Yes, ethical SEO works—but how well does it work in comparison with various unethical SEO techniques? Let’s make a few comparisons.
Ethical SEO Compared To Content Leeching
One of the least ethical SEO techniques in my opinion is content stealing, better known as content leaching. This is where a scammer copies your site but puts his own advertisements on it.
Content stealing must be effective—too many sites do it for it to be entirely unprofitable—but the margins are very low and the risks are high. The margins are low because Google tries to put content thieves out of business and the risk is high because the thieves could always be caught and taken to court (although that rarely happens).
Keyword Stuffing
Probably the oldest form of unethical SEO, it predates the term SEO. Keyword stuffing started when people tried to stuff as many keywords as would fit into their meta keywords HTML tag.
When Google started ranking pages by PageRank, meta keyword stuffing almost disappeared—but it was replaced by people who stuffed keywords into the page body. But you can’t just stuff keywords into a page—particularly a popular page—or can you?
Hidden Text Versus Ethical SEO
One of the favorite ways scammers stuff keywords onto a page is using hidden text. Hiding text is really simple using Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) instructions such as “display: none”.
Since Google doesn’t usually read style sheets, it won’t realize that nobody but it can see the hidden text. So the page may look to you like an advertisement but to Google it may look like a well-written keyword-dense article.
Why Google Blocked BMW.com
Another technique Google thinks violates ethical SEO is the doorway page. A doorway page is a single-page site stuffed with keywords which includes a single link to another site with the real content.
A real-world example was the BMW.com site. It included a number of BMW keywords in the text, but when you visited it, it just told you to click a link to the German BMW website.
Google opposed this kind of behavior and, in 2006, they briefly removed BMW.com from their search results. BMW quickly fixed the problem by adding actual content to BMW.com and were relisted in Google. (You and I would probably not receive such quick service from Google.)
Good Content’s Worst Enemy: Spinning
You may have heard of content spinning—it’s taking an article, either yours or someone else’s, and rewriting every sentence to say the same thing in different words.
The spun articles are then often re-posted to the same site to fill out its content, or they’re posted to other sites to attract more total traffic.
Many companies use spinning because paying for original articles is too expensive, but both readers and Google hate spinning, and I expect the long-term cost of spinning will rise greatly as Google gets better at detecting spun articles.
I should note that there is a legitimate use for of spinning which is usually called multivariate testing. It’s usually used as part of landing page optimization to discover which wording is most effective at selling a product.
There’s nothing wrong with multivariate testing—Google even helps you do it with their website optimizer in Google Analytics.
Link Farming Versus Ethical SEO Links
Linking farming, also called “a mutual admiration society”, usually means joining a collection of sites who all link to each other automatically. Link farms were highly popular a decade ago, but Google figured them out quickly and almost put them out of business.
After Google’s attack on them, many link farms went underground—they became smaller and smarter, asking each member to only link to 10% of the other members.
Modern link farms may actually work to improve your Google listings, but you risk being caught by Google who will ban you from their results for one or more months. There are far better ethical SEO steps to take when starting a WordPress website from scratch.
A better way to get links is to make individual link partners. You each agree to mention the other person’s site once a month or so in an organic fashion. Google doesn’t ban regular cross-site partnerships such as this, and as long as you write fresh, original content in between links, Google will happily help your link partnership succeed.
Forum, Wiki, And Comment Spam
Probably the thing that makes ordinary website readers most annoyed at ethical SEO (although ethical SEO experts don’t do it) is forum, wiki, and comment spam—leaving junk information on a site just to include a link to your site.
This sort of spam used to be a huge problem when Google counted every link as a fully-qualified link. But several years ago Google introduced the rel=nofollow hyperref tag and we all thought this sort of spam would be a thing of the past.
Unfortunately, although the amount of spam temporarily diminished, it quickly rose again as scammers discovered some people will click any link no matter how scummy it looks.
It isn’t clear whether Google penalizes sites who use this technique, but the technique is clearly unethical, so I recommend ethical SEO experts stay away from anything like it.
Cloaking, Is It Ethical SEO?
Google says not to use cloaking, but Google itself uses cloaking, so what’s the lesson here?
Cloaking is creating different versions of your site for different Web browser user agents (Not the same as cloaking affiliate links). One well-known example of cloaking was the New York Times website which for a long time displayed full versions of articles to Googlebot (Google’s spider) but required everyone else to pay a fee to read the article.
(Many of us at the time installed a Web browser plugin to change our Web browser user agent to Googlebot to fool the NY Times website into giving us access to the article for free. Not me though. SMILE)
The problem with cloaking is that it can be used for legitimate purposes. For example, older versions of Internet Explorer are incompatible with many Web standards, so some sites (including Google) displayed different versions of their pages for Internet Explorer users.
