​Ethics In SEO: What Constitutes Ethical PRACTICES for an SEO Agency

The subject of ethical SEO has been written about for years. Indeed, the Search Engine Journal has weighed in on it several times. So, where do ethics in SEO intersect with common SEO practices?
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For this article, we cover what constitutes working ethically with SEO and what to look for in an agency. 

​Does Ethics Have a Place in SEO?

​Ethics usually links to morals, but the digital techniques involved with SEO don’t garner emotions, so where is the linkage? Effectively, the ethics part comes into play in how search engine optimisation is practiced. Do the techniques conform with the expectations of the search engines like Google or Bing? Or would they be considered grey-hat or unethical? When hushed tones are used to describe what’s been done for your website, then that tells you a lot right there.

​How Do You Find an Ethical SEO Agency?

An SEO agency that is upfront about what they do and how they do it is more likely to be a straight shooter. Gorilla Marketing is a big player and doesn’t shy away from confirming that they do SEO the right way and stand by their practices. It goes without saying that Gorilla Marketing are the best SEO Manchester has to offer – it’s so ethical and they’re a Google Premier partner! That says a lot.

What else confirms the ethical practice of SEO for clients?

​Keeping to the Google Webmaster Guidelines

Google’s own guidelines for webmasters are worth a read. It’s short but specific about what they expect, and so too should you expect this from an ethical SEO agency.

The guidelines confirm that sites should deal honestly with visitors, make content engaging and valuable (not a copy of what’s already available), and answer the visitor’s question.
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Websites shouldn’t use tricky practices like hiding elements on the page for some visitors or creating a confusing navigation system. Play fair!

Google Certification

Being a Google certified agency is a big deal. Not that many SEO agencies have that certification because their practices fall outside of what’s acceptable.

Agencies that know they won’t qualify usually don’t even bother to apply. The limited number of agencies that qualify narrows your choice of ethical SEO agency because when the search engine has said the agency follows best practices for search engine optimisation, that’s a strong recommendation.
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Beyond that, some agencies go the extra mile and apply for and successfully obtain Bing’s certification for good measure too. On a desktop, Bing currently has a 13 percent market share, so they shouldn’t be discounted as a valid source of traffic either. 

Asking the Question

When first approaching an SEO agency, it’s sensible to ask them right out, “What makes you an ethical SEO agency?” If their representatives are floundering and struggling to produce a good answer to a basic question like this, walk away at that point. That’s a fail. An ethical business knows why they do what they do. They can also describe in detail how it’s different than other businesses that don’t operate that way.
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Ethical SEO is ever more important as clarity is sought for how companies should manage their website. For businesses that need their site to be favourably considered by Google, it’s just too risky to use questionable SEO practices at this point. Ethical SEO is the way to go.