Will Sketchy SEO Tactics Damage Your Company's Online Reputation

By Jason Sherrill
Posted on Feb 11, 2009

I typed a response to this question that a user posed on Stackoverflow.com today regarding SEO tactics, but between the time I started typing and the time I finished, the author had closed the question to new answers, so I couldn't submit my response. Nonetheless, it was a good discussion topic since numerous clients have asked me whether black hat SEO tactics that get a quick rise in search traffic should be part of their internet marketing strategy. If you're reputable, in it for the long haul and want sustained growth, then the answer is definitely "no."

His question was:

This is a question for those of us who can easily recognize when a company is participating in a sketchy SEO scheme to bulk up their search engine rank.

Recently, I've been searching for a moving company. After hearing several estimates, I decided on one company that gave me a reasonable rate (not the cheapest) and was very professional over the phone, providing a great explanation of all costs and previous customer referrals.

I then went online to see what additional information I could find on the company. I found all kinds of content aggregation sites linking to the company and obviously fake reviews of the site (same copy used for different sites, reviews).

Now my question is, based on my "meat space" experience alone, I would have gone with this company. Now, because I happen to be a web application developer, I've spotted a shameless SEO scheme. Should this affect whether I give this company my business?

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Single Versus Staged Rollout for Bank and Credit Union Websites - Which Is Better?

By Jason Sherrill
Posted on Feb 6, 2009

I'm a huge proponent of staged rollouts for credit union websites, especially if the sites are ground up builds packed with new features. I sometimes have to fight hard to convince my clients of the benefits since most of the time they're giddy with excitement about the new website and want to give their members access to everything on day one. I usually spend a lot of time selling the virtues of delayed gratification, mostly in writing, sometimes verbally. I thought today it would be interesting to try a slightly different approach with a fun new client.

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How Could Bank and Credit Union Website Managers Benefit from Target.com's Six Million Dollar Oversight?

By Jason Sherrill
Posted on Feb 4, 2009

Reading about the recent $6,000,000.00 settlement between Target Corporation, owners of Target.com retail e-commerce site, and the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) over the lack of website accessibility at Target.com for disabled people reminded me of an important topic that the banking industry seems to have largely missed. The Target settlement has stirred some high profile players like Amazon.com and RadioShack.com to consider their own website’s accessibility, both to stave off lawsuits and to capitalize on the lucrative revenue potential this 50 million¹ people strong group of customers represents.

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