When unethical search engine optimization takes place it impacts all areas of your business. Whether you’re trying to gain visitors to your site, increase sales, create brand awareness, etc. – ethics plays a huge role in whether or not you’ll be successful at gaining those goals.
Seo can help a business increase its visibility, connect with the right people, and ultimately grow in credibility. Unfortunately, there are many businesses who use unfair tactics to try and outdo their competitors. While these tactics may work immediately; in the end they will cost you time, money, and reputation.
An excellent example of this happened in 2011. It was a well-documented example of what happens when you don’t do things ethically in regards to seo. That’s why i want to share it with you today.
J.c. Penney and their seo rankings disputes
As reported in a 2011 article from The New York Times, j.c. Penney had an unusual rise to the top on Google. They were getting very high rankings for many of the search terms we would consider to be very competitive. For example; “dresses,” “bedding” and “furniture.”
After investigating further, it was discovered that over 10,000 websites had linked to J.C. Penney’s website using specific keywords. This type of tactic is commonly referred to as “link schemes” which is specifically intended to artificially inflate your rankings. What makes this worse is that this type of behavior violates Google’s policy on links and how they should be utilized.
Eventually, Google took action against j.c. Penney which caused them to lose their rankings for many of their target search terms. Although j.c. Penney claimed they didn’t have anything to do with the questionable activity; the fact remains that their actions greatly harmed the reputation of their brand (even though they said they weren’t responsible).
What is the difference between Ethical and un-Ethical seo?
There is a significant difference between the way businesses go about performing Ethical versus un-Ethical seo. A business utilizing Ethical seo methods intends to utilize these methods so that consumers will find their business while searching for something on-line. On the other hand, businesses employing un-Ethical seo methods intend to deceive search engines into giving them better rankings than they deserve.
A few ways that businesses are able to perform un-Ethical seo includes; filling a website full of targeted keywords (“keyword stuffing”), buying back-links from other sites, placing hidden text on their website (“cloaking”) and/or producing misleading copy (“doorway pages”). All of these tactics are generally referred to as “black hat” seo due to the fact that they are prohibited by search engine policies.
On the flip side, white hat seo methods involve developing high-quality content for their customers, increasing the speed at which a website loads, developing descriptive title tags for each webpage, and obtaining links from other reputable sources. Ultimately, white hat seo does follow search engine policies, while also working to develop a website that provides real value to its customers.
Similarly, there is a right and wrong way to engage in search engine marketing (SEM). White hat paid advertising includes representing a product/service truthfully. Black hat paid advertising could be misleading advertisers, misrepresenting a product/service or using landing pages that are misleading as a means of generating click-throughs.
Why do Ethical seo methods matter?
There are a number of reasons that Ethical seo matters. First, it allows a business to maintain long term relevance. A business that creates quality content and has a great user experience is less likely to suffer a penalty from Google for artificial manipulation of their rank. Secondly, Ethical seo builds consumer trust. Consumers expect a website that shows up first in a list of search results to contain the correct information and be relevant. If consumers feel misled by a website they are less likely to return or recommend the website to others. Lastly, engaging in Unethical SEO Practices can harm a business’ overall reputation. The recent case involving jc penny illustrates how fast questionable seo practices can turn into a pr nightmare. Regardless of whether or not a business uses an outside agency to handle their marketing efforts; they need to keep track of what type of activities are taking place.
Final thoughts
Ultimately, both seo and SEM should aim at helping connect consumers with the information/products/services they are looking for. No matter how appealing quick success might seem; most times the negative consequences far exceed any possible benefits.
Lastly, as mentioned earlier, it is always helpful to remember the controversy surrounding jc penny as another reason why businesses should always look towards creating transparent, beneficial experiences for their customers, and using sustainable marketing strategies that allow them to earn their own credibility.
References
Google Search Central. (n.d.). Spam policies for Google web search. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
Optimus01. (n.d.). Ethical SEO vs. unethical SEO. https://www.optimus01.co.za/ethical-seo-vs-unethical-seo/
Segal, D. (2011, February 12). The dirty little secrets of search. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html
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