Ethical SEO: A Better Way to Improve Online Visibility

SEO

Loads of companies offer SEO. 

But what a lot of businesses don’t realise is that there are a myriad of ways to do SEO. 

I’m not necessarily talking about the various activities that form the basis of an SEO campaign, things like writing alt text or building links. 

Instead, I’m talking about the way the activities are undertaken. 

Let me give some examples of what I mean:

• Buying links, not building them through relationships. 
• Hiding bloated keyword-stuffed text, rather than writing copy that balances user experience, optimisation needs and brand messaging.
• Copying other people’s content, rather than creating your own.

Now, these strategies like this may shortcut you to more traffic, faster. And you could argue that, as they don’t harm anyone, you’re getting a better service from your agency. 

But what about this one…

• Creating doorway pages; the user thinks they’re navigating to a webpage about a certain topic, but they get funnelled to another page.

Hmm… that’s pretty annoying when you’re the user concerned. 

Or this one…

• Paying someone to create numerous spammy links to a competitor’s website in the hope that Google will penalise them. 

Ouch, that one feels quite malicious. 

Believe it or not, all of the examples that I’ve listed above fall into the category of “black hat SEO”. 

Have you ever heard of black hat SEO?

In the world of Search Engine Optimisation, activities that deceive, manipulate or game the search engine algorithms are referred to as black hat SEO (p.s. You can find a full description of all the different activities that fall under this category in my blog What is white hat and black hat SEO?)

There can be very real consequences for your website if Google determines that you have been practising them to improve your visibility, from loss of traffic to deindexing (this is where Google manually removes you from its index so that you don’t show up for any results!)

Maybe this surprises you?

Whilst you may not find many agencies in the UK that openly shout about practising black hat SEO, some do so behind closed doors. And as a client, if your agency does practice black hat SEO, you may be left none the wiser. 

At Twogether Digital, we sometimes see the impact of these black SEO practices. 

Businesses come to us after trying SEO that promised quick results (and maybe delivered in the short term), but left them with vague reports, weak content, irrelevant traffic, or activity that felt disconnected from their actual business goals. They had paid for “SEO”, but were delivered grey/black hat SEO. 

The result?

Sporadic, inconsistent growth that peaked but then flatlined or bottomed out.  

3 reasons why black hat SEO is a bad idea

Here’s why, even though it may deliver results initially, black hat SEO is such a bad idea for your brand, long-term.

It can damage brand credibility.

I list this first because it’s one of the biggest dangers. Thin content, over-optimised pages, awkward keyword stuffing, or spammy links don’t just create SEO risk. They also make your business look less trustworthy to real people. 

Not only will this make them less likely to purchase your product or service, but nowadays, what users write about your brand on third-party platforms genuinely can hurt your business growth. 

AI tools often scrape third-party platforms for opinions about different brands before deciding who to recommend when users ask for suggestions. If you’re listed on a Reddit somewhere as having a poor-quality website or looking untrustworthy, you are unlikely to get a mention. 

Since the invention of AI tools like ChatGPT, more and more users are turning to AI tools for recommendations on goods and services. Now, more than half of British consumers use ChatGPT to find brands.  AI Search is not something that can be dismissed as a “passing fad” or “not relevant” to your industry. 

Plus, gaming the Google algorithm with quick hacks is not going to work to improve your visibility in AI tools. These tools do not always recommend the top-ranking brands; instead, over 70% of citations feature websites that are not listed in the top 10 results. 

It can attract the wrong kind of traffic.

Good SEO focuses on understanding the intent, or motivation, behind a user’s search. It then seeks to create content that answers that search query. So, in theory, match the intent, and you’ll generate a visit or an enquiry/sale.

Black hat SEO tactics often focus on simply generating traffic – any traffic!

All of us will have been on the receiving end of this at some point. I once was asked to quote for a website audit. It necessitated my looking at various pages on the “prospect’s” website before sending a quote for the “work”. 

In truth, the request came from a dodgy black hat SEO agency that was spamming credible agencies with false requests for quotes, knowing that we would look at their client’s website and earn plenty of click-throughs. 

Did their client get any enquiries from this activity directly? 

Nope. 

But the traffic went up, the report would have looked good, and their client may have seen a short-term improvement in the SERPs. 

Was it morally right?

Not at all. 

And in the long term, it will harm their reputation. 

Not every click is a good click. If your SEO is built around manipulation rather than relevance, you may increase traffic without increasing trust, conversions, or sales.

Growth is volatile and unpredictable

Google’s Search Essentials and spam policies are very clear that tactics intended to deceive users or manipulate search systems can lead to lower rankings or removal from search results. Google says sites that violate spam policies may rank lower or not appear in results at all, and manual actions can also be applied after human review.

So, if Google’s automatic or manual checks lead to suspicions that you have gamed the system, you can end up not appearing in the Search results at all. It can take months and months to recover from these kinds of penalties. 

Plus, Google regularly releases core updates; websites that are practising black hat tactics can often get found out during these updates and witness big drops in traffic that take months to recover from. 

As the content created for black hat SEO is generally poor quality, with little authenticity, rankings disappear quickly, resulting in peaks and troughs of traffic and leads rather than consistent growth over time. 