It’s not clear how closely Google monitors cloaking, so you can probably get away with some cloaking on your site. But if you create a version of your site specifically for Googlebot, I suggest you be warned—Google does not consider that to be ethical SEO.
The “Do’s and Don’ts” of SEO are sometimes hard to figure out and that is why I have a free eBook for new webmasters explaining SEO my way.
{ 103 comments… read them below or add one }
I like this post and agree with this pretty much fully,its nice to see someone sticking their head above the parapet for something positive.
Hi,
It’s very nice excellent and informative post and i am totally agree with you .
Thanks for sharing this important information …
Molly Matt recently posted..Crystal Noir For Women By Versace – Rs. 3,500.00
Twitter: realtimetricks
November 27, 2012 at 4:52 AM
I think I should have bookmark this post for future reading.
Irfan Siddiqui recently posted..Disable Facebook Unless You Have Notifications to Check
Twitter: marksblogtips
November 27, 2012 at 5:02 AM
You make some valid points, Google is forever changing and no one really knows for sure what Google likes and doesn’t like, even the “SEO Geeks’ are all about trial and error.
As always “honest SEO”, great original content and interacting with the Blogging community are the best natural SEO techniques that will always be a winner in the eyes of Google.
Great post
Mark
Twitter: way2onlinejobs
November 27, 2012 at 5:51 AM
Good Post.
I disagree with two things. One you’re saying that Google not responding fast compare to bigger website issues. No, it’s wrong. Google (it includes all Google products) I am getting e-mail for each and everything. If I’ve any problems with my site. Google sends e-mail to me via Google Webmaster Tools. In the same way Google AdSense Team also sending weekly e-mails. Next, Good Content’s Worst Enemy: Spinning I give some examples even Mashable, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Watch (including me) read the articles from Google Webmaster Central Blog and re-write in our own words and publish. Google display these content in the top 10 of the Google Search Results. Most of the authors writing these type of article have more than 50k followers in Google Plus Profile pages. I just started this journey so I am also getting good response and appreciation for this. All the points you’ve mentioned is good one and informative.
Perambur Kumar recently posted..Seo Tips #1 – by Perambur Kumar
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 27, 2012 at 3:30 PM
There is a great difference between spinning and re-writing in your own words. Spinning is taking the whole article and the same content and changing the words. This is why Google and and other people can recognize this.
As for Google not responding fast. This is true in some cases and it was true in all cases in the past. Now days I agree they are getting better but not up to proper customer service standard. They used to penalize sites with not one email to them. That is a fact.
Mitz recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
Twitter: contentwritingi
November 27, 2012 at 6:14 AM
Hi,
I think ethical SEO definitely works out. I like all the points that you have shared and specially the point of keyword stuffing. That’s great!! Thanks for the share!!
Twitter: bivori
November 27, 2012 at 6:17 AM
Its interesting to see how people are grabbing the top Google position and how Google Police is after them one after another. If we start looking everything and think deeper, what appears is, just write your article and post is ethical – rest, today or tomorrow Google Police will be there to catch you
Anyway, it will be impossible if Google does not chase that way. Web will be full of spammers.
Thank you Mitz for such an entertaining post.
Suresh Khanal recently posted..WordPress Malware Removal Tool Sucuri!
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December 28, 2012 at 3:21 AM
I love that..the “Google Police”
And your right if Google does not do this the internet will be full of spam and no fun at all.
mitz recently posted..Tips to Create a High Conversion Landing Page
Twitter: getbizy
November 27, 2012 at 7:48 AM
This is one of the richest post in terms of content, i’ve read in a while. On the area of spun
content, I believe it helps to use spun content for those 2.0 websites for building backlinks.
But, these websites are also beginning to cramp down on those spammy contents too!
My question is…what is the best approach to SEO that will stand the test of time with google’s frequent updates?
Thank you very much!
Albert recently posted..Part Time Blogger Earns Over $150,000
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November 27, 2012 at 3:44 PM
The best approach to SEO I see is to write amazing content, not a lot of content, and then promote it properly. Each piece needs attention because it is worth it.
Mitz recently posted..My Daily Blogging Routine Exposed!
Twitter: bihar
November 27, 2012 at 7:57 AM
To be honest, there is no scope for unethical SEO. Be is scraping, spinning or link farming, its not going to work. In fact, its going to do more harm than good. There is no substitute to good content combined with ethical forms of link building.
Shalu Sharma recently posted..Interview with traveller Kathryn Burrington
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 27, 2012 at 3:46 PM
I agree that there is no scope for unethical SEO.. IT might work right now but the effects will disappear and the work done is then worthless. Therefore in the end unethical seo is a total waste of time.
Mitz recently posted..Blog Advertisement Checklist – When and Where to Promote
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November 27, 2012 at 8:52 AM
Sometimes unethical SEO is very alluring, maybe patience really a virtue
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 27, 2012 at 3:48 PM
Yes this is exactly how eveyone got into it in the first place… But just remember that the work you do with unethical SEO will be useless sooner or later.. Good SEO will last the test of time.
Mitz recently posted..Finally Achieving SEO Value from Google Plus!
its better to always go with white hat (ethical ) seo practices , if you use other methods like black hat etc , you may get some short term gain but sooner or later you will loss that gain and even may face de-index from search engine(s) , so always use ethical SEO practices for both short and long term gain
thanks
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 27, 2012 at 3:49 PM
Yes I agree with you Sameer
It is a waste of time doing unethical SEO as it will do nothing when you get caught.
Mitz recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
Twitter: webmaisterpro
November 27, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Truth to be told , everything works when it is done properly. I don’t want to go deeper into Google conspiracy, but sure even black hat SEO can bring excellent results, even in long run, but it need to be done properly. Right, some of the listed techniques are new, but some are pretty much obsolete. Being realistic if a company is doing serious business, better not touch unethical methods, but experimenting with blogging and unethical SEO, should be for most bloggers.
Carl recently posted..Happy to announce new feature at WebmaisterPro – “Questions”. Every member can ask or answer question. Hope this will be more easy way to get discussion on the next level. http://www.webmaisterpro.com/questions.html
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 27, 2012 at 3:32 PM
Hi Carl
I agree that some black hat works but it is getting less effective every day. Ethical SEO is the only way to go now.
Mitz recently posted..20 Often Forgotten Website Traffic Tips
Twitter: mumandbiz
November 27, 2012 at 9:51 AM
There are good points said. It’s worth reading.
Thank you.
Twitter: cazmoen
November 27, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Most of the newbies or even some bloggers would not have a clue about most of the points mentioned here. You have made all understand how vital following and checking all these things would be. Great article!
Balaji G S recently posted..How to Start a Fast Food Restaurant
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November 27, 2012 at 11:54 AM
This was really great post. The most unethical SEO tactics are keyword stuffing and hidden links. Both of these methods were the best way to rank one month blogs to page one : almost three year back.
And considering the link building. I think today its time for link earning. Sorry for adding a link in the post : http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-death-of-link-building-and-the-rebirth-of-link-earning-whiteboard-friday
Vivek recently posted..Best Street Art Collection : Most Amazing & Creative
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November 27, 2012 at 3:34 PM
Yes I like he link you shared! I have read this and agree that it is time to earn links… I have no problem with this because I love guest posting and it definitely works for me. : )
Mitz recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
Twitter: HadleyHodgson
November 27, 2012 at 12:12 PM
Content spinning in particular seems to produce terrible results, keyword stuffing, no matter how ‘well’ it”s done is something Google are really cracking down on. A lot of people are starting to turn to social media for SEO as well.
Hadley recently posted..Garmin eTrex 30 Worldwide Handheld GPS Navigator
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 27, 2012 at 3:36 PM
Yes SEO does now include Social and people are gravitating towards that. Good point. Unfortunately we cannot ignore the rest of SEO though, but all methods together rock!
Mitz recently posted..Aligning SEO Strategy with Your Social Media Strategy
Spinning still works if done right, can still rank good and bring you some decent organic visits.
On the other hand, keyword stuffing and content stealing are dead. As far as I know their time passed and don’t really produce any profit even if you do everything by the book.
Anyways thanks for the article Mitz! I’ve learned a couple new things, always enjoy reading your stuff.
Cristian Balau recently posted..Workplace Drug Testing versus Legalized Marijuana: 7 Important/Interesting Points
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November 27, 2012 at 3:40 PM
Hi there Christian
I agree that spinning can work but it is faster for me to write an article than to spin an article to the right standard. It is a waste of time for me… You have to spin until you cannot tell that it is spun.
Then it is also better to submit great content to better websites.
Mitz recently posted..10 Minutes To Small Business Website Marketing
Twitter: SonPageOne
November 27, 2012 at 8:05 PM
I think that works! In my opinion, google likes a person who want to find out the best information when searching!
I think the best way to do SEO is creating “killer” content and got perfect on-page SEO. That’s it!
Correct me if I was wrong
Thank you so much for your post
Nos N. recently posted..WP Pipeline Review – Bring Control to WordPress
I don’t know if they still do it, but they used to add html author comments with keywords like () People would add that all over there pages. Hidden from the user, but not bots. Not sure if it was for additional keywords for search or maybe Adsense targeting specific ads. At any rate some people will do almost anything to improve rankings. Hopefully they do understand the risks, and they aren’t following poor advice they read about thinking it was a good idea.
Ray recently posted..Be Careful With Suhosin
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December 22, 2012 at 10:19 PM
Yeah people are still doing it…They are hiding all sorts of things from the page. for example people have links to other sites but you can only see them if you mouse over the right spot on the blog.. They get trackback links for having these links and it is extremely deceiving and dishonest.
mitz recently posted..5 Facts About WordPress Website Security
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November 27, 2012 at 9:55 PM
Very interesting information. I have never heard neither used cloaking techniques, but sounds like websites that use it try to fool Google which is a no good way to build a long-term reputation. And by the way, I also hate comment spammers, even after I got CAPTCHA installed on my site I still get some of comment spam. I wonder how do they get around CAPTCHA?
There’s definitely a lot of ways people can scam the system, but I have to admit I didn’t even know about the CSS way of hiding keywords; wow! Still, when all is said and done doing things naturally works the best in the long run, and definitely keeps you from getting penalized by any search engine, since Google isn’t the only one out there.
Mitch Mitchell recently posted..Blogging Bad Habits You Should Try To Break
Twitter: khajamoin1
November 28, 2012 at 1:40 AM
Lets talk about unethical SEO, I don`t think now anyone will think or write that it will work.
So obviously it`s ethical SEO which can give you long term results.
And regarding forums, I`m a bit confused, what do you mean by this, do you think getting links from forums is of no use? Let me know.
And I`d like to thank you for this post, which can& will encourage ethical SEO.
~@Khajamoin1
Khaja moin recently posted..Secrets About Blog Post Length Revealed – Experiment
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November 28, 2012 at 2:19 AM
I am not saying that all forum links are of no use because they are great in some instances. I am saying that the junk posts on forums still exist. The ones that are obviously put there for a link only. These annoy the ethical SEO people, that’s all.
Mitz recently posted..My Daily Blogging Routine Exposed!
Twitter: khajamoin1
November 28, 2012 at 3:32 AM
Yes agree with you, and forums are great way to get more leads to business.
But must be sure that we`re on right forum.
~@Khajamoin1
Khaja moin recently posted..Track Website Traffic With Free Traffic Estimator Sites
Every that think will give you result if you has worked for that. But now it’s depend on you how you are working for that if you will do work in good way then it will give you good result other wise it would be prove wrong for you.
Twitter: WinAppleWorld
November 28, 2012 at 2:35 AM
Spamming has bad effect when panda update takes place.
Using fake female facebook profiles to promote the blog is one of the methods bloggers have been using and 70% of them have been successful in getting PR3+ rating.
Anchit Shethia recently posted..IPv6 Internet Addresses now available in India
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December 2, 2012 at 3:55 PM
I think when you buy fans you get those fake people. I did it once and I am sure it ruined the quality of my traffic…:)
mitz recently posted..5 Facts About WordPress Website Security
Hi everyone,
I totally agree that unethical SEO has no chances for success today. Link farming or keyword stuffing could work well a few years ago, but the rules have changed as of now. Thanks for sharing your perspective and providing these clear examples and explanations.
Julia Reed recently posted..Lecture Recording: Can Audio Lectures Replace Professors?
I think the title must be “Does Unethical SEO Work?”. This practices worked for many on the past but as the Google is becoming more stricter, people with unethical practice will be out of business. There is no meaning to continue this.
All your points are excellent.
Priya N recently posted..101 Tips on How to Prepare a Government Job Interview
Twitter: buildwebsites1
December 2, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Yes you are probably right about the title Priya!!! We already know ethical SEO works.
mitz recently posted..5 Facts About WordPress Website Security
Twitter: danpaluska
November 28, 2012 at 3:24 AM
Very interesting post. I thought that the point made throughout the article about dual uses for “black-hat” techniques was interesting and now know a good reason for why content spinning, when testing for landing page optimization is a good thing! Thanks again and definitely bookmarking your site.
Dan Paluska recently posted..Top 10 Websites You Know You Should Be Using but You Don’t!
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December 2, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Yes there was always a place for content spinning but not the way people ended up using it for..
mitz recently posted..Is it Easy to Upgrade Your Web Hosting With Hostgator?
Twitter: BrianHumek
November 28, 2012 at 3:53 AM
For the life of me, I cannot understand what constitutes comment spam. I guess it’s like the U.S. Supreme Court justice who said he didn’t know how to define pornography, but he knew it when he saw it. That’s how I feel about comment spam. I actually think the first three comments to this post could be deemed comment spam by some. They said nothing specific about your post. All the comments consisted of were generalities. I still can’t believe I read every single comment, but a good post always has good comments.
For me, I always wonder if I’ll get penalized because I read a lot of blogs like this one and I learn a lot and I comment a lot. My comments always, for the most part, add value to the discussion, but the website link(s) I leave are not social media or blogging related. I typically leave links for my pizza website or my tea website. I’ve read that some people believe that’s comment spam because my links I leave on social media/blogging tips websites are not from the same niche type sites. Sometimes I worry I’ll get de-indexed.
What are your thoughts on that? I’d love to hear your insight.
Thanks,
Brian
Brian recently posted..Gummi Pizza – a great novelty gift for Christmas or anytime!
