Is SEO a scam? The short answer is no, and it’s probably the best thing that can be done to boost traffic to a website. Many websites, e-commerce sites and respected blogs have implemented an SEO or Search Engine Optimization campaign for the simple reason that it is considered by experts as one of the most reliable methods used in order to succeed in an online scenario. Nowadays, it is impossible to think about expanding an online business on the internet without considering the major search engines such as Google and Bing/Yahoo as a major part of the strategy. This is exactly what a good SEO plan does; it strives to place a website/blog/e-commerce site at the TOP of the search engines.
Understand Why Many People Ask “Is SEO a Scam?”
SEO is not a scam and if you are still having doubts the best way to proceed is to actually start performing some basic SEO or optimization techniques on your site and observe the results for yourself. Basically SEO is the process of making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem insignificant, but when combined with other optimization techniques, they could have a noticeable impact on your site’s user experience and performance in organic search results for Google and Yahoo/Bing.
It is important to note that while SEO can provide websites with valuable benefits, some unethical procedures have given the industry a bad reputation. It is the main reason why you often hear the question “is SEO a scam?” These unethical SEO practices have been named “black hat SEO” and usually involve overly aggressive linking and repetitive content efforts. The bottom line is that these black hat techniques are aiming to manipulate search engine results in an unfair and unethical manner. Practices that violate Google’s and Yahoo/Bing’s guidelines may result in a negative adjustment of a website’s presence in the search engines, or even the removal of a web site from their index. This latter procedure is better known as “blacklisting”. The key is to ensure that any SEO or optimization techniques that are performed on a website are considered legitimate by the search engines.
Now That I Know SEO is Not a Scam, How Do I Start?
To start an optimization campaign and witness first hand that SEO is not a scam, it would be prudent to consult with an SEO firm or internet marketing agency that specializes in optimization from the outset. The following are a few topics that should be discussed with the SEO agency at the initial meeting:
- Preliminary keyword analysis.
- A review of the site coding and web structure which could either hinder or facilitate the SEO process i.e. re-directs, error pages, java script, flash etc.
- Content development.
- Inbound linking strategy.
- Accuracy of Title and description tags.
- The SEO agency’s Expertise in specific markets and geographies.