How can you tell if you’re being served black hat SEO by your agency?

Whilst there is no definitive way, here are some indications that your agency may be practising black hat SEO practices that could harm your brand in the future:

• They are vague about what they’re actually doing, but still promise fast results. 
• Reports focus heavily on spikes in traffic without showing the quality of that traffic.
• They avoid explaining the different ways they aim to build links (or outright “buy them”).
• They’re publishing lots of content at speed.
• They have not bothered to talk to your team to unearth their expertise for the content that they create. 
• If they talk more about “gaming the algorithm” than improving your website, content, and visibility in a joined-up way. 

An ethical agency should: 

• Explain its strategy clearly.
• Show how practices align with search engine guidelines.
• Utilise your team to create high-quality content that adds value to users, positions your brand against your competitors and demonstrates how you solve problems. 
• Explain how they are going to build backlinks, and where those backlinks are coming from. 
• Connect activity back to genuine business goals, not just rankings for the sake of it.

So, what can you do to improve online visibility in a way that feels more sustainable, more effective, and more like your business?

Ethical SEO: A better way to improve online visibility

Ethical SEO is the approach we believe delivers the best results.

What is ethical SEO?

Ethical SEO, also called white hat SEO, is the practice of building a stronger online presence in the search engine results in a way that supports your business over time. Ethical SEO seeks to deliver value to users, build trust, and increase visibility that survives core updates. Rather than performing optimisation tactics in a way that “games” the system, ethical SEO aims to stay as close to Google’s guidelines as possible. 

Key activities include:

• Writing valuable content that serves users first, search engines second. 
• Technical optimisation, so that the website works well for users, no matter what device they are using to view it. 
• Natural link building that seeks to build relationships and deliver value. 

Why ethical SEO is worth it

When you take an ethical approach to your SEO, the benefits go far beyond rankings alone:

Your visibility grows consistently

Rather than chasing quick wins that can disappear after the next algorithm update, ethical SEO helps build a stronger foundation for long-term visibility. By improving the quality of your content, strengthening the technical side of your website, and earning authority in a more natural way, you create steady progress that is much easier to build on month after month.

You are less likely to lose visibility

Because ethical SEO stays within search engine guidelines, it reduces the risk of penalties, sudden ranking drops, or the kind of volatility that often comes with more manipulative tactics. 

No SEO approach can guarantee complete stability, but when your website is built on relevant content, good user experience, and white-hat activity, your visibility is far more resilient.

You build a brand, not just visibility

It is easy to think of SEO as purely a traffic-driving exercise, but the best SEO work improves how people experience your business when they find you. High-quality, helpful content and a website that clearly reflects your expertise all help build trust that leads to loyal, returning clients. So, instead of simply showing up in search results, you start to become a business people feel more confident choosing.

This actually works better for Generative Search Optimisation (GEO) too. 

Users are increasingly using AI tools, like ChatGPT, to search for recommendations that align with very specific requests. These prompts can be as specific as this:

I am looking for a commercial cleaning company that offers bespoke cleaning plans in the Worcester area, and that has cleaners who are willing to hold keys for late-night cleaning. 

Whilst a website may surface for a keyword such as “commercial cleaning company Worcester” using black hat SEO techniques, you would not necessarily be recommended in AI tools for a prompt such as the one I’ve written above, as your content is likely to be too thin to adequately answer the specifics of the prompt.

You are also far more likely to attract better leads. 

When your strategy is built around relevant keywords and genuinely useful content, you are not just pulling in random traffic for the sake of a bigger number in a report. You are attracting people who are already looking for the kind of product or service you offer. 

That usually means a more relevant audience, stronger conversion potential, and more meaningful enquiries from people who are a better fit for your business.

Your users get a better experience

Ethical SEO tends to go hand in hand with a better website experience overall. 

Faster-loading pages, clean navigation and content that is actually useful all make it easier for people to find what they need and take the next step. In other words, ethical SEO is not just good for rankings. It is also good for the people using your website, which is exactly how it should be.

You get a strong long-term ROI

Ethical SEO takes time, but that is part of its value. A well-written page or a reputable backlink can continue generating visibility, traffic, and enquiries long after the initial work is done. 

Instead of constantly starting from scratch, you build a bank of content and authority that keeps supporting your growth over time. That is what makes ethical SEO such a valuable long-term investment for businesses that want sustainable results.

Want help improving visibility the ethical way?

If you want to build a stronger organic presence without spam, shortcuts, or agency smoke and mirrors, have a look at our ethical SEO services or request a free website review. We’ll show you where the biggest opportunities are to improve visibility, strengthen your website, and support long-term growth.

Ethical SEO: future-proof your brand’s visibility

Ethical SEO practices align far more with the direction that search is heading in; gone are the days when just chasing no.1 blue links future-proofs your enquiry line. Instead, users are smarter and time-poor, with highly specific queries. They want answers quickly and have no time to trawl through endless content to find a brand that matches their needs. Ethical SEO is just one element of building a brand, not just an enquiry line. Along with distinctive, authentic messaging and a high-converting website, ethical SEO gives you the foundation that leads to recommendations and, with them, the potential for growing AI visibility. The future of search is authenticity; the future is ethical.