The Many Shades Of Search Engine Optimisation: Are The Bad Practices Really That Bad?

There are numerous processes that can be used to apply search engine optimisation to a enterprise’s domain and raise its natural search engine positioning. Many of these are good habits that should be commonplace to any webmaster. Some processes have more approval from the search facilities than others. This is the realm of ethical and unethical search optimization.

Many unethical search optimisation methods have been made ineffective by adjustments to the search facilities themselves over the years, but some can still be used.

An examination of the website will usually show numerous mechanical adjustments that help to enhance its visibility on a search results listing. This usually results in the addition or alteration of page titles and descriptions to make it clear to the search facilities and to possible consumers the significance of the pages. It is possible to do so unethically, by supplying misleading descriptions.

The application of keywords on web pages still needs careful consideration. Use of keyword metatags in the source code of a web page to influence the search facilities has been made almost worthless by bad habits in the past. stuffing a web page with irrelevant keywords to attract possible consumers, even by hiding those keywords on a page, could damage the reputation of the website and the company that owns it. Keywords still need to be visible enough in page content to make it easier for the search facilities and possible consumers appreciate the significance of the page.

Even the way a website is built can be a problem. A search request should direct possible consumers to a important landing page, not a page purely used as a doorway.

An arena very open to unethical practices is off-page optimisation. The writing and dissemination of abstracts to market the website is a painstaking process, and it is difficult to manage. It should be possible to raise the image without being thought of as writing spam.

The descriptions White Hat and Black Hat are still used to describe ethical and unethical search optimization processes. They may have started out as jokey descriptions, but the use has persisted throughout the discipline, becoming additional jargon in an already overloaded industry. It comes as no surprise that there is even the possibility of using Grey Hat methods – where something is verging on unethical but theoretically can be used in an ethical way after all.

Most consultant search engine optimisation agencies will market themselves as using ethical methods. Some search optimization specialists and commentators admit to using black hat methods and not being worried. However, even some of these optimisation specialists have their limits. The feeling seems to be that any strategy will do as long as it succeeds in elevating the natural search engine positioning but does no harm to innocent parties. There is nothing to be gained by harming the positioning of a site associated with a small charity just because it is using a keyword that you have decided to promote.

In any specialist field, there are always many different ways of applying the processes, and search engine optimisation is no different. Using ethical processes to raise the natural search engine positioning of a enterprise’s domain will always be approved by the customer and the search facilities.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply