Business Ethics and SEO.
A smart consumer needs to be aware of the SEO strategies employed on their behalf. Overly aggressive Black hat SEO tactics, which are designed to trick search engines, can get you penalized and in some cases, completely removed from search results.
This happened to small business owner in Montreal, Canada who invested her entire marketing budget in an online marketing campaign. Most people would assume that a marketing campaign would consist of pay-per-click advertising and at the very least, search engine optimization of the website’s homepage. What this person received was several pages worth of hidden text thrown into the bottom of her website. This immediately caused Google’s web crawler to penalize the website for using manipulative tactics, which resulted in her site being removed from Google’s search index.
To many, Black Hat SEO appears to be a quick and easy way to gain high rankings in the search results. The visibility gained from ranking higher for common search phrases is very lucrative for website owners. However, it’s incredibly risky and short-sighted, with harsh consequences that can maim your bottom line if not handled with utmost care. Black Hat SEO should only be employed when the risks are fully explained to you and the object is to gain temporary high rankings with the knowledge that the site being optimized may get stripped from the search engine results.
For those who are not looking to take on the risks, a smart alternative to Black Hat SEO is pay-per-click advertising. You gain immediate visibility, pay only when someone clicks on your advertisement, and avoid the risks of getting your site penalized.
