Over the years the definition of SEO has surely changed. Years ago everyone approached it like it was a giant science project and today it is approached for the most part like a marketing effort. Unfortunately we still see individuals and companies really butchering the craft of SEO and giving it a bad name by using shotty business practices and spammy efforts to try and “market” their websites.

Here are my ideas of the drastic differences among taking a less than stellar approach to growing any business and taking a high-quality marketing approach to your overall search engine optimization movement.

 

Everyone seems to have a special approach on how to get from point A to point B; some are worth mentioning and some are just downright disrespectful to the industry. The SEO industry is very important to keep clean and some out there really give SEO people a bad image.

Here are some differences between good SEO and bad SEO.

Keyword Research

Good SEO

Putting together a combination of soaring search volume keywords along with long-tail keyword phrases and also some low search volume keywords elegantly and strategically through your website.

Bad SEO

Simply going after one-word keyword for each page of your website eager you will be at the top of the search results for only high search volume keywords.

Writing a Meta Tag

Good SEO

Crafting a friendly user focused meta title tag in good taste using a targeted keyword phrase that is 60 web characters or less.

Bad SEO

Taking your meta title tag and overstuffing it with your industry keywords thinking it will work to your advantage when it comes time to rank in the search results.

Writing a Meta Tag Description

Good SEO

Keeping your website traffic in mind so your message can be heard when a website visitor reads your meta tag description in the search results. All this while utilizing your targeted keywords for that specific page.

Bad SEO

Taking a spammy approach and over stuffing your meta tag descriptions with the intentions of just trying to achieve rankings and forgetting about the overall user experience.

Content Optimization

Good SEO

Attractively utilizing keywords and long tail phrases into your existing content so a person can actually understand it and can still make a connection with what your business is trying to say or communicate.

Bad SEO

Having so many keywords jammed into your content that it is difficult to even read.

Press Release Writing & Distribution

Good SEO

Writing something worthy of an announcement to get your surrounding community chattering about it on their websites and in their blogs and distributing the PR through a small handful of industry standard press release distribution services.

Bad SEO

Obviously constructing a PR piece that is solely meant for search engines and not a human being.

Article Writing & Distribution

Good SEO

Placing yourself as an authority in your niche or area of study and writing an article that your industry can actually benefit from is the way to go.

Bad SEO

Writing a massive amount of articles that most likely make no sense but are SEO’d to death is not a targeted approach.

Directory Submission

Good SEO

Choosing highly trafficked and respected website directories to list your business in.

Bad SEO

Taking a software program that promises to distribute your information into thousands of directories that are virtually useless for you to be listed in.

Video Marketing

Good SEO

Making an instructive or promotional viral video that offers something unique to your industry while allowing for some SEO efforts when constructing titles and descriptions so they are search engine friendly.

Bad SEO

Recording a horribly produced video just for the sake of making a video and not really having any substance to it with the only intention being to take up a parking space in the search results.

Facebook Marketing

Good SEO

Building a Facebook fan page that is inviting to your audience and your community where you can spread the message to your followers about your business in any way you feel necessary.

Bad SEO

Attempting to send thousands of friend requests from a personal profile that has been structured to come from a business because it is easier to send out a request that way. This will get your Facebook account shut off.

Twitter Marketing

Good SEO

By posting useful information for your audience and your industry into your Twitter stream that doesn’t consist of just self promotional items.

Bad SEO

Sending out self promotional messages or affiliate links all day long without adding any substance to the conversation is not going to help anyone.

Blog Commenting

Good SEO

Good blog commenting always ads to the overall conversation that is occurring within that blog post. Leaving behind a few good sentences that actually add value is the way to go.

Bad SEO

Short little messages letting someone know they have a great post is not going to add any value and it is an approach that adds absolutely no value to anything.

These are some of the areas that I think need to be looked at when you are starting to market your business online. Take the right approach when you first get going because you will be happy you did. Taking a tasteful approach allows you to build your brand and also impacts the way others in your industry will view you as a business.