black hat or just lazy?

in the early days of seo the term "black hat" was applied to marketers who used unethical tactics to obtain short term results for their clients, while those who took the ethical road were referred to as "white hat ". today these terms still apply, but i think it is important we in the online community recognize that there may be a lazy third group, which i have dubbed "couch potato" marketers.

the idea of "couch potato" marketers came to me after receiving a phone call from what historically has been referred to as a black hat agency. this particular agency gave me the regular song and dance, guaranteeing that my site would get ranked on the first page google if they could update my meta tags and telling me my site would fail if i didn't purchase their services. it was only after i had hung up the phone that i realized this agency wasn't using black hat tactics, they're just aggressive salesmen who are too lazy to perform any sort of real seo.

i felt compelled to dig deeper into this issue as it affects all of us, and i was lucky enough to find an employee of one of these "couch potato" marketing agencies who was willing to speak with me about his experiences (he asked his name be left out so we will call him bob). bob told me that at his company they have fifty commission based salesmen who make cold calls selling their services. supporting this troop of cold calling connoisseurs are two people, one who runs the submissions and one who adds meta tags to their victim's, i mean client's sites. if you look at how this company is structured you realize they truly offer nothing of substance, let alone anything worth paying for. there are no strategic teams or individuals who work to further their seo methodology. it appears that they don't even cover their basics by providing back link recruitment, or strategic content development.

i have never much cared for those who employ "black hat" tactics, but at least when you get involved with them you see some results, even if they are temporary. these "couch potato" marketers really take things to the next level, by hard selling overpriced services that could be considered feeble at best. it amazes me that companies like this still exist, which is why my next post will provide information on how to recognize white hat marketers so you don't end up in bed with a "black hat" or "couch potato" marketer.