Those SEO spammers have obviously added this blog to their database, for this morning I received another variant on their scam. Seems I've been given an award, with a link to a CGI script that delivers a convincing looking blog award. As a token of my gratitude I am expected to link to them from my blog.
Sigh.
(Looks at calendar) No, I wasn't born yesterday.
It concerns me not only that these losers are still pushing these scams, but that businesses are being duped into paying for them. Let me make this abundantly clear, the search engines know all about these stunts, they can sport them a mile away. They have spent a lot of money hiring the brightest people on the planet to write very clever software to spot unexpected linking trends and send the linked sites spinning into oblivion.
If you are ever offered search engine promotion services by someone who claims to be able to offer speedy or guaranteed results, ask them their name. If it isn't Sergei Brin or Larry Page, founders of Google, it's simple. They are LYING. The best they can produce with these techniques is a short term gain on a few carefully chosen search terms. The only thing that works in that arena is hard work building an online profile, there are no quick fixes.
Yet again, no sale.
I have a good friend who went from software development into SEO. We've gone back and forth quite a bit over the years about the validity of SEO in general. Someone who claims to be able to manipulate the results of unpublished algorithms that take unknown inputs, I take with a grain of salt, no, make that a salt lick.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right, anyone who claims to have a magic touch is misleading their customers.
ReplyDeleteThere is validity however in enhancing and improving the online profile of a site by legitimate means. White hats can be worn by people in this industry :)