Search Engine Optimization is on Google's target for its unethical tactics and methods. However, the series of Penguin and Panda update has a little (if not entirely) has changed the way they targeted audience. Today, SEOs concentrate more on quality and freshness, rather than following wrong methods. Honestly, transparency and ethics have less to do with Google and more to do with a company's reputation, ROI, and endurance.
Here are a few ways on how to ethically do SEO for your business. We hope you will find these useful:
Involve your clients in SEO strategy - SEO professionals try to be the gatekeeper of their tactics and do not want the clients to know everything about their methodologies. It is obvious that a client won't have SEO knowledge, otherwise why would have he outsourced the SEO project to us. However, we should act more as a consultant rather than a gatekeeper. Inform your clients and get them involved in your SEO strategies and plans.
Ethics - It is one of the top 5 success mantras in the corporate world, which is frequently ignored. An unethical business or SEO practices may hinder your businesses future success. Ethics matter! Here are a few reasons 'why:'
• Unethical practices eventually affect the company's reputation, no matter how much you repent later
• The customer prefers relationship with brands that care for customers and maintains transparency in their doings. This is an important point if you care about customer retention
• Ethics is directly connected to employee confidence. If the employee feels their company follow unethical means for increasing ROI and aren't genuine to them, results may suffer.
Build and maintain strong relationship - It may sound clichéd to you, but despite of its popularity, companies or brands neglects the strength of healthy brand relationship. Focus on building long term relationships with clients and customers through standard business practices, publicize your eternal relationship and take advantage of this for your business, stay in touch and involve in a relationship, even if you aren't in need of anything. This shows your concern and faithfulness towards clients and customers.
Focus on quality, not quantity - Whether it is content, link building, or even client earning and relationship, emphasize over quality rather than quantity. This can happen with ethical strategies, proper planning, and showing concern towards your employees.
Transparency - This is the key ingredient for a successful SEO campaign. However, expect transparency from both the sides -clients as well as SEO professionals. It is important due to following reasons:
• If you aren't transparent with your clients, you'll lose their trust and eventually the project
• If your client isn't transparent to you, you will not be able to provide quality and desired results, and clients will get frustrated over such result
• If your clients aren't transparent with its customers, it will create a bad impression in their mind and may break the long term relationship
Concentrate more on Brand Building - You may argue brand building isn't an SEO task. We counter-argue stating it is! Brand building with a focus on search is same like traditional SEO. Why do we do SEO? For brand visibility, right? Unless, you apply your SEO tricks to bring it to the top (brand building), how will you engage customer and increase brand visibility?
Link building, content production, relationship building, online reputation management, brand marketing, conversion etc. is all a part of SEO. Let us focus to make it ethical in 2013!
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