The ethics of internet marketing
Internet marketing throws up may ethical dilemmas and the majority of companies endeavour to follow a strict code of conduct when carrying out search engine optimisation work for their clients. To have a search engine marketing strategy in effect means that you are seeking to achieve number one ranking for your website or your client`s website. Internet marketing is all about achieving better rankings in the search engine stakes than your competitors in order to attract more customers to your website. To play the game is hard but the general consensus is that to play the game of internet marketing fairly and ethically will bring better long term results. It is said that the risks involved with trying to cheat search engines like Yahoo and Google are far greater than the short term gain and there are many ethical issues to consider.
There are many rules to consider and one of the most important is that the search engine optimisation rules must be adhered to and when the search engines change their rules, then the company must change their techniques accordingly. It is important to keep up to date with the search engine rules and to be prepared to change the optimisation techniques accordingly.
Deceptive techniques should also not be used to try and outwit the search engines as the tricks will be uncovered. There are many techniques which are considered risky and which although may seem clever and impossible to uncover, are usually impossible to hide. An SEO company should also not try to attempt to purport any skills and techniques which are not plausible and should never make any rash promises such as number one position within a week if this is not feasible.
A company should also endeavour to stick very strictly to deadlines and when working out a schedule should always offer a start and completion date, and when any changes are known the company should be informed immediately. It is important to be able to offer a timely and reliable reputation.
Very often the uncontrollable nature of the search engines means that the SEO company will not be able to offer an exact date or time required to reach optimum position in the rankings. An estimated project completion date should always be given which can be updated as soon as further time lines are known.
It is very important also that client information is kept as confidential as possible as no sensitive information will be given out to a third party. It is vital not to treat one client differently from another and each client should receive the same treatment even though the length of time taken to reach number one position may differ. It is also important that there is no conflict of interest between each client, even though the clients may work in the same area of business.