Business Goods & Services

There is no doubt that the web has revolutionised the business world and produced the development of a totally new set of trading systems which are now generally known as e-commerce. At the leading edge of this change is the business website which was used initially to impart information on products and services to potential clients. Technological developments, both in website ability and in the financial sector, quickly allowed company websites to be used as a selling option providing instant purchasing possibilities to consumers. The unavoidable consequence of this, given the strongly competitive nature of the market place, was that all businesses wanted their website to be found easily and, more importantly, before their competitors’ websites by consumers looking to buy their product or service.

This requirement for prime listing on the search engines’ results pages resulted in the rise of the search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy. Since its inception the techniques used in SEO have evolved in an attempt to ensure that success in placing a website in a decent Search Engine Placement, on the first page of search results is reached. However, this has not always been done in an ethical manner. The search engines have a vested interest in giving their clients (i.e. those doing the searching) with a list of websites which correspond exactly their requirements, based on the keywords used in the search. Therefore, any unethical SEO techniques which compromise this basic requirement are looked at negatively by search engines as they can produce search results which do not directly correspond with their searchers’ needs. The searchers may find this very annoying and place the blame on the search engine, whose name would be damaged.

The unethical techniques touched on above have been called “Black Hat SEO”. An early case was ‘keyword stuffing’, also known as ‘spamdexing’. This involved the uncalled for, multiple use of selected keywords, often in isolation and in excessive numbers outside the core text of the website. While these keywords would link the website to the original search, the searcher would be disappointed in the content of the website to which they had been sent. Search engines enhanced their processes and now downgrade websites where this practice is detected. The use of fake links to and from other websites was also used by unethical SEO companies to erroneously position websites on the first page of search results.

It can be deduced from the above that there is nothing to be gained for nearly all of those involved in the web search process from Black Hat SEO. Only a small number website owners who only need a temporary presence on the front page of a web search to accomplish their short-term goals will benefit from Black Hat SEO. For the rest of those involved in the search process the experience will not be a positive one. Searchers suffer frustration at the presence of websites on the first page of their search which do not correspond their search request. The search engine’s reputation of being able to provide relevant websites is damaged. At the root of the problem is sometimes the Search Engine Optimization Company who uses the Black Hat techniques, but as their methods produce only short-lived success, they will not be able to build up a loyal client base and will forever need to find new ones. This could prove tricky when they are unable to give the permanent SEO results most businesses need for their Online Marketing strategy.

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