Search engine optimization and gaming the system

by Thom Stratton

How high a company's website is ranked on search engines like Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft Bing can make a significant difference in revenues, so it's no surprise that a business has grown up around helping companies improve that ranking. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is becoming a big business, but beware. Some SEO companies may try to cheat the system, and it will be you that is punished if they are caught.

Just how search engines rank web page listings in response to queries is each company's closely-guarded secret. Yet, as George Seybold, president of Seybold Scientific, an SEO company in Boise, Idaho, will tell you, most of them are more than willing to give you guidelines. "Google will tell you exactly to how to get into Google," he pointed out. "Microsoft will tell you exactly how to get into Bing. They don’t want you to game their system. That wastes their cycles trying to fend off the people who are gaming their system."

Yet because there are enough people out there trying to game the system, most search engine companies employ staff to figure out what tricks they are using and shut them down. "There are nefarious ways to game the system," says Seybold. "Some of the older ways were to put white text on a white background. You can’t see it, but it’s visible to the search engines. Well, Google saw through that."

Hiding text is one way less scrupulous SEO specialists try to achieve higher rankings on web pages. By hiding repeated keywords they can actually make a page look more important to a search engine than it really is. One of the latest techniques is to hide text behind images on the page. Google and Microsoft are both working out methods to screen for this technique.

Trying to cheat the system comes with a high measure of risk. If caught, a search engine may choose to not list a website in their listings at all. "They’ll punish you," Seybold admits. "They’ll blacklist you, and literally you have to file an appeal with them and say 'please include me again'." The biggest problem here is that the company that is blacklisted may be innocent. Their only fault may be hiring an SEO "expert" who tries to game the system on their behalf and gets caught. But if blacklisted from a search engine, the only customers that will find you are those who already know about you.

The best approach is to hire a reputable SEO business. They know there are no short-cuts, and will focus on tried and true principles. The best way to get a high ranking on a search engine is to build a site that is truly valuable to those who are seeking the information or products you offer. It literally is a case of "if you build it (well) they will come."

Seybold admits that those who are willing to invest the time and effort into learning how to optimize websites can do it themselves and be successful. But not everyone has the time or the desire to first learn the techniques and then stay on top of the rapid changes in the field. SEO companies have a vested interest in keeping current on the latest advances in search technology.

Not every business relies on the Internet to attract customers. For those companies SEO may not be necessary. But for those who rely on the Internet, gaining a high ranking on search engines should be a key part of their strategy. Knowing what to do and what not to do can make all the difference