Like in other industries, the practice of a profession is guided by specific Code of Ethics, the framework of which is based on what are acceptable practices in the industry. Doctors take their oath before they are permitted to practice their profession. Their oath sums up the principles of ethical behavior that they should adhere to in the practice of their professions.
SEO or search engine optimization, likewise has its own Code of Ethics. Unfortunately, the business has been easily tainted by the inconsiderate and unprofessional practices of some people who lack awareness in good business ethics. You’ve heard about “black hat SEO”, “spamming” or “spamdexing”. All of these terms give reference to unethical SEO practices and techniques used to advance their selfish motives and interests and defy what is required of a professional SEO.
The good news is that the people behind search engines have not stopped at finding ways to curb and put a stop to techniques and practices that are in total disregard of the SEO Code of Ethics. With the constant updates on search engines’ algorithms ultimately aimed at removing works of those who don’t adhere to the Code so that the users get genuine information that they are looking for, and not be led to sites designed to count viewership or click-throughs.
The SEO Code of Ethics, in summary are principles that enhance website usability, help search engines find and rank the sites according to their real value to the users. Those who adhere and follow the Code strive and work hard to build functional, content-rich and content-optimized websites or webpages that provide genuine benefits to the end users.
The anti-Code of Ethics practitioners produce work that has various tactics that deceive users into believing that they have the information they “promise” to have. They are the ones who abused the different optimization tools and techniques in their own “creative” and deceitful ways which are destructive to SEO functionality and effectiveness. They have utmost disregard for the future of the Internet community.
The SEO Code of Ethics include the following provisions, all of which point to implementing techniques and strategies that are beneficial to the end users:
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No SEO professional will inflict harm intentionally to online clients
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No SEO professionals will violate any published, circulated and enforced rules of search engine or directories with intent
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No SEO professional will deliberately harm, deceive, mislead or offend a consumer or customer
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No SEO professional will violate any laws intentionally
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No SEO professional will falsely or maliciously represent the content of the client site
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No SEO professional will claim ownership of others work not theirs to begin with
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No SEO professional will lay false claims on their own education, abilities, training, experience, standards of performance, certifications and accreditations, trade group affiliations, and technical know-how and expertise to others
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No SEO professional will engage in activities that have conflict of interest without prior notice to all parties involved
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No SEO professional will set unreasonable and unobtainable client expectations
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All SEO professionals will offer internal or external dispute resolution to their clients
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All SEO professionals will ensure the protection of the confidentiality and anonymity of their clients with respect to privileged information and materials that imply testimonial support for the SEO professional
- All SEO professionals will work to their best ability to increase or retain the rankings of client sites using only acceptable techniques
