websense

Usually when you hear an SEO talk about web ethics, you think of white hat and black hat SEO. I’m sure most of you are familiar with these terms. White hat refers professional clean SEO that uses only techniques that are approved by the Search Engines and the SEO community in general. Black hat SEO refers to some of the shadier techniques that, while they may have a short term benefit, are actually dangerous in the long term. More importantly, they are misleading and wrong. Go here if you want to learn more about Black Hat SEO.

While all these things are important to understand so that you’re not unwittingly participating in any of them, I am actually thinking in terms of social media. It can be such a great tool make your business part of the online community, as we’ve discussed here, and over on the SEO blog, but what happens when someone chooses to use the social media machine for evil?

Your reputation matters online and offline:

As business people, we all know how important reputation is, right? You work hard to build and maintain a good, trustworthy reputation. It’s the essence of who you are in business. In “real life” this is a somewhat arbitrary thing. You do your best, treat people well, and work hard to be fair & honest. Most, if not all people will see your efforts, and know that you are a stand up person. Some (can’t make everyone happy all the time) will have negative comments, and even some flat out untrue things that they choose to say and repeat. This is all human nature.

People will be human:

The web is really no different. People will be people. I know some of you are not on the social media bandwagon yet. Heck, I haven’t started to use Twitter yet (I keep making some excuse about being too busy). There’s so much to this powerful new social machine, with so many ways to impact an online (and therefore offline) reputation. LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, (Corey could name them all for you – I can’t even remember them all, but you get the gist) and so on create enormous opportunities to build and protect your online reputation. What I am wondering is, what is to stop someone from really damaging your reputation falsely? We’ve all seen a news story here and there, but thankfully, this doesn’t seem to be overtaking all the good things the web can do for a company.

I am guessing that some sort of code of ethics must emerge.

Join online communities and discussions for the sake of building both relationships and reputation. Plus the added benefit that you’ll likely get in touch with some old friends. Keep in mind, however, people will be people, so the discussion will not always be positive about your business, but it’s much better to be a legit part of the conversation online than it is to not even know it is going on.

Perhaps coming up with the things you just don’t do, and integrating this information into the white hat area of SEO. Things such as:

*You just don’t post false information about a person, or even a company.
*If you have a grievance with a company or website, give them the opportunity to make it right before you post negative feedback or comments.
*Don’t use a company site to settle a personal score you have with someone.

What would you add to this list? I’d be curious to hear from others that have given this some thought, as it could be a really troubling thing if you are the one trying to clear your name, or that of your company, on the web.

If you are in the NE Ohio area and have a sales team that follows up on web sales and leads, this web sales workshop is well worth your time. We’re teaming up with the Ruby Group, a great Sandler Sales Training group in Cuyahoga Falls.

The goal is to give a brief overview of how to get more conversions out of your site, then taking it to the next level and actually closing the sales. We all know follow up is key, and often web leads are the last on the list to be worked.

I usually offer a discount here, but the price is 50 bucks. Low enough that no discount is necessary.

Make the time and come to it if you’re responsible for showing ROI on your web efforts.

Robb Hankins is arguably one of best advocates of Canton and the downtown area. He’s just started a blog off of the Rep’s site called Cheap Date. Knowing Robb, it’ll be good content and he’ll have some creative ideas if you’re not familiar with the opportunities downtown. I’d recommend you follow it if you’re in the area.

Amazing that this could happen in the USA. We need to wake up. If not, we will bypass Socialism and head right to Communism without even knowing it.

If you don’t agree, at least read about this and see if you are comfortable with Obama literally controlling the news.

Many times one of the challenges we see in optimizing a new client’s site is getting them to see that they need to offer something bigger, better or different from the next guy. This is business basics, but given the ease of product and price comparisons online, it’s even more important online than brick and mortar. This usually means that they’ve got to go the extra mile to stand out as different and earn that user’s trust.

There are several things you can do to make this happen. We’ve talked about making sure your landing pages are optimized for the appropriate targeted phrases. What needs to happen next takes your marketing to the next level. You need to come up with a unique selling proposition. The only way you’re going to get the sale is if your product or service excels in some area. Maybe you are offering free shipping, or gift wrap, lessening the risk for your prospects to buy from you. Whatever it is, it needs to beat out your main online competitors (who may or may not be the same as your brick and mortar competitors).

Now, I know I’m not here to teach you how to run a business – anyone with any kind of success already has these ideas down. I really want to stress how this needs to be amplified for the web. Just as the number of competitors is amplified, so should your marketing of your business. So, you’ve got to make sure yours is the best offer out there. So, do your research. Consider the following:

*always know what your competitor is offering
*make your USP clear and concise
*what can you do better than you are now
*give users a reason to buy from you
*have good post sale follow up

These are the basics, I know, but remember that the Web is a whole other market place, with an even greater number of competitors. So, ask yourself how your USP is looking. Maybe it’s time to revamp a little and spark some new sales.