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 10:02 PM
Funny you should mention the first three comments.. They are totally junk and say nothing.. They added no value and I assume they are spam…
The problem is I understand how they get through though and I just ignore them… It the sheer volume of comments coming in.. There are just too many to read in detail. I have this problem on at least 4 of my blogs. At the moment I have at least 120 comments to moderate on one site (about three days worth).
I can tell you now that I have never been penalized for comments and links in the comment section… I have however been penalized when people put broken links in there though… I have to check for this often.
I recently realized I have been linking to some pornographic site for about 6 months. The person makes great comments and the URL looked normal. I happen to visit the site one day and nearly died with shock… I had to black ban the IP and email as I do not personally like linking to that content.
mitz recently posted..4 Reasons To Use Minimalist WordPress Themes
Twitter: BrianHumek
November 29, 2012 at 10:37 PM
I’ve had some links like that too. Once, I even had a porn site proprietor complain in a post on my social media site about how they couldn’t get back links because people are too prude to let the links stay when he made comments on blogs. Oh well, I banned him.
I also just had to delete a post on another blog because I was getting 100 spam comments a day on it, even with commenting off. Those spammers will do anything.
Thanks for always replying. You’re one of the best conversing bloggers.
Brian recently posted..Find Great Pizza! – Our Perth Pizzerias List
Twitter: Akos_Fintor
November 28, 2012 at 5:21 AM
One thing is for sure. You do NOT want to spin your content and mega distribute. The activity almost murdered my blog
great tips, Mitz!
Akos
Akos Fintor recently posted..Why My MLM Blog Is Different from Your MLM Blog
Twitter: Ileane
November 28, 2012 at 5:47 AM
Hi Mitz,
Thanks for the awesome post and I am sharing this all over the place!!
This is a test to see if you get two notifications or one. Please let me know.
Cheers!
Ileane recently posted..Google is Trying to Tell You Something, Are You Listening?
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 10:05 PM
All notifications are great now thanks!!! I got hit by emails from a few blogs at the same time…And they are all using comluv’s great plugin!!!!!
OMG I am loving the replyme options…especially where it notifies the guest posters that there is a comment!!!
mitz recently posted..10 Minutes To Small Business Website Marketing
Unethical SEO will almost certainly land you in hot water with Google, especially in today’s post-Panda/Penguin era. However I stumble upon ‘low-quality’ websites almost every day – websites which quite obviously are using spinning techniques to generate content. And what surprises me is how easily these websites are able to fly under the radar and escape penalty. I’ve had my eye on one of these websites for a while now (wont name names) and it seems to be doing quite well in terms of Alexa ranking and indexing speed.
Aaron H. recently posted..The Do’s and Don’ts of Being an Effective Blogger
Twitter: myspalmer
November 28, 2012 at 1:53 PM
Hey Aaron,
I completely agree. I feel like Google plays both sides against the fence too. The hit major sites like BMW, but let’s sooooooo many smaller sites clearly utilizing black hat SEO get away for years and years. It makes me wonder what the penguin change actually brought in terms of depth. Eh se la vie. Can’t beat ‘em, but it’s better to play it safe than sorry.
Mys Palmer recently posted..Consistent Blogging Schedule: How to Kill Your Blog
True, but its frustrating when you’re bursting a gut trying to put up quality content that you’ve spent time and effort to write YOURSELF, while there are other websites which constantly and consistently outrank you using blackhat/illegal ways of producing content. C’est la vie I guess. Google needs to get it’s s**t together IMO.
And yes having said all that, I’d still stick with doing things the right way!
Aaron H. recently posted..The Do’s and Don’ts of Being an Effective Blogger
Interesting post. I do agree with what you write, most of it. Keyword stuffing should be replaced with synonym or LSI. That would be better.
Kahlil recently posted..Top Cartoon Movie 2012: Rise of The Guardians
Twitter: buildwebsites1
December 2, 2012 at 4:32 PM
Yes you are right about the synonyms but then I can see this turning into some kind of spam too! People just get hold of an idea and ruin it.
mitz recently posted..5 Facts About WordPress Website Security
Twitter: techarta
November 28, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Google really becomes unpredictable at times hence I try to keep everything simple and try not to implement too many SEO techniques
nikhil recently posted..How to Get Appropriate and Right Answer From Siri?
Twitter: mslavkova
November 28, 2012 at 1:27 PM
Mitz,
i like the discussion about ethical writing online. It is a very fine line, hence hard to determine right from wrong. Many new bloggers struggle with what to write about. I think it is good to get the idea about an article from someone else. But it has to be rewritten through your own perception and ideas.
I also think that Google communicates with users very efficiently. The other thing is if we know enough from our side how to do it. Many even do not try to call Google, because of the wrong belief that it is difficult.
Great information.
