Ethical Search Engine Optimisation
What is ethical search engine optimisation? It is strategies and techniques employed for the optimisation of a web site, or single web page, that is in accordance with what the search engines deem to be valid and acceptable. One dictionary interprets ethical to mean: “Being in accordance with the accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a profession.” In the world of search engine optimisation, that generally means doing things in such a way so that you do not try to trick or fool the search engines for personal gain.
One example of what ethical search engine optimisation is not, is so-called black hat techniques. This term is taken from the early silent movies, especially the westerns, where the good guy and the bad guy were easily identified by the colour of their hats. The sheriff invariably wore a white hat while the outlaws always had black hats.
Black hat techniques, for example, are doorway pages, which are pages designed primarily for the search engines, and not for human eyes. Once taken to a doorway page, the visitor is then quickly re-directed to another page. The doorway page is made to rank well, and to take the visitor to another page that doesn’t rank well, or doesn’t need to rank well, so that a sale might be made. In other words, the technique is one that relies on deceiving the search engines; it is not considered to be an ethical search engine optimisation strategy.
Another popular black hat technique is cloaking. This is similar in some ways to doorway pages, but doesn’t tend to deceive the visitor as much. The technique employs two different pages for each page on the web site. One page is only for the search engines to see and rank, while the other is only for the visitors to see. In this way a page that is not very well search engine optimised can be used for selling, while a page that is not very well visitor optimised can be used to achieve better rankings.
Employing ethical search engine optimisation means that all optimisation strategies used are strictly in line with what the search engines approve of and expect. The strategies will not be penalised in any way, which means that the web site or its pages will not lose their ranking positions because of any optimisation efforts.
The various search engines generally make it well known what they consider good and bad. They generally tell their users what they should do to improve their rankings, and how they should do it too. Ethical search engine optimisation is therefore not a secret known to only a select few. It is information that is widely known and widely available to all.
It may be true that some so-called black hat techniques are easy to do and are extremely profitable to employ. However, like the outlaw, you will spend all your time looking over your shoulder, trying to stay one step ahead of the “law.” Is your time worth that? Most serious Internet marketers do not think so. They have long since discovered that ethical search engine optimisation reaps better benefits that last longer – forever in fact.
About seoblogger:
Our SEO blogger is an expert in Web Marketing, Usability and Interface Design. He has been a vital part of The Blue Cube Communications since 2003. As the West Midlands fastest growing web marketing agency, we always strive to maximise return on investment for our customers.
