MoreMoneyStreams.com

There is little doubt that the net has altered the business world and resulted in the development of a totally new set of trading models which are now generally known as e-commerce. At the leading edge of this change is the company website which was used initially to impart information on goods and services to potential customers. Technological developments, both in website ability and in the financial sector, quickly allowed company websites to be used as a selling tool offering immediate purchasing opportunities to consumers. The unavoidable consequence of this, given the strongly competitive nature of the market place, was that every business wanted their site to be found easily and, more importantly, in front their competitors’ websites by consumers looking to buy their goods or service.

This need for prime listing on the search engines’ results pages resulted in the rise of the search engine optimisation (SEO) process. Since its inception the methods used in SEO have evolved in an attempt to make sure that success in placing a website in a good Search Engine Placement, on the first page of search results is reached. However, this has not always been conducted in an ethical manner. The search engines have a vested interest in providing their clients (i.e. those doing the searching) with a list of websites which correspond exactly their requirements, based on the keywords used in the search. Therefore, any unethical SEO methods which compromise this basic requirement are frowned upon by search engines as they can provide search results which do not directly meet their searchers’ needs. The searchers may find this very frustrating and place the blame on the search engine, whose status would be harmed.

The unethical methods mentioned above have been labelled “Black Hat SEO”. An early instance was ‘keyword stuffing’, also known as ‘spamdexing’. This involved the uncalled for, multiple use of selected keywords, often in isolation and in excessive numbers outside the core text of the site. While these keywords would link the website to the original search, the searcher would be disappointed in the content of the website to which they had been directed. Search engines improved their processes and now demote websites where this practice is detected. The use of spurious links to and from other websites was also used by unethical SEO firms to erroneously place websites on the first page of search results.

It can be assumed from the above that there is nothing to be gained for most of those involved in the web search process from Black Hat SEO. Only a small number website owners who only need a temporary presence on the front page of a web search to reach their short-term goals will benefit from Black Hat SEO. For the rest of those involved in the search process the experience will not be a positive one. Searchers suffer irritation at the presence of websites on the first page of their search which do not correspond their search request. The search engine’s reputation of being able to provide pertinent websites is damaged. At the root of the issue is sometimes the Search Engine Optimisation Company who uses the Black Hat methods, but as their methods produce only short-lived success, they will not be able to develop a loyal client base and will always need to find new ones. This could prove difficult when they are unable to offer the permanent SEO results most businesses require for their Online Marketing strategy.

Filed under: adsense |