Webmaster: Is SEO Ethical?

I've been pondering the question of whether or not there is an ethical SEO company out there. Before you all ping me to tell me you're the one, let me stop you. Clearly there has to be ethical companies out there, but damn they're hard to find in a sea full of scammers.

I'm not looking for an SEO company, so don't solicit me because I don't have work for you. I can do my own SEO work just fine, but recently I did try to outsource some work to an SEO company that gave a 100% appearance of being ethical and credible. Guess what, appearances aren't everything ... they might mean nothing.

Yeah, it looks like I got ripped off ... me ... who knows better! I outsourced some SEO writing pieces first of this year and the guy who took the work ... ie. took the money ... isn't returning emails ... phone calls ... I'd have to say I got NO return on my investment. That really ticks me off! I mean if this can happen to me, I'm wondering how many innocent website owners are getting scammed daily.

And by-the-way, I hope the SEO smuck who I'm referring to is reading this post because I just want to say ... SHAME ON YOU!!! You put up blogs and websites that tell the world how credible and knowledgeable you are in the SEO world ... shame, shame, shame ... you fakers! Forkers! Fokers! F-word-ers!

While pondering the topic of SEO ethics, I found myself reading Google's Google Information for Webmasters ... more specifically Search Engine Optimizers. I'm going to borrow heavily from Google on this topic of SEO and ethics.

Here's Google's tips on things to look for in an SEO company:

Be wary of SEO firms that send you email out of the blue
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google
Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do
You should never have to link to an SEO
Some SEOs may try to sell you the ability to type keywords directly into the browser address bar
Choose wisely
Be sure to understand where the money goes
Talk to many SEOs, and ask other SEOs if they would recommend the firm you're considering
Make sure you're protected legally

I like the "Choose wisely" tip ... gee, ya think?! And, yet ... my own experience goes to show that there is no such thing as choosing wisely. I know this company I hired is legally a business and for all purposes, is viable on paper. So, even that check might not mean you've protected yourself. Ah, but their last suggestion to "Make sure you're protected legally" ... that's the one my friends that we most often don't do. I didn't. Can we all say dumb ass?! You must get contracts in place. Funny, I do believe that's what I was communicating when "said company" stopped communicating. A little late on my part. Moral of the story ... do as I say, not as I do ... er, did.

Other things to look out for from SEO companies:

owns shadow domains
puts links to their other clients on doorway pages
offers to sell keywords in the address bar
doesn't distinguish between actual search results and ads that appear in search results
guarantees ranking, but only on obscure, long keyword phrases you would
get anyway
operates with multiple aliases or falsified WHOIS info
gets traffic from "fake" search engines, spyware, or scumware
has had domains removed from Google's index or is not itself listed in Google

I'm sure this is a dumb question and I should already know the answer, I just never thought I'd needed to know ... but, how do you know if a domain has been removed from Google?

And, my favorite part of their tips on SEO (un)ethical companies ... hey smuck, are you listening? ... is how to report them to the FTC. Let me post that here for you:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To file a complaint, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/ and click on "File a Complaint Online", call 1-877-FTC-HELP, or write to:

Federal Trade Commission
CRC-240
Washington, D.C. 20580

If your complaint is against a company in another country, please file it at http://www.econsumer.gov/.

This issue of SEO ethics isn't anything new, as I'm sure you all are aware of, but from time-to-time we all need to be reminded ... that's "we" the ethical webmasters and SEO companies ... that there are less than honorable SEO companies out there taking full advantage of us and our client base in every way imaginable. You really have to do you homework on these companies because at face value they put on a damn good show.

I like what Salon.com had to say about "When Internet marketing goes sour" ... calling for some justice to these thieves of innocence. Of course you can always report them to Google or the other search engines and you will be heard.