However, (thankfully) this doesn’t guarantee a good result because while these practices continue to evolve, search engines continue to evolve also.  They are continually tweaking their algorithms so that their search results award higher rankings to sites that actually deserve them – sites that have built a good reputation, that are competing with similar businesses and are not trying to quickly boost their results by cheating.  They now take into account the freshness of content, the accuracy and volume of keywords, and the ranking of inward and outward linked sites.

So, why should we avoid black hat SEO practices?

• They’re immoral, it’s cheating – if you wouldn’t do it in the real world, don’t do it in the online world
• Search engines catch on to immoral practices and penalise sites for it so your site may not rank as highly as you’d expect
• Not only will you get a more accurate and deserved ranking but you’ll get more respect from your readers because the site is targeted at them and not written for search engines
• Mileage varies – some industries have highly competitive search results (e.g. “web designer” as opposed to “plumber”)
• As search engines get smarter, you will keep paying more for smarter black hat practices, whereas white hat practices will change much more slowly
• You can sleep better at night knowing that you’re making the Internet a better place

Here are some do’s and dont’s to consider if you want to avoid unethical SEO practices and still build a good ranking.

Don’t

• Pay for links or reviews – it’s cheating, don’t do it
• Duplicate content or sites – Fresh, original content ranks higher than duplicate content
• Spam keywords – consider carefully the most accurate keywords and then select the best places to include them. Don’t overuse them.
• Steal content
• Optimise pages for unrelated searches

Do

• Follow search engine guidelines to make your site indexable – use “meta” tags, include a sitemap.xml, ensure that the code is standards-compliant and valid
• Use your carefully selected keywords in relevant places – e.g. page URL, title tag, heading tags, content, “meta” tags
• Add fresh content written for people, not search engines
• Seek backlinks from relevant, reputable websites only
• Optimise your site for relevant queries only (e.g. if your site is about cake decorating, ensure it doesn’t appear for interior decorating)
• Have patience, it takes time to earn a decent ranking, just as it takes time to earn a good reputation in the real world

Now, however, I’ve changed my ways. I know how important it is these days for a website to be findable, and once found, to make a good first impression, otherwise the cost of building the website in the first place is wasted. I’m no longer satisfied with creating a professional-looking website only to let it disappear like a grain of sand in a windstorm or to see it degrade with sloppy copy written by the client. I have taught myself SEO and I have a business relationship with a friend who is very adept at writing for the web.

Here’s why you should sell SEO and copywriting with every website proposal:

• No matter how good the design is, bad copy will make a bad impression which will reflect badly on you, the designer
• Good copy that incorporates the site’s optimal keywords will enhance its SEO
• The more “white hat” SEO out there, the more search engines will begin to ignore black hat practices such as link farming
• A site that ranks well in search engines, which attracts more visitors, can only be good for your reputation as the designer
• If all professional web designers suggest and offer SEO and copywriting/editing to their clients, it will help broaden the distinction between professional web designers and bosses’ nephews who know how to use Dreamweaver and that can only be good for all web designers
• It will make the Internet a more pleasurable place to be!