Clients often ask SEO teams (before hiring usually) if ‘white hat’ methods will be employed to get the desired results. They are wary about the use of any ‘black hat’ strategy that might cause irreparable damage to their online marketing chapter. While this question do hold a lot of relevance in the age of cut-throat competition for those prized search engine ranks, these questions of ethics are not really important for an internet marketing business. What they need to know are:
- Quantity or Quality: SEO means online traffic: that is what internet marketers feel! However, the fact is that you cannot leverage your online business or earn revenues just by getting truckloads of online visitors trooping into your website. You need quality traffic, not quantity. You need to optimize with the relevant keywords so that people who want to come to your website are your only visitors. Deceiving or misleading users into your ‘Services’ page will take you nowhere. Focus on getting relevant traffic that will generate online leads and eventually sales.
- Long-term or Short-term: SEO plans can be of two types. One is the short-term blitzkrieg that gets you into the scheme of things, make as much as you can and then get out with the spoils. The other approach is more measured where you are concerned about the bigger picture and long-term prospects. You want the internet marketing community of your domain to consider you as a serious player in the arena. SEO plans for both these terms vary in the sense that for the former, you can play with abandon and care a fig for consequences. You are willing to risk being thrown off Google indexing as well as opposed to the latter one where you want to play by the rules of the game.
- High or Low Risk: SEO cannot get you instant results. While hiring an external SEO team or backing your own in-house SEO department, you have to be prepared for higher risks if you want bigger rewards. You have to target high competition keywords, stretch your keyword packing to the limit and bring your resources to the best they can do. This can backfire and derail your SEO plan completely. On the other hand, you have the sedate, low-key SEO plan that will give you mediocrity and at the same time keep you out of harm’s way.
Asking these questions will benefit your SEO team more than worrying about SEO ethics.
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