The SEO ethics debate may be pointless, but it does spur a lot of activity. I noted a thread at SEOChat on the subject, where some disagreement between Fathom and I, along with a stereotypical quote from Mick has me reading:
Rand: Never take on two clients ...
Steve Friedl, the man behind UnixWiz.net, has an older article on consulting that's worth reading. I pulled out some of the "maxims" that he writes about that stu...
Todd has some good references on operating your SEO business and I thought, in the spirit of teamwork, I'd address the same topic today with some recommendations of my own. Below is my own list of suggestions, based on experience (in both failure and success):
Don't Underestimate your Value...
With this latest update from Google, we've been noticing some very odd things in the SERPs. Despite our best instincts and measurements of link quality, quantity and optimization, sites seem to be ranking in very strange orders. In the hopes of making greater sense of things, we wondered if you'd like to list your top search results that make no sense. No need to point out your site or those of...
Following Nick's lovely recommendations for community building, I'll be doing a bit of link baiting in this thread. Actually, that's a lie; I'm just ticked off about this article from SEO News' Rob Sullivan about a conference call he had with some Google employees. I'll just refute...
It's hard to believe that Threadwatch is only a year old (today). In that time, Nick has taken the site from obscurity to infamy. They've been Slashdotted, added to major blogrolls all around the search and technology industries and created a hotbed for SEO/M and search politics. Congratulations, Nick. I hope SEOmoz can do half as well in a yea...
Kim Krause Berg posted a hilarious topic over at Cre8asite on the subject of a forum thread on light bulb changing. Naturally, her fellow SEO forum members chipped in with their own personal takes on the post and ma...
Search Engine Optimization has been described as an art, a science, a practice, an abomination and a career by those in and around the industry. But, to most outsiders learning about the practice for the first time, SEO is primarily seen as a service that professionals provide to clients. Although I'm often in the professional seat, I have become a client of many well known SEOs and secondary p...
DazzlinDonna has a pre-made SEO contract that might be useful for those who run smaller operations and need a hand getting started in contract design. It's by no means over-arching, but it's an excellent place to start and it's free. She also has a good, basic description of the specific tasks that fit into SEO work:
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Traian, a member at SEW, is asking for help in what to do regarding a client who will not pay for a verbal contract which he completed. The discussion is fascinating as both ethical and legal issues ari...
The lazy days of summer crawl in North America & Europe, creating a bevvy of webmasters who fret and furrow their brows, wondering where the traffic has gone. This "summer slump" is an observable phenomenon every year in industries of all types as workers in t...
There's an opening for a "Black Hat" position with a company in Toronto, ON. It looks like they're desperate, as they've opened the position to candidates worldwide. Incubator has opened a thread at SEW on the subject and is requesting e-mails go to waynec_at_yellowmediainc.com. I'm not sure if an...
Invitationsgirl at SEOChat asks - Can I get out of my SEO Contract?
There's quite a bit of good advice about contracts in general and SEO specifically in this thread, but mostly what we're seeing here is the forums serving as a business refuge and tool. There's several individuals in the thread who are p...