Part 2 of 2: Search Engine Optimization
(In yesterday’s post, we discussed the ethics of e-mail marketing)

By Malcolm Fraser

A large number of companies have sprung up in the last few years claiming to sell “Search Engine Optimization” (or SEO) – meaning techniques and services that can give your Web site a higher ranking on the major internet search engines like Google or Yahoo.

While there are some reputable people and companies who provide genuine work at a fair price, most of these claims are hugely over-hyped and over-priced.

If you want your Web site to be noticed by Google (and all the other search engines), there’s no substitute for plain old hard work and good content. Most of what you need to know (and what some companies will charge you hundreds of dollars for) is available, free of charge, from Google itself.

Beware of methods that claim to be “shortcuts” or “guarantees” to manipulate search rankings. Some of them might actually work – but any technique that feels like cheating is cheating. It’s not ethical, and the search engines don’t like it at all.

Instead of being ranked on the first page at Google, you might find your Web site banned and “black-balled.” The same principles should be applied to any other kind of artificial manipulation on sites such as Amazon, Facebook, or Twitter.

The Golden Rule

The best way to stay ethical in your internet marketing is to follow the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Malcolm Fraser is the Executive Officer at WinePress Group, and serves as the assistant to the Executive Publisher. He helps to oversee and coordinate all of WinePress’ different departments, handles customer service issues, contract development, and also contributes to programming and designing our websites and author blogs.