SEO Standards: Are We Really Pretending these Will Work?
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I’m going to take my turn kicking the dead horse that is the “seo standards” because quite honestly, I’m absolutely amazed that this is even being proposed. The entire concept of SEO standards is both wrong and impossible for so many reasons, that I will probably have to skimp on a few to preserve some hard drive space on my server(a hyperbole, but deal with it).
For those unfamiliar, the term “seo standards” refers to a set of “best practices” and “risk ratings” for SEOs. Reasons for it include it being a guide for newbies, and as a way for customers to tell if they’re getting ripped off by high risk SEOs. And it’s a way for “ethical” SEOs to separate themselves from the rest of us riff-raff.
- “Risk” is a Variable that Is Impossible to Define
Chris Boggs has very much hit on the point of “assigning risk ratings” to various SEO tactics. Let me explain something. Risk is dependent on niche. Someone trying to rank(and stay ranked) for “buy viagra” is going to have a LOT more leniency with certain gray area tactics than someone trying to rank for “knitting supplies”.
Or how about cloaking vs. IP delivery? They’re quite similar. Is IP delivery, specifically okayed by Google risky? Oh…well what if it’s IP delivery by geographic location? Or what if the page changes by language? Or what about what some forums do where they add a “You must register first” window, and move all the real content down the page? What if I want to show Yahoo and Google different pages? - If You’re Doing Everything the Same as Everyone Else, You’re Doing Something Wrong
I’m sorry, but with so many people in this field charging ridiculous fees(some, not all) you BETTER be packing something that won’t be in their little “seo standards” manual. Most people who I know have their own tricks for getting in, and hell if they are going to want to spill these to a “seo standards” just so their clients will ok them. Keep in mind, these aren’t tricks like doorway pages. Whitehat all the way. - There Will be a Loss of Competitive Edge for those who Comply
People taking on clients are going to want to comply with these all the way should they come out, just because the client will want this. But that will likely leave out most personal tricks, gray area techniques that most SEOs end up doing(including, but FAR from limited to paid links). So in order to keep the client happy, you get the joy of trying to compete as essentially the SEO version of amputee. And also, this could have severe legal implications. Someone that wants to rank for, let’s say “las vegas casinos” is going to most likely need a few things at least a little against Google TOS(some self made links, purchased links, whatever). Now, if that client ends up getting the Google smackdown, they can come back and complain that the SEO was using “high risk tactics” that anyone familiar with the industry is going to know is quite necessary for the niche. And they have a concrete document that will probably be written incredibly naively agreeing with them. - What Happens When the Google TOS and These Rules Disagree and it’s already circulated?
I’ve heard a few references that these could serve as guidelines for newbies as a shortcut to reading the blogs.
But obviously these “standards” would be copied all over the net. So what happens if some day Google decides that something “low risk” in the standards doc is high risk? Who among us really things they can manage to get every messageboard post, every local copy, and every PDF changed so we don’t end up advising newbies to do things that will get their sites nailed?
How about this ladies and gents. How about instead, just point them to the Google TOS, and then SEOBook (no aff link) or something similar? Or how about they just learn like EVERYONE else did?
Conclusion: You are SEOs. Deal with Your Problems Like SEOs
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Don’t like all the dirty SEOs out there? OUTRANK THEM. I’m not a commercial SEO. I don’t do consultations, I don’t do linkbuilding for others. But everyone who is, come on guys! Allow me to illustrate this example.
Right now, when I search for “search engine optimization”, 3 of the top 10(and indeed in the better ranks) are several sites bragging about how they can “submit your site to 40+ search engines” and other such crap. Does NO ONE out there wonder how these obviously crap services ranked for such a competitive term? Here’s a hint: It’s probably not in Papa Cutt’s “best practices”, and it’s insane how long they’ve been stable in the top 10.
So to those people out there better than these people, how about just outranking them? Kill their business off as an SEO should. Not with some bogus standards that will only serve to confuse and complicate the environment.
-XMCP
April 7th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Despite your youth, you have wisdom beyond your years…the best post on this topic yet!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:36 am
A lot of your posts are over my head, but I totally <3 you when I can understand what you’re talking about. Excellent post.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I haven’t seen any seos take part in this discussion.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I think SEO Standards are like expensive membership organizations, they benefit the larger industry members and shut-out the smaller firms. Who will make the standards? The big firms. Who will not have a seat at the table? The small firms.
The problem is not a lack of guidelines, it is reputation management. Step back and look at the larger issue.
The risk is that SEO as an industry will be decimated is a falicy. The work of SEO is not going to dissapear. The real risk is that the SEO industry will be swallowed-up by marketing agencies and advertising & public relations firms, that we will loose our identity.
If you want to bolster the reputation of the SEO industry and strengthen its independence then begin by opening the arms of the industry to all legitimate firms and stop swatting the little guys like flies.
Create a national organization where membership is accessible and affordable to small SEO agencies as it is to large ones, and give companies of all sizes seats on the board of directors.
Foster regional chapters and local industry leadership.
Create affordable industry events in addition to the ones that cost $1,200 plus air and hotel to attend.
