Just this side of breach of copyright, there are Website design and other companies that are promising search engine optimization but are essentially editing existing content from other Web sites and stuffing the content with select key words and phrases.
These techniques are said to rank a Web page high, maybe even number one, among the search engines within 90 days. But how helpful is it to the reader/prospect, or to the buyer, if the content reads poorly and there is slight benefit of helpful information?
Evidently this routine is extensive and far too little Web content is unique. Various original content may be coming from some freelance supplier in another country who earns a few cents per word, and then that content is edited for use by the Web designer.
A paragraph is altered and repositioned here and there possibly, but frequently it’s another version of someone else’s product that the distant freelance “copywriter” likely stole from a Web site or several Web sites.
Is that not plagiarism, when the initial writer is not given acknowledgment for the original work written?
More importantly, if the reader is not coming away with the benefit of improved information, then the business who’s Web site the reader is in search of information from is of little or no better value to the visitor than the site(s) from which the primary content was acquired.
How often have we researched information on the world wide web and found multiple sites with exactly the same wording (not even changing the content to read differently) in a blatant act of plagiarism?
How frequently then do visitors to a site click on various sites and then dismiss them because the content is redundant to someone else’s site?
It would look to me that the clients who are sold the suggestion that their Web site would rank high on the search engines would also want to keep an eye on the actual conversions of visitors to purchasers. What is the sense of having a listing where people may see it, if the site is not generating sales or at least leads?
After all, the Web is a tool for informing and educating people, like a billboard, an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine, an encyclopedia, and to some extent a video or audio broadcast, all in one site.
Certainly it is worth it to the client to use a writer or designer that is creating compelling reasons to call or visit the business by at least improving ideas derived from other places. Or is the rush to get to the pinnacle of the search engine results clouding the client’s view as to what is really key to their enterprise?
Satisfied users know that substance is more valuable than flash or inexpensive prices. Satisfied customers are ready to pay more to receive more value.
So ask yourself, are you receiving all you are paying for?