What is Ethical SEO?
Much has been written and said about Search Engine Optimization, a lot of it not very flattering. Many regard SEO as some sort of “Snake Oil” being purveyed to unassuming businesses. (See
DexterityMedia's Creative Director Dave Wilkie’s article The Snake Oil Myth Slithers On) Much of the criticism of SEO is justified.
Good Guys and Bad Guys
In any new field, newcomers arrive on the scene and attempt to duplicate the successes of others, and they often come with tricks and methods that are frowned upon by the Search industry. The methods of the “good” SEO practitioners and the “bad” ones are often referred to as White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO. And then, there are the areas not as easily defined as “White or Black”, earning them the categorization of “gray search engine strategies.” The grey search engine strategies are generally shortcuts discovered by SEO practitioners that are on their way to becoming “black hat” - as soon as the search engines figure out how to guard against them.
The short-term gain of employing Black Hat SEO tricks will not be worth the end result: being banned from the search engine results pages.
Common Black Hat Techniques
- Hidden Text
- Keyword Stuffing
- Doorway Pages
At present, there is no official governing body deciding what is ethical and what is not with regard to Search Engine Optimization. But it’s a pretty safe bet that if the practice even slightly resembles SPAM, it’s not a good practice in which to be engaged. If it seems tricky, sneaky or underhanded in any way, a reputable SEO firm will not likely employ it. The search engines themselves (Google, MSN, Yahoo) make their own rules and SEO providers must adhere to them if they want to keep their websites ranked well.
Ethical SEO, as practiced by DexterityMedia will ensure that your website is optimized for the search engines. We take special care not to put into practice any techniques considered unethical by the reputable Search Community. Yes – we’re wearing White Hats here.
To put the DexterityMedia team to work on your SEO, SEM and online presence management campaign, contact us today.