Ethical SEO vs. Unethical SEO

Why it Matters

A website is the most important piece of a company's #digital footprint. It is a landing page for customers to learn about what a brand offers and stands for. All forms of digital marketing should assist with driving awareness and traffic to a brand's website at some point in the buyer's journey. Search Engine Optimization (#SEO) is the form of digital #marketing that assists with #website ranking on search engines. Maintaining #ethical principles when performing SEO is imperative, as its techniques can include other forms of digital marketing such as social media, email marketing, digital ads, etc. that each have their own #legal and ethical principles to consider. #Techniques used within an SEO marketing strategy reflect the principle foundations of a company and can affect customer perception.

Examples of Unethical SEO:

1. Content scraping - (aka web scraping or data scraping) The lifting of unique/original #content from other websites and publishing it elsewhere

2. Incentivizing Reviews - Providing a reward, discount, or payoff in exchange for customer reviews.

3. Link Spamming -#Links between pages that are present for reasons other than merit

Examples of Ethical SEO:

1. Website transparency that does not redirect customers to irrelevant links

2. The use of relevant meta keywords

3. Contributing to high ranking forums and links in a relevant manner that is not #promotional

Is All Press Good Press?

In May of 2019, The North Face received negative #publicity after "the agency updated [company] images on Wikipedia pages for popular travel destinations" (Gesenhues, 2019). This is a form of link #spamming. Although this strategy is not illegal, it is highly unethical. The purpose behind The North Face's #campaign was to get to the top of the Google Image search results when users searched travel and location queries. The brand's plan backfired, and The North Face and its marketing agency were left with a tarnished reputation. "Dana DiTomaso, president of digital marketing and SEO agency Kick Point, called The North Face campaign #advertising at its worst" (Gesenhues, 2019). Wikipedia likened the campaign to 'defacing public property for free advertising'. Others pointed out the tactic as "lazy for as little as a short-lived marketing stunt" (Mervosh, 2019). Intentionally #piggybacking as an unauthorized link for promotional purposes is not a trustworthy technique and is extremely distasteful. The backlash from the volunteer #Wikipedia editors' discovery resulted in The North Face discontinuing the campaign and issuing a public apology. Many still question the company's overall motive behind the attention grabbing strategy.

Benefits of Being Ethical

Low Risk

Engaging in unethical practices can create a high risk of negative consequences. Therefore, avoiding unethical practices will make sure the brand does not receive search engine penalties, fines, suspensions, shadow bans, or legal action. Money and time will be saved by not having to continuously change campaign tactics or invest in mitigation strategies when caught.

High Reward

#Longevity is another benefit of performing ethical SEO. "Stick to sustainable practices or be certain short-term efforts closely align with your client or employer’s business goals — and with the search engines’ guidelines" (Schmitz, 2014). Some ethical SEO practices take a while to see results. However, quality results are #sustainable.

Good For Business

Ethical SEO maximizes #profits. Having a great #reputation as a brand will result in authentic reviews, referrals, brand loyalty, ongoing #professional relationships, and happy customers. Advertising a brand's core values also allows for more meaningful content, thus creating greater buyer influence than the promotion of a product or service alone. Subscribe for more information on how to create unique content for your brand.

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References:

Gesenhues, A. (2019, June 4). The North Face booed by SEO community after manipulating Google image search results. https://searchengineland.com/the-north-face-gets-a-thumbs-down-from-seo-community-after-manipulating-google-image-search-results-317747

Mervosh, S. (2019, May 30). North Face Edited Wikipedia's Photos. Wikipedia Wasn't Happy. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/business/north-face-wikipedia-leo-burnett.html

Schmitz, T. (2014, August 10). Want To Future-Proof Your SEO? 6 Ethical Guidelines To Consider. https://searchengineland.com/5-ethical-seo-examples-consider-194185