Does the idea of Search Engine Optimization make your skin crawl? Do you think SEO is snake oil? Let’s go all in: Does SEO Disgust You?
Mark Schaefer at BusinessesGrow.com is disgusted by SEO. But unlike people who think SEO doesn’t work, or is some odd technology-age form of Multiple Level Marketing, Mr. Schaefer makes his point in a way that’s fair: Search Engine Optimization is a practice with a lot of loopholes, and when there are loopholes to be exploited, people will exploit them.
I agree. And I ask: is that bad?
The way some companies do SEO is more than a little bit “disgusting” (insert JC Penney/Black Hat SEO reference here). And when big companies like AOL make SEO the cornerstone of their business model while simultaneously telling us we can trust them as journalists, well … you can see why Google wants to get the way their search engine sees the rest of us under control.
When all is said and done, though, the issue remains that Internet-based marketing, and Search Engine Optimization in particular, are critical to your business’ growth. So while the question of whether you believe in SEO might seem important, it ultimately really doesn’t matter all that much. Remember “publish or perish”? Try “Optimize Your Business’ Web Site for Search Engines, or Die“.
And that’s whether Search Engine Optimization is Disgusting, or Not,
Contact Me Here. I’ll Disgust You, but good. And it’s free!
I guess I’m old school. I think HOW you get results is important too. Based on a lot of comments around my blog post, perhaps integrity is an anachronism these days. Makes me sad.
Thanks for the shout-out, but we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.
Mark, I find it funny that you think we disagree.
The examples you used were … ugly. And the whole “well, this is grey” nonsense? NONSENSE.
How you get traffic VERY much matters. The problem in the system is that you need to FIGURE OUT THE SYSTEM. And that’s a long, difficult process, best undertaken by either “SEO experts”, or by companies with so much money to throw at the problem that they win just by being them.
But Holy Cow does that not mean I condone the grey SEO stuff.