Hey, Look At Me! I’m Ethical! (There, I Said It)
I’m becoming a fan of David Spade’s new show on the Comedy Channel called The Show Biz Show. My favorite segment is right after the news and is called “There, I Said It�.
So, here’s to you, little guy Mr. Spade as I tip my cap and say:
I’m getting a little irritated with SEOs calling themselves an "Ethical SEO Company". In fact, it may even be un-ethical calling yourself ethical.First of all, who runs around saying, “Hey, look at me. I’m ethical.�? Really, have you ever in your lifetime ever heard someone arrogantly say, “I’m ethical�. And isn’t it most often when someone is un-ethical that it gets pointed out?
As for what SEOs do and how it relates to the definition of “ethics�, there are no accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of SEOs. In other words: It’s not a matter of ethics.
Perhaps some SEOs allow their sales staff to tout their company as an “Ethical SEO� simply because it sounds so honest, pure and safe. It really does, doesn't it? ..... [pause for momentary reflection] ..... After all, who would want to hire an un-ethical SEO company? This is just silly. I’ve seen hundreds of SEO RFPs and never once have I seen one with the must-have requirement: Ethical.
Are white hat SEOs ethical companies? Maybe. Are black hat SEOs unethical? Maybe. If an SEO claims to have a black box proprietary technology or techniques that mimic Google’s algorithm, are they ethical or unethical?
The bottom line is that all SEOs have methodologies and techniques that they recommend to their clients. Some of these techniques may be controversial and others may not be controversial. They are one or the other and the industry has done a pretty good job of making it clear which are which.
Ethically speaking, SEO techniques are neither right nor wrong so please, let's keep ethics out of it.
There, I said it.