If you want guidelines, forget about regulating how to do the work of SEO and focus on a general code of ethics and best practices for building positive client relationships.
Are our efforts better spent on embracing goodness or policing badness?
I am not against large SEO companies. Just the opposite. The more companies with size and strength that this industry has the more the SEO industry can control its reputation, its future and its independence. But the only way this industry will increase the number of large SEO businesses is to foster and grow the small businesses.
Industry Standards will not solve SEO’s reputation management issues.
FYI
This is my personal opinion only.
Someone wrote that SEO is a form of advertising. I respectfully disagree. Organic SERPs are a form of non-paid promotion. SEO is a form of publicity which is a subset of marketing. You do not call PR advertising just because you have an agency on retainer, do you?
April 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
@ Tom Schmitz
You raise a good point, but I have to disagree. SEO is so new that it should stay free and de-regulated. As soon as you create chapters, and registration, it will turn into a bureaucratic mess that will not able to keep up with the ever changing search landscape.
As someone ready to jump into freelancing, I prey I wont have to be “SEO Certified” like our PPC brethren and their “Ad Words Certification” or “Yahoo Ambassador”
April 7th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
[…] coverage of SEO Standards. If you want a list of some recent articles visit this post at SEOmoz and Slightly Shady. I think that most of the people talking about standards are coming from the wrong position. They […]
April 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Thank’s for the article preview shady. You have more ADD than I do
April 7th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I wonder how any standards would be enforced? Would people simply buy membership to some self appointed body or will we have the Chartered Institute of SEO. The world is awash with tuppence halfpenny (2 cent) organisations pretending to be honourable and meaningful, they rarely are.
d
April 7th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
@5
You seem to misunderstand. By industry groups or associations I refer not to regulating bodies but to peer groups or fellowships within the industry. Wouldn’t you, as a newly minted freelancer, enjoy going to a monthly luncheon with the other SEO peeps in your town?
April 7th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
@ Tom
What economics background do you come from? It sure wasn’t capitalism. You go ahead and form an organization I might even join. But the facts you point out will never work. A large organization that fosters small business. Isn’t that an oxymoron itself.
What you are talking about and being distracted by at your luncheons the rest will be out taking your business. Just remember the old saying. those who can do and those who can’t teach. Just think about the principal behind that when you run for your local SEO luncheon chapter. I might even show up once a year to vote.
@ Shady
You always have some interesting approach to the latest SEO recommendations. Sometimes I don’t agree with you and sometimes I think you are wrong. But never-the-less it is always something to think about.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Man I 100% agree with this post. Almost to comical levels. What cracks me up the most about this whole “standards” debate is that when I look at the players involved…NONE of them represent anybody with any kind of authority over anybody. So how ‘effective’ could any sort of standards method be?
Frankly the whole “oh we gotta do it for the n00bs” point is a real stretch for me too. I agree with Shady totally…what’s preventing those people from doing what everyone else did?
April 8th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I found this at Sphinn…excellent post that clearly outlines your point of view on the subject. In the “real world,” you are right that all we can do for now is just prove our merit by outranking the other guy.
I agree that the amount of risk someone is willing to take is directly attributable to their own business model. However what one person says is not that risky may be qualified by someone else as very risky. Thus, a consensus rating might help marketers make a better decision.
Thanks for actually addressing that point as I was beginning to wonder if it was white on white background!
April 8th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
[…] SEO Standards: Are We Really Pretending these Will Work? […]
April 9th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Shady, I agree, put your money where your mouth is or shut it. Your customers websites are going to be competing against their (those that don’t conform to standards) customers websites - who do you want to win that race?
April 9th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I hadn’t even heard about the subject til this post. People want standards? Go ahead! And those of us who choose not to participate will run rings around them. Google guidelines are the defacto ’standard’ anyway.
And about joining a professional organization: yes, it certainly will devolve into a clubby old-boys’ group where the top members will benefit and the joiners will get fish-all.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
But, if standards are adopted, and you don’t toe the line, you are going to be at a competitive disadvantage to the giant association that bands together to “enforce” them (i.e. market this standard as an essential reputation badge).
#1 is a bogus concept that you refute - “risk” isnt the problem,the problem is ethics
#2 and #3 are virtually the same point, but it is the key problem, I can see the e-books from here “What the SEO standards DONT TELL YOU!”
#4 is a bogus argument, easily accomplished by putting the standards under a license that requires a link to the most up-to-date version of the standards
April 10th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Man this is great:
“It’s probably not in Papa Cutt’s “best practices”, and it’s insane how long they’ve been stable in the top 10.”
April 10th, 2008 at 12:41 am
I agree with you! SEO standards would be a pain in the ass for everyone who has a knowledge advantage over the rest of the industry and cannot use it to help his clients because it has not been approved by the “holy seo standars senat”.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:32 am
[…] Shady SEO started out the week with a self described rant, SEO Standards: Are We Really Pretending These Will Work? He goes through the reasons why he feels standards wouldn’t benefit the industry, and […]
April 26th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
More great information. Never heard of SEOBook but will be checking it out now. Thanks man!