Mediarun Search Marketing News

SEO professionals won't use black hat techniques

April 28th 2010

Search Engine Optimisation News

When it comes to search engine optimisation, using a professional SEO Company offers a number of safeguards over doing it yourself.

As well as giving your business an extensive grounding in the latest developments in SEO, search marketing companies are able to tailor campaigns to meet individual business needs. Moreover, a trustworthy search marketing firm will never jeopardise a firm's reputation by indulging in black hat SEO - no matter how beneficial the short-term results appear to be.

And the negative impact that unethical search engine optimisation practices can have on a company's reputation should not be underestimated. Recently, the Daily Express came under fire for selling links to unscrupulous SEO companies.

The newspaper group sent out an email to prospective clients which read: "You may be interested to know, here at the 'Express Group' we have started to integrate SEO advertorials amongst our news articles."

Advertorials containing keyword links were being offered for £1,000 each and the move was deemed controversial by some industry players who were unhappy with the group's approach to search engine optimisation.

"This is exactly the kind of thing that gives SEOs a bad reputation and it damages the service we provide," search marketing expert Mark Cook claimed.

He added: "I would be interested to see Google's response to such overt, mass-scale link selling."

This final point highlights the extent of the damage that can be done by using a less-than-respectable SEO strategy. If Google were to take action, the Express Group's search engine ranking could suffer and, more to the point, the firm's bottom line could also be hit hard.

The Express's link sale is one example of an SEO technique which is now frowned upon in the industry. There are a number of others - including keyword spamming and keyword crowding - which can result in a website being automatically blacklisted by search engines.

With the reputational and financial stakes are so high, it is clear that black hat SEO is clearly not the way to go. But it is also easy to make simple mistakes that could end up getting your site blacklisted - such as overloading the meta tag with keywords. So when in doubt it is best to consult a professional SEO Company and make sure you're not pushing your website down search engine results page listings as opposed to up them.

To find out about the performance solution we can offer you and your business, speak to one of our consultants on 0207 843 2265 or contact us.