Margarita recently posted..Internet Marketing: 3 Major Phases To Online Success
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 9:44 PM
Googles history at communication is atrocious not that I have anything against Google but this is the truth. They have shut good accounts down without warnings or reasons and I only hope that they do fully start treating people like real people. But that’s not what this post is about.
Google did not invent ethical SEO, it was always there. They demand it though and that is right to do. They want to please the people searching by providing the best results.
I am all for this.
mitz recently posted..How to Make Money From Your Website While Trying to Build Trust
Twitter: lisapatb
November 28, 2012 at 7:35 PM
Very informative post, I’ve read about cloaking before and didn’t know what it meant til I read this. Guess I have never done it
Not sure I agree on the Google with big companies. I hear and have seen in searching around that many of them use high density for their keywords (stuffing) and they get a pass because they are a big company that’s been around awhile. But a small company starting out gets penalized. I hope they level that playing ground out. Or is it because the big companies spend a lot of Google ads? Makes me wonder sometimes.
I do appreciate the emails they now send to Webmaster tools, that is a step in the right direction.
Lisa recently posted..Pinterest App Makes It Easy To Pin Than Post At That Other Place
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 9:47 PM
If you are in business you automatically look after your best customers. The message here is just to do it right in the first place. Ethical seo is the only way out or in?
mitz recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
Twitter: lisapatb
November 30, 2012 at 6:58 AM
IN for sure, don’t want a Google penalty
Lisa recently posted..Pinterest App Makes It Easy To Pin Than Post At That Other Place
Twitter: ithauphy
November 29, 2012 at 2:37 AM
I agree that ethical SEO is important for our blog. Maybe we just focus on content post with related keyword. I think it will be more effective than a link farm or Keyword Stuffing
Twitter: rancorinfotech
November 29, 2012 at 4:32 AM
Hey Mitz,
Really great insights about various SEO techniques, I hope many of use who were unknowingly using unethical techniques would avoid it from now on.
Aasma recently posted..PG in Delhi
Twitter: cheapcookwares
November 29, 2012 at 4:50 AM
Another good one Mitz! If you are concerned about your content being copied, you can sign up to tynt.com and monitor how many times it was copied and gain backlinks from it.
Sanjay recently posted..20+ Free Responsive Themes Collection
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 9:49 PM
If I have gained a backlink from copied content then I am happy… If they have striped the post then I feel that this is theft.
mitz recently posted..3 Ways To Reduce Outgoing Backlink Benefits – Cheat Yor Webmaster Friends
Twitter: ravibhushan4
November 29, 2012 at 7:10 AM
An ethical SEO requires to running online business. SEO based on the website content and website content rely an information in front of whole world. Content loved by the Search engine and also content is king of a webpage. So don’t create Spamming content that are bad effect when panda update takes place.
Your example of bmw is awesome. The way you explain for seo is also good. Thanks for sharing.
This are very nice tips to read and share with friends. Thanks for the well explained seo tip
babanature recently posted..5 GREAT REASONS WHY YOUR BLOG IS STILL HIDING AND HOW TO FRONT IT
Twitter: doug_eike
November 29, 2012 at 10:43 AM
My hope is that someday Google et al will acquire the ability to recognize quality content. Part of that process is for them to work through the elimination of the game-playing folks on the Internet. That step seems to be going well enough, but successfully crediting the hard-working, quality-content creators still seems a distant dream. Thanks for your tips!
doug_eike recently posted..Fifteen Ways To Improve Your Child’s Homework And Study Skills
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 9:50 PM
I agree and I really think that Google will do that! I feel that this is what they are aiming for and junk content ranking in the search engines annoys them as much as it annoys us.
mitz recently posted..20 Often Forgotten Website Traffic Tips
Twitter: mavtrevor
November 29, 2012 at 10:50 AM
This is indeed a great article as i have learnt so many things i never figured could be problem especially with Google. I try to stay away from any unethical SEO and that way i have been safe from Google’s wrath. Thanks for the points though…they’ve been well noted.
Nwosu Desmond recently posted..Why you should use a responsive design for your website
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 9:54 PM
That is a great way to stay safe..just do the right thing… Good advice there !!
mitz recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
Twitter: george_defo
November 29, 2012 at 12:43 PM
Hey Mitz what about spinning articles and submitting them to article directories with a link back to web 2.0 properties like hubpages and then linking them to our blogs
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Twitter: PandaSEOService
November 29, 2012 at 1:28 PM
I think people are starting to realise they need to practice ethical, white hat SEO. The problem is there’s still so many people around that offer cheap, spammy services.
