There is no doubt that the net has changed the business world and resulted in the development of a completely new set of trading systems which are now generally known as e-commerce. At the forefront of this development is the company website which was used firstly to release information on products and services to current customers. Computer advances, both in website capability and in the financial sector, quickly allowed company websites to be used as a selling tool providing instant purchasing possibilities to consumers. The predictable consequence of this, given the strongly competitive nature of the market place, was that every business wanted their site to be found easily and, more importantly, in advance their competitors’ websites by consumers looking to buy their goods or service.

This need for prime position on the search engines’ results pages led to the rise of the search engine optimisation (SEO) idea. Since its inception the methods used in SEO have grown in an attempt to make sure that success in placing a website in a good Search Engine Placement, on the first page of search results is attained. However, this has not always been conducted in an ethical way. 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 processes which compromise this basic need 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 irritating and place the blame on the search engine, whose character would be damaged.

The unethical methods detailed above have been named “Black Hat SEO”. An early case was ‘keyword stuffing’, also known as ‘spamdexing’. This involved the unreasonable, multiple use of selected keywords, often in isolation and in excessive numbers outside the main text of the site. While these keywords would link the website to the original search, the searcher would be disgruntled with the content of the website to which they had been sent. Search engines developed 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 practitioners to erroneously place websites on the first page of search results.

It can be construed from the above that there is nothing to be gained for most of those involved in the web search process from Black Hat SEO. Only a few website owners who only need a transient presence on the front page of a web search to accomplish their short-term objectives will benefit from Black Hat SEO. For the rest of those involved in the search process the experience will not be a pleasant 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 appropriate websites is compromised. At the root of the issue is sometimes the Search Engine Optimization Company who uses the Black Hat methods, but as their methods give only short-lived success, they will not be able to develop a loyal client base and will always need to find new ones. This could prove difficult when they are unable to offer the permanent SEO results most organisations need for their Online Marketing strategy.

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2. Why A Search Engine Optimization Company Should Help Your Website
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