Following Chris Tomlinson's article about search engine optimisation (SEO), we felt that it was only fair to point out that anyone who insinuates that 'all SEO companies aren't to be trusted' is being disingenuous.
Either Tomlinson has had a bad experience with an SEO company, or it's a convenient spin to enhance his own business!
Whilst his comments imply SEO isn't a necessity, he also recommends the implementation of the techniques that legitimate SEO companies practice.
It is true that, as with many online companies, there are cowboy operators who have jumped onto the SEO bandwagon.
These people implement a hard sell via phone or e-mail and take advantage of companies who don't understand the intricacies of SEO, and charge high fees for the privilege.
However, if you search on Google for 'search engine optimisation', the majority of high-ranking companies are well established, highly regarded agencies that have been performing effective search engine optimisation for years and generating significant online business for their clients.
Tomlinson claims that "a well built site will naturally flow to the top of the search engine rankings", making the whole SEO concept sound so easy. Yet there are so many websites competing in the same marketplace and clearly these sites need help to float better than their competitors!
A SEO specialist can help website owners to push their site up the rankings. There is no 'black magic' involved in this technique and a successful SEO strategy is based on extensive testing and experience working with many websites.
The SEO marketplace is rapidly changing - Google may rank sites differently week on week and therefore it is up to SEO specialists to keep abreast of these changes and advise their clients accordingly.
Whilst Tomlinson is correct in saying that the development and evolution of a site needs to include effective content, structure and involve links to other sites, any business that tries to follow his simplistic advice will be as disappointed as a company who is exposed to the SEO 'cowboy'.
DAVID SWAIN
Net Syndicate
