Our Monmouth Blog

There has been a recent flurry of blog posts about whether or not Industry Search Engine Standards (SEO) are a good thing. I initially thought industry standardization could be a good idea. By definition a Standard is a practice or a product, that is widely recognized or employed, especially because of its excellence (Source: answers.com). The Internet has advanced and prospered through standardization. W3C has done a great job in organizing, communicating, and advancing web development through the excellence of its programs.
Since Google is the majority of the search engine opportunity it remains the focus of the SEO industry. Google has declared its own set of standards and most of the industry is already working within the Google defined frame work. Others have taken another stance and have said that they will run their business as they see fit. For example, John Chow does not follow the Google standards and continues to do very well and his successes are published regularly.
I have been recently critical of Google and worry about its role in the future of information. The problem is that Google has been not only vague and hypocritical about optimization practices. What I find more disturbing is that Google has a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude in its press and through its spokespersons. I touched this topic last month when I posted “The Google Hypocrisy”.
While standards might not be the best thing for a portion of the industry I do think it would ultimately benefit the consumers of SEO services. There are unfortunately a few bad apples that have given the industry a undeserved bad name.
Below is a few related articles I tagged over the last few weeks:
Bruce Clay
Search Engine Land
SEOmoz
SEO Roundtable
Aaron Wall
John Chow

What are your thoughts on SEO Standardization – Do we need a standard?

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