SEO Code of Conduct - Customer Service, Continued (Page 4 of 5 ) - Intentionally provide confidential client information to the public. A client’s confidentiality is very important, and while the SEO may have access to client passwords or logins, this is not license for them to share what they’ve learned about you.
- Fail to protect sensitive client material that could have easily been kept private with a Robots Exclusion Standard file. It is easy to keep search engines out of sensitive files and information, and it’s a responsibility that the SEO should carry, either to do it themselves at no charge or for cost, or they should instruct you how to do it.
- Charge a client for information that the SEO cannot provide or does not know, such as when Search Engine updates will occur. No SEO can tell you exactly when an update will occur, or what will be covered in an update. Services that “protect” you during updates are scams.
- Employ false or misleading advertising regarding a client’s products or services for the purpose of inflating search engine ranking or traffic. While this is deplorable in any industry, in SEO, this is a good indication that either the product or its marketing needs improvement in order to present it as it is, or that the SEO cannot perform the required marketing techniques for the product without employing trickery.
- Intentionally keep from a client from understanding the risks involved with SEO. SEO is not an exact science, and it is impossible to guarantee number one rankings. There is always a risk that SEO efforts will not be as effective as a client wishes, especially in a saturated market or with very general keywords. You should be made aware of all the risks regarding the SEO efforts implemented regarding your site.
- Fail to comply with a contract with a client, or be truthful about methodology involved. It’s always a good idea to have a contract to protect yourself, outlining both what the SEO has promised to do, as well as giving you specifics on how they plan to do it. This way, you can make sure that your expectations are met and make sure the SEO doesn’t have something tricky planned for your site.
- Place hidden links within a client’s website to send traffic to the SEO’s own website. Hidden links are a bad idea anyways, but you especially don’t want to suddenly find your existing web traffic to be leaking elsewhere.
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