more rankable. So even the most perfect form of white hat search engine optimization is still manipulation.
Having that said, we can now discuss the nature of what is commonly known as “white hat SEO,” and why it’s of the utmost importance that your SEO company follows these guidelines.
What is White Hat SEO?
In Accordance with the Google TOS and Webmaster Guidelines
First and foremost, if your SEO services are in violation of Google’s Terms of Service and/or Webmaster Quality Guidelines, then you’re already in trouble. Violations include:
- Link schemes (linking in or linking out)
- Hidden links
- Sneaky redirects
- Plagiarized content
- Keyword stuffing
If you notice any of this sneaky stuff going on, it’s your responsibility to fire your SEO company immediately. There’s just no excuse for these kinds of practices. Not in 2011.
What is a Search Engine?
A sophisticated script used to help organize the world's information. A tool used to find information.
How do Search Engines Work?
They look at page layout and markup as well as linkage data to determine the relative importance and meaning of a document. Search is still in its infancy. The primary relevancy driver for most competitive keywords is link text.
What is an SEO?
People who work on their own site or clients sites to boost their rankings in search engines.
How do SEOs Improve Site Rankings?
- Making dynamic pages spiderable by removing session IDs (and other problems).
- Linking to all pages on a site via text links (or image links) which search engine spiders can follow.
- Using specific keyword rich page titles, headers, subheaders, internal linking, and page copy.
- Building linking campaigns. Most links should use variations of the primarily keyword phrases in the link text.
What is the Most Effective SEO Techniques?
You should ensure that:
- your pages are indexed;
- your pages are well structured (with headers and subheaders etc.);
- you use descriptive page titles and other page text;
- and that you build many keyword rich inbound links.
Link building is usually the hardest and most powerful part of effective broad based SEO.
Why Search Engines like to use the Ethics Tag:
Pay per click advertising makes search engines billions of dollars of revenue each year. If you are spending money to manipulate their search results that means:
- the search result quality may lower;
- and (more importantly) someone other than the search engine is getting that money.
Is Search Engine Optimization Ethical?
Search engine optimization is just a means to help distribute your message. Nothing more, nothing less. Calling search engine optimization unethical is similar to calling creating a website or printing a newspaper unethical.
SEO can be used to push unethical ideas (racism, war, ignorance, sweat shop labor for companies like Nike, etc.). Just as frequently SEO can be used to push ethical ideas (equality, peace, education, safe and honest working conditions, etc.).
SEO itself should not normally be tied to any ethics guideline B/S. One can use SEO to push whatever ideas they like though.
Why do Search Engine Optimization Experts Use the Ethical Marketing Angle?
The SEO industry is often lacking in credibility. Its easier to use that as a branding angle than it is to be original and come up with your own.
Is Spamming Ethical?
Unsolicited email messages are spam because they shift the marketing time and cost from the marketer to the person opening their email. Because it steals your time (a portion of your life you will never reclaim) spam email is exceptionally bogus.
Can You Spam a Search Engine?
A search engine is not a person. A search engine is a tool. When their algorithm is messed up they push the blame on some "deviant" webmasters. The real solution of course is to make a better algorithm.
Webmasters who provide the content to fill the search results do not necessarily profit adequately for providing the content which allows search engines to deliver a ton of ads. Some of these same webmasters sell text links to other high margin or profitable sites. This is of course arbitrarily wrong because search engines want to be the middle man and want to profit from as many internet ad dollars as possible.
The Facts about SEO
- Being an honest business person is a good thing. Hinging your marketing on ethics is a blatant display of desperation.
- The goal of the SEO is to get the clients site to rank better for relevant search phrases to spread messages or create sales.
- No matter what the SEO, search engines, or clients say: the SEO should put the client ahead of the search engines.
- Certain methods are more risky than others and most sites do not need to be promoted via exceptionally risky methods.
- Some SEOs are too aggressive, many other SEOs take money and do little work for their pay. You should research before spending money on SEO.
- The ethical tag is a marketing idea used by:
- people who are new to SEO and rather ignorant; or
- unoriginal marketers who are severely lacking in creativity.
- Since a search engine is a tool its not something you can spam.