Mark recently posted..Creating And Maintaining A Great Facebook Page
Twitter: buildwebsites1
November 29, 2012 at 9:53 PM
Yes you are right about the spammy services!!! I would love to get a link builder for me but all I have tried have no idea what so ever!!! Only a good blogger has an idea and they are all too busy working on their blogs and making money that way!
mitz recently posted..18 Ways to Turn Your Ordinary Blog into A Million Dollar Business
Twitter: markbrook8
November 30, 2012 at 2:01 AM
Hey,
This is a good post I think I must save this post for trying this as search engines allows the ethical optimization. If they are not automation or using some black hat.
Mark Brook recently posted..Count the Ways you can Acquire Cheap Herbal Incense Blends
Okay, you’re right to a certain extent when it comes to link building. However, I’ve found (through 10 years of online marketing) that there’s some products you can’t simply put online and expect to ever get seen. I’ve worked in one particular sector for 7 years, marketing and promoting our own line of B2B services. We’re up against multi-national companies, one man bands and national companies a couple of decades old. The spam that’s produced in that sector is unbelieveable. The one site that ranks top for the 2 largest keyword combinations has links from paid directories and a multitude of inorganic linking techniques. They’ve ranked for over 2 years in this position. Google can’t police and they need to be careful how they do on the grounds that it simply steps into the anti-competition part of any democratic society.
There are areas of SEO that should not under any circumstances be touched- link farms, cloaking, spamming- the latter being just pure unethical and (in this day and age useless). As far as I see it, if you comment and leave something that really contributes, just to get a link, you’re paying for that link with unique content. If you add a link to a wiki (dofollow or otherwise) and the linked content actually adds to the user experience, then it’s ethical. The point is, it all comes down to pageviews and time on site. Surely a visitor clicking on a link and then sitting on the next site for a few minutes is a link worth having?
Scraping, spinning or link farming, its not going to work in long terms. There is not much scope for unethical SEO, the success is temporary. Good post, thanks for sharing & I really hate keyword stuffing and hidden links.
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Hi,
I like your all point
Thanks
Excellent post. You really dialed that in. It’s the simple principles that worked for people that have already been where we are heading and desire to be that we should pay close attention to.Thanks for keeping it real and I always look forward to your next post!
Twitter: techblowup
November 30, 2012 at 5:51 AM
Hi Mitz,
SEO, I will never get it properly. What is it and how to do better SEO? That’s a big question. And how to get do-follow links. Does Google hate no-follow links?
Twitter: comptalks
November 30, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Ethical SEO is the way to go for any business, if you start doing black hat then be sure you are going to be penalized.
Bishwajeet recently posted..What are different Types of Headphones
you have a blue print for success. Content is surely the king. The content you have in your articles are top notch. Thanks.
Twitter: prabhatrayal
December 1, 2012 at 5:53 AM
hello mitz..
i think article spinning is one of the mostly used technique today.many peoples or bloggers use it when they don’t have ideas about their next articles.they simply read a website and publish their articles with some changes
prabhat recently posted..Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs HTC Droid DNA: Battle Of The Phablets!
Twitter: internetdreamof
December 1, 2012 at 5:40 PM
It can still be done, but you will really need to research to see how much you can do.
Many have taken it to a bad level that Google is not liking it anymore.
SEO has its place, but remember there are many other aspects to the online world that need to be take into consideration. Ex. content creation, social media engagement, etc….
Samuel recently posted..7 Cool WordPress Plugins!
Yes it still does exist and it gives more long-term benefits than its unethical counterpart.
Great post. Thanks for your post. As a business that provides SEO and Social Media services for business it is disheartening to see the dodgy practices that go on in the industry. In some cases, people are paying thousands of dollars only to build the SEO companies network – the moment they leave their contract, they start from scratch. It is horrifying. I also consider that unethical.
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Twitter: akhilendra1
December 3, 2012 at 4:42 AM
Over the last few years, there have been a lot of improvements as far as seo practices are concerned among bloggers. It is also because of the education, there are many good resources like this post to provide information about seo, which is helping new bloggers and webmasters.
I think content is the king; it still holds the key to success.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.
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Twitter: ravibhushan4
December 3, 2012 at 5:07 AM
Indeed you have shared an Excellent post. Really great points here about various SEO techniques, I hope many of use who were unknowingly using unethical techniques would avoid it from now on. Thank you for awareness of ethical SEO technique.
Twitter: SMARTSocMed
December 3, 2012 at 12:01 PM
Hi Mitz,
I used to get a lot of invites to projects that asked me to spin content. I had no idea how to do it and didn’t like what I thought it was because it felt like regurgitation (not a pretty analogy but you get how I felt) I like to keep things original, wart and all. I also remember back in the day how stuffing was so prevalent; that was SEO. I may not be a fan of Google but at least they’re helping to clean up the junk a little bit, despite the fact that they have a hypocritical approach to SEO and have a tendency to sometimes throw the baby out with the bath water. Nobody’s perfect!
