Ethical SEO: Why Quality Content is Key

If you haven’t come across the phrase “content is king” yet, then you haven’t been in the world of SEO for long. Content, particularly in the form of blog posts, makes search engines happy, which in turn makes SEOs happy.

Many business owners believe that the more blog posts you have, the better things will be, right? Well sure, unless your content is insincere and uninformative, and when you value quantity over quality it usually is.

Ideally, all of the content on your company’s website would be insightful, relevant, and written by you or your employees. I say ideally because in most cases all three of those things combined simply isn’t possible.

The thing is, not everyone can write well, and even if you can, unless your company specializes in writing or SEO, you’re likely too busy keeping your business running to write about it. Quality blog writing takes time, and if your business is making and selling chocolate covered strawberries, that time is better spent on the strawberries.

Delegation Frustration

You don’t have the time or the skills to create your own content, that’s fine, that’s why SEO firms exist. However, if you do choose to outsource your content keep in mind that not all SEO firms are equal.

An unfortunate abundance of SEO (or, more appropriately “SEO”) firms are blind to anything but search rankings, and while search rankings definitely matter, you’re not trying to get search engines to buy your product. Sure, it takes a lot less time and effort to crank out blog posts that say all the right things to Google and little else, but if those posts don’t say the right things to the people using Google they do nothing for conversion.

In some cases, even Google isn’t happy and you’re essentially throwing your money away. Search engine algorithms are constantly being updated in order to weed out spam and reward quality information, and you’re relying on your SEO firm to know and follow those changes. Unfortunately there are firms that will gladly take your money and potentially destroy your web presence.

Ethical SEO relies on quality content that makes search engines happy while providing relevant and insightful information to your potential customers at the same time. It may cost a little more and take a little longer, but the results are well worth it.

Signs of Ethical SEO

There are a few things you can look out for when shopping for an SEO firm that will do the right things. An ethical SEO firm should:

• Be willing to provide a clear outline of the techniques they use.
• Have a proven positive track record (success of prior/current clients and testimonials).
• Be willing to work with you on content and allow you to be more or less involved, as you choose.
• Be competitively priced, but not too competitively (too low a price usually means low quality).
• Be willing to provide regular reports on the health of your website and collaborate with you on improvements.

Just remember, SEO is important and content may be king, but if your content isn’t appealing to potential customers it doesn’t matter where it ranks or how much of it there is.