The SEO/SEM industry has very little coverage in the major publications of the tech world or the business sphere. Understandably, we're a small industry and a curious one at that. Characterizations among those who are semi-familiar with search engine optimization range from low-tech marketers to high-grade spammers. As Rodney Dangerfield would most certainly note, "we don't get no respect".

However, with growth in the industry rising rapidly and greater and greater numbers of businesses recognizing the importance of search marketing and drawing a web audience, we won't be ignored for long. This naturally brings rise to the question - how do we want the media to characterize us?

Are SEOs:

• Nefarious schemers who use their (somewhat) secretive knowledge of the search engine's ranking algorithms to wreak havoc on the natural order of the web
• Business consultants whose area of expertise happens to be helping websites becoming more visible and search friendly
• Spammers who use tactics that violate the search engines' terms and sometimes the law to achieve rankings
• Marketers turned tech-savvy who focus on driving up website performance through greater traffic, higher conversions, better content and improved design
• An industry doomed to irrellevance once the search engineers figure out how to get around our tactics

There's a lot of ground to cover in the SEO industry, and depending on how the media wants to frame the questions, much of how SEO/M is perceived in the larger business/marketing/tech community is at stake.

Specific characterizations cold easily paint the industry in a relatively benign or highly malignant way. In the near future, I see the words and actions of those most visible in the sector affecting the reputation of us all - for better or worse.