INTEGRITY

You may be asking yourself… ‘Why include a page on "Integrity" on a Web Developers website?’

Here's why!

Dictionary.com’s website defines "Integrity" as:

* Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
* The state of being unimpaired; soundness.
* The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

Recently, we were reminded of the power of "Integrity" and in some cases the perceived "Lack of Integrity" when Google "banned" the "TrafficPower" website along with most of their customer's Sites. If you are not familiar with the story then a simple Google Search for "Traffic Power" will help you get updated.

Thousands of Site owners had their Sites suddenly banned and de-listed from Google due to unscrupulous practices outside the guidelines presented to webmasters on their Webmaster guidelines pages.

While Search Engines provide a free service to the public, they have the right to determine what the "most relevant" results are according to the millions of dollars they pour into proprietary algorithms.

Search Engine Optimisers

SEO is an abbreviation for "search engine optimiser." Many SEOs provide useful services for website owners, from writing copy to giving advice on site architecture and helping to find relevant directories to which a site can be submitted. However, unethical SEOs have given the industry a black eye through their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts to unfairly manipulate search engine results.

Search Engine Optimisation Integrity

In the past many SEO (Search Engine Optimisers) tested different points in the algorithms and found loopholes revealing methods to beat the Search Engines, gaining unfair and undeserved temporary advantages for themselves monetarily and their clients in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). When a Site gets banned, it gets delisted and doesn't show up in potential customer Internet searches.

The reason the Search Engines penalise these practices so severely is that these unfair advantages cause irrelevant search results and threatens their loyal usership and subsequent ad revenue by diminishing relevancy.

In fact a search for "TrafficPower" in just about any search engine still reveals links to many "gateway" pages and other trash, including abandoned Sites.

It is extremely difficult to bring a Site back after being banned, and permanent "banning" do occur.

Many have lost their livelihoods and businesses due to unscrupulous practices. Many of the Site owners who have been banned were unsuspecting victims that didn't know they were subscribing to prohibited practices.

We’re amazed at the number of e-mails we receive telling us that we can have top Search Engine Results if we become their client.

Emails like these should be treated with caution. There’s an old saying; "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

If approached by anyone offering these unreal promises, we recommend not taking the risk.

This is what Google has to say about SEOs.
(Search Engine Optimisers)

SEO is an abbreviation for "search engine optimiser." Many SEOs provide useful services for website owners, from writing copy to giving advice on site architecture and helping to find relevant directories to which a site can be submitted. However, a few unethical SEOs have given the industry a black eye through their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts to unfairly manipulate search engine results.

While Google doesn't have relationships with any SEOs and doesn't offer recommendations, we do have a few tips that may help you distinguish between an SEO that will improve your site and one that will only improve your chances of being dropped from search engine results altogether.

* Be wary of SEO firms that send you email out of the blue.

Amazingly, Google gets these spam emails… and we do too… even though we are placed well on major search engines.

"Dear nqwebdesign.com,
I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories..."

Sound familiar?

Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about search engines as you do for "burn fat at night" diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators.