Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
– Albert Einstein.
Sticks and stones can break your bones. It used to be the case that words can never hurt you; these days though, they can. They can ruin the reputation of your business, they can make your website and business be frowned upon by the Google algorithm, and they can send your brand’s reputation crashing to the cutting room floor of the Googlebot’s editing suite.
All of that is bad enough, but, what if you have paid someone for those words? Paid them to post on social media platforms on your behalf?
Before I go on I have two words; full disclosure. At Verti Group International a.k.a. SEO Seattle® we do post on our clients’ behalf. Also, we have recently decided to offer a service where we will write search engine optimized content, either for websites or social media; for businesses or individuals. This is a new standalone service and can now be provided to those not currently found to be a full-service VGI client.
The reason that I have decided to write/rant about this subject is simple. When we take on a new client we, like many other SEO experts, complete a full review of their website, their online profile and their social media activity. Too often, with clients that have paid for social media services, we see that the content on the various platforms is duplicated. They have paid to plagiarize themselves. Worse than that, the content is also duplicated on the social media sites of their competitors. It gets worse still, the companies that they have paid have not even thought it necessary to change the titles of the content used in posts.
Now, I have been working as Chief SEO at Verti Group International a.k.a. SEO Seattle® since 2008. Before that, I worked in a similar field for one of America’s largest companies. If anyone would like to comment on this article and contradict my opinion – that duplication and plagiarism will only end in tears – then I would enjoy debating with you.
Tarring every social media marketing, or social media posting company, with the same brush would be both wrong and foolish. I haven’t researched enough to know which companies provide an excellent service (I would be delighted if any ethical company, providing a service that is fit for purpose, would comment and debate below); nor would I name and shame any company that I know to be the equivalent of a content factory. That is not in my nature.
In the third paragraph, I said that Verti Group International a.k.a. SEO Seattle® will now provide search engine optimized content to companies outside of our full-service SEO commitments. This will be on a first come first served basis, as we are a business that prides itself on representing only one company from a particular sector. The process that we adhere to when writing unique content, can be seen on our homepage at www.seoseattlegroup.com.
I welcome your comments,
– David S. Freid