The Way To Do It - The White Hat Way
Do any of these statements sound familiar?
I noticed that your site is not showing in the top 20 for leading search phrases and thought you ought to know. If you want to do something about this and get more sales from your website then you need to take some action and check out this link.
Or
We can guarantee your website top 10 listing on leading search engines, why waste time and lose sales sign up now to our web optimisation service and start making money and play with the big boys.
Or
You have a fantastic site, its just a pity that your traffic is low and your listing is not in the top 20, we think you deserve better and because we like your site we want to help you become more successful.
Any one that operates a website will know about the never ending stream of emails promising to promote your website and get you listed in the top ten for leading search engines such as Yahoo, MSN, AOL and of course Google. Most of these emails promise amazing results in months and some of them will offer you guaranteed top 10 placements for given phrases or key words.
Many even don't ask for any money up front and instead promises to get
your site listed and only ask you to pay when they achieve their promise. This
sounds very tempting indeed and many employ very clever marketing web techniques
but they mainly employ very persuasive arguments and sales calls that simply
pile on the pressure for you to engage their company with statements like.
"
You have nothing to lose and all to gain as you don't even have
to pay us until we deliver our promise."
How can you possibly refuse such a tempting offer and what harm can it do you to try anyway. Well, these companies will cost you money one way or another in the vain hope to propel your website into the dizzy heights of stardom and ever flowing sales.
What harm can it do to try these companies anyway? Well If It doesn't work then at least you have tried and nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.
!But Beware by trying one of these companies not only will it cost you money it can certainly do you harm, in fact it can do you perhaps the worst possible harm by black listing your site and being banned all together and removed from the directory.
So as well as spending money you end up with a banned website which is removed from the directory which you and your company has spent months preparing and thousands on developing only to end up 'black balled' and in the sin bin for an unspecified period if not for good.
Is that sufficient harm, what do you think?
Why Take That Risk?
The problem lies with the under handed and often deceptive methods used by these quick fix get rich quick SEO services that are against the transparent white hat principals that the Search engines and in particular Google strongly recommend you adhere to in their published Guidelines.
It is a recognised fact that amongst all the search engines and directories Google stands out as the most popular Search Engine / Directory certainly in the western hemisphere, some say that if your site is not in the top 20 of Google for your popular phrases then you're not going to be a great success in commercial terms. So why take such foolish risks with your business by taking a gamble with an unscrupulous company that makes promises that they can only keep at your expense.
Google in particular has a love hate relationship with many web masters and web entrepreneurs alike as the directory is certainly in a constant state of refinement and going through a continuous program of development and changes to their indexing algorithm. This is seen in the regular monthly reshuffles of the pack known as a 'Google Dance' which sees sites moving up and down and some being demoted all together and or even removed.
This can be of course very exasperating for web site owners and webmasters alike when frantic calls or emails are received complaining that their website has seemingly disappeared or dropped some places. On the other hand it can be an excitement for those sites that climb the ladder and suddenly achieve top spot or on at least the first page top 10.
This constant reshuffling of the directory will be the norm so one must accept that at least with Google you should be thankful for the good times and be prepared for some bad times but above all - be prepared like a good boy scout.
In short if you use deceptive methods to attempt to cheat the system such techniques are deemed to be 'Black Hat' techniques, which are not only unacceptable to the likes of Google they are seen to be 'grossly offensive' and contravene their terms of conditions and will if discovered by the Search Engine and their human rater's who regularly check search results lead to a penalty being imposed and at worst having you sent off the field of play over night and without any warning.
You will simply not see your website in the Search Engines any more and it will be as swift and simple as any disappearing act. No amount of pleading emails to Google will return any explanations of what you have done and any solutions to rectify the problem, you will have simply been removed and punished for your dastardly deeds. Unlike any court of law in any country you will not be charged with your offence indeed you wont even see it coming you will simply have been thrown into jail and the key thrown away just like the Count of Monte Christo.
If you think this seems unfair then maybe it is, to be tried and convicted and sent to jail without even the opportunity to defend yourself and to present your case as the innocent victim of an unscrupulous SEO company.
Google don't want to hear it and cant be bothered to listen because they get thousands of pleading emails hourly and they have a business to run and the onus is on you to have read their published guidelines before you engaged the services of the 'black Hat' wizard in the first place. You should know better than to try to cheat the system. In truth you probably don't even know the guidelines but one thing is for sure if you engage the services of a company that makes these promises then you have put your life in their hands. You're better off spending your money on legitimate methods that work but will take longer rather than trying to take short cuts that don't.
Caveat Emptor
It wont be the SEO Company that loses money it will be you, as there are plenty more suckers lining up to be mugged in the desperate scramble to see their website in lights.
Remember one simple rule there are NO quick and easy ways to build a successful and well ranked website. It takes a great deal of effort and energy to build a strong website like any other business it does take time.
Anyone who is aged 40+ will probably remember the quick rich schemes such as 'Chain Letter's and pyramid selling schemes which flooded the market that promised you easy money and to make you rich within months. Many thousands of people lost thousands in the process of chasing that elusive dream.
If you really want your website to make you money and to be highly ranked then lets make it crystal clear to you and use the analogy of building a skyscraper. At first you see nothing coming out of the ground as you drive past for months and only see boarding behind which a great deal of excavation and a lot of foundation work and preparation is going on. Then you go away on vacation and return to work and drive past and suddenly you see the building appearing out of the ground with its steel work growing daily. Your website strategy must follow a similar course otherwise it will collapse all around you like a deck of cards as it is not built on firm foundations.
Like every skyscraper that pierces every city skyline there is a great deal of foundation work that takes place for a year before the building suddenly starts to rise out of the ground. And before your website can penetrate the skies, you must be prepared to dig deep and make your foundations strong before you can reach for the sky.
We want to build your skyscraper for you and work with you in partnership on the project from the ground up and together we hope to reach the sky.
We at White Hat will not promise what we can't deliver but we can promise to use only 'White Hat' techniques to build your website with strong foundations, good specifications and based on sound and ethical optimisation techniques that work that are within the search engines published guidelines at the time. We can only keep you informed and up to date and do our best to keep ahead of changes and trends.
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