D. Dixon recently posted..9 Things To Remember About The SEO Process
Twitter: WerryAdnan
December 7, 2012 at 10:30 AM
based on my opinion we have to do SEO ethically based on google guidelines. Unethical SEO will be hurt your ranking and give no advantages for reader. If you want to blogging for long time,ethical SEO is the answer. please follow google guidelines and others major search engines rules to get good result of SEO.
thanks Mitz for posting
Werry Adnan recently posted..Jual Penambah Berat Badan
Twitter: JimZboran
December 8, 2012 at 9:30 PM
Nice summary of unethical SEO practices, Mitz.
On the cloaking issue, if it’s a matter of bait-and-switch to trick Google into ranking a page for something other than what it actually is then it’s clearly unethical. But when cloaking is a matter of presenting an optimized page for the tool a particular audience is using, it strikes me as being entirely legitimate.
Isn’t that what site do when they present a mobile optimized page to a mobile user? So it’s really a matter of the form of a page vs. the content of a page. I’d imagine Google has a way of differentiating. I hope so, at least…
Thanks for the nice summary. It brought back memories of the hey-day of each one as they blazed forth across the developing internet landscape. Sadly, the hey-day is recent history, so many still get caught up in old ideas. Your article is a nice way to keep newcomers away from tried-and-now-fried ideas.
Jim Zboran recently posted..Paint Your Masterpiece, Solo Entrepreneur
Hey,
Ethical SEO really works.You have shared great SEO techniques.
Thanks for writing the post.
Regards,
Mark Floors
Twitter: heidipassey
December 10, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Its sad you have to worry about people stealing your content, but there’s almost nothing you can do about it. I didn’t realize you could “hide” text making google think it was there. Sounds way to technical for me. ha ha, I think I’ll stick with Ethical Ways.
Heidi recently posted..Catfish Documentary – An Online Relationship Based On Truth … or Not?
Of course it works. Still, its kinda crazy that Google can get away with pushing around big brands like BMW to follow their supposed rules. So goes.
Twitter: BgLaptop
December 10, 2012 at 11:57 PM
Very informational post about how people should stay clean while performing seo techniques and how they wil get penalisee d from google if using the tricks from the past .Although leaving links all over the internet doesn`t have to be always wrong because it will still bring some juice to your targeted site .
Twitter: AGPAOfficial
December 12, 2012 at 1:05 PM
There are tons of both black hat and white hat SEO techniques, but I think its best to play it safe and do what is ethical. I for one believe that in the end Google will probably figure out how to detect most of the unethical techniques so it will be better in the end for those of us who followed the slower approved SEO path.
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Twitter: Rohitkabdwal
December 15, 2012 at 7:22 AM
Another great article mitz, it think the most of the new blogger start their journey by stuffing the meta keywords and spinning the same meta phrase all the time, you have given the great points here.., thanks for the article..
Rohit kabdwal recently posted..How to Install Java in your Computer?
Thank you so much fr this post !! you mentioned a lot about black hat techniques and there are websites till this day are still working on it. specially the spinning.
lots of guest posts are written in a good way and it’s being spinned and resubmitted again under another title that’s almost close to the old one or submit it to different websites.
I think Google may put it as its target in the next update.
Twitter: e_Web_Services
December 18, 2012 at 12:13 AM
I think that ethical SEO can definitely win over unethical tricks if done correctly and in the long run it will always win out because you don’t always have to correct your methods when you’ve been found out. I’d assume it’s a lot like investing, if you invest over a 40 year period your definitely going to get your moneys worth and probably won’t have to reinvent your method over and over as oppose to day trading which ultimately, for most people, will probably lose in the long run.
Geoffrey Mapplebeck recently posted..Increase your search engine results and Page Rank with quality backlinks
Twitter: Alexshatm.com
December 23, 2012 at 1:01 AM
I seem it’s a valuable and informative post for me. I didn’t know what the Google likes and doesn’t like, this post open my eyes about Google liking. I like all the point that you include this post. I think this post is helpful for SEO practitioner.
Andrew Legion recently posted..Tally peacocking like a twat
Despite the fact that SEO is very much necessary, I will still choose ethical seo over the unethical one. It will give me a good sleep every night and it will appease my mind.
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Twitter: m_bartlett_seo
January 18, 2013 at 9:20 PM
I believe that ethical SEO is the only kind of SEO that works. I mean, it is generally much slower than your typical black hat spammer SEO, but it lasts. Results from black hat, link spamming, and other unethical tactics are only temporary.
Michael Bartlett recently posted..Scalable SEO Strategies: Exponential Growth Thanks to Google
it’s spinning an article a new name for plagarism?
And what happens if the topic you are discussing is a niche topic, so there are only a small number of people talking about it? Many years ago I was part of a group of women who discussed sewing nursing clothes. A very, very small niche market. So, where is the line drawn between sharing niche content and spinning?
where does ‘sponsoring’ a backlink fall under? black or white SEO?
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