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Official webmaster / SEO code of ethics

Is there one?

         

top5jamaica

4:14 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Is there an official Webmaster / SEO code of ethics issued by any world organization / body? Or do people follow their own personal guidelines or the specific guidelines of the company that they work for?

EliteWeb

4:36 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



No and I hope there is never one. :D You have standard business practices and ethics but you don't need rules for SEO, remember SEO is basically reverse engeneering search engine algarythms to obtain higher listings. :)

jeremy goodrich

4:38 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



1) Cloak everything you can.
2) Auto generate tons of fake "content"
3) Read WebmasterWorld every day while humming, "Googlebot, treat my sites well..."

;)

Sorry, couldn't resist - I don't know of any that exists, "webaster" & "SEO" being somewhat new professions, and depending on the firm, have wildly varying degrees of responsibility.

For lawyers, accountants, etc - there are rules, regulations, bodies, the whole bit - SEO / Webmastering isn't quite that far along, yet.

top5jamaica

5:51 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



hmmm .. to me it actually feels like a free-for-all with a few unwritten rules .. don't rip off content, don't 'trick', don't 'borrow' a design etc. etc.

Paul in South Africa

6:03 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



The only published "code of ethics" I have seen is by the World Association of Internet Marketers at [waim.org...]

(No, I am not a member, mods snip the URL if you want)

Maybe if SEMPO gets a large enough membership they will publish something although enforcement will still remain a problem.

jeremy goodrich

6:07 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Easiest way to ensure that a large group of professional marketers will not join your new & aspiring organization, is to publish "ethical guidelines".

At least, from what I've seen in the past, by more than one failed attempt to do an "industry wide organization" is that there are just too many disparate views to adquately represent the community as a whole in one form...

tedster

6:09 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



How about this -- when I sign a contract, I do what I agreed to do.

jeremy goodrich

6:12 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



tedster, now that sounds like something every professional can agree to.

Simple, yet profound. Why confuse the issue with any more than that?

2_much

6:22 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I do whatever I need to do well. But I don't send spam reports or do anything directly to harm my competitors. That's my code. Far from the "official" one, which I don't think there can ever be one because everybody's business is different and everybody has different views.

NFFC

6:46 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>Is there an official Webmaster / SEO code of ethics

Yes, see below.

If you can keep you head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat these two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a webmaster, my son!

rcjordan

7:26 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>official Webmaster / SEO code of ethics

Would you like the one before or after the SE's ad rep signs your company to a $10k/mo advertising deal?

top5jamaica

7:27 pm on Aug 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



both :)