Why Is SEO Controversial?

Posted on July 18th, 2012. Written by Suhail.

Search Engine Optimization is one of those topics that have generated much discussion, controversy and heated debates over the past years. While experts believe that SEO is a legitimate way to increase website traffic and gain higher search engine rankings, there are still others who rule it out as an ‘unethical’ way of achieving results through altering a website so as to make it appear and perform well in search engine listings. Even you might be having mixed opinions regarding whether SEO is really what it is and whether or not it is a legitimate practice, or is there something more to it that is not revealed on the surface?

Whether this conception is due to a misunderstanding of how SEO actually works or just for the sake of creating a controversy, SEO is a popular topic among the members of the SEO community and the general internet public. Given below are some of the facts – or reasons, you could say – that have led to the current popularity and status of SEO in the web community, and why it is considered acceptable by some people and objectionable by others.

1.      No Set Rules & Regulations

In the SEO industry, there aren’t set standards as such, or formal rules of conduct, which means that online businesses can engage in whatever SEO practices they want to as long as they are careful enough to avoid being detected or caught by search engines as spam. Due to this lack of formal regulations and standards, everyone has a different view about what is right and what is wrong regarding SEO practices. An SEO technique that is considered legitimate or ‘white hat’ by one individual might be labeled as ‘black hat’ by another one.  

2.      SEO: Linking or Spamming?

Many people who raise voice against SEO are those who believe that it actually works through spamming. It is a common belief that some people on the web come up with low quality content that nobody wants to link to and use SEO as a spamming technique to come at par with the high-quality content that people want to link to, instead of actually producing high-quality content in the first place. However, again there are  people and experts who believe that SEO actually helps in the creation of good-quality content for people who initially produce poor or low quality one.  

3.      Unethical Practices

SEO involves linking to other websites and gaining links in return. But, when you link to a particular site, there is no guarantee that you will get a link in return as well. Generally, what happens is that the more you link to others, the more likely they will link back to you. This is how it should work in an ideal situation, and this is what SEO seems to be on the surface. However, in an attempt to achieve quick and guaranteed results, people tend to deviate from this practice by ‘buying’ links and using other link building techniques that guarantee good results without much effort and ‘honesty’.     

Also, with SEO being a multimillion-dollar business nowadays that generates billions of dollars through search engines and paid advertising, it is definitely expected to create controversy among individuals. With so many arguments surrounding SEO and its validity, one can never be sure and only speculate upon the direction it would take in the near future.

Suhail

Professional content writer having experience in writing all types of contents like articles, blogs, ebooks, squidoo lenses, hubpages, reviews, web content, news, press releases, link wheel creation and much more.Check out my Gigs here: http://www.seoclerks.com/user/Suhail

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