A1: For me, there are four big areas of ethics in SEO and digital marketing more broadly: -Inclusivity of both visual and written creative. -Accessibility of technical implementation. -Brand Safety of placements and outreach -Customer safety and privacy. #SEOChat
Doug R Thomas, Esq
I think of this in terms of being upfront on things like data limitations in cases where it doesn’t help your marketing efforts etc. #seochat
Mordy Oberstein
A1: It means following Google Guidelines and the rules for being good humans online when it comes to content creation.
Sweepsify
A2: English is not everyone’s first language, write clearly and plainly. Include video with captions to facilitate those who prefer to consume content differently. Images/graphics where they feature people should be inclusive of all. Don’t make presumptions. #SEOChat
Proximo Web Design
A2: In my previous role, this was an easy answer. Overall, it’s considering everyone at their knowledge level and their socio-economic level, and developing content that is inclusive for all. #SEOChat
Pam Portland
The best way in text is to do your audience’s research. Use the words that your audience uses to talk about themselves when you write about them. For example, if your audience prefers identity-first language, use that instead of person-first. #SEOChat
Doug R Thomas, Esq.
When I began searching Canva for LGBTQIA family images, I had to literally search for “gay” and “lesbian,” etc., to find them. Same w/ethnicities. Would have liked to see these w/out separate searches. #SEOChat
Pam Portland
A3: 1/2 For copywriters, this means creating a basic house style that sets ground rules on how to refer to specific groups of people. Listen to your clients about how their customers talk about themselves and apply that learning to the guidelines. #SEOChat
Doug R Thomas, Esq
We’re partly responsible for a healthy web… We are in a unique spot to touch websites like few others, so paying attention to accessibility is our duty. #seochat
Mordy Oberstein
I had a group of French SEOs maintaining that footer links should be obfuscated for eCommerce sites. @juliemoynat
I was along for the ride, trying to figure out why someone would sacrifice humans over bots. For us, accessibility is a must.
Myriam
A4: 1/3 I really like Microsoft’s take on accessibility. The best way to think about it isn’t trying to meet an undefinable physical disability, but to avoid mismatches in the user experience. So much “”accessibility”” is just good usability! #SEOChat“
Doug R Thomas, Esq
A5: I think the biggest thing I see constantly is the feeling that accessibility is a roadblock to branding or design—that it forces you to be “boring” to appease arbitrary regulations. #SEOChat
Doug R Thomas, Esq
A5: Anytime the effort got us 70-80% of the way to the goal line and then just stopped. Whether omitting dual language options, not intentionally looking for diverse images, or failing to prioritize tech issues, all of these could (and did) lead to lower SEO results. #SEOChat
Pam Portland
They think it’s going to be expensive. But simply defining accessibility best practices is enough to get started and make big changes. #SEOChat
Sweepsify
A6: This is what I think about a lot when it comes to SEO. Clients constantly are reading “SEO copy” and wondering “gosh why is this so bad?” Or seeing where we build links and with what content and wondering “what if a client sees this?” #SEOChat
Doug R Thomas, Esq.
Brand is everything and is everywhere and a lot of the time it’s the small things from tone to UX – feel out the latent signals the site gives off #seochat
Mordy Oberstein
A6a: Of course, knowing one’s brand inanimately is important, but this includes not only knowing your consumer personas, but also the personas of the consumers you want to have. Appealing only to one demographic limits growth. #SEOChat
Pam Portland
A7: I think it’s got a lot to do with having a clear plan up front. -This is what the campaign plan is; -These are the sites we’re targeting; -This is our content strategy; -Here are examples of content we’ve done before or are going to emulate.
Doug R Thomas, Esq
A7: Everything from writing for SEO and not humans, to tech support, to brand consistency, and understanding the competitive landscape can all be factors for-and against-success. Understanding all possible impacts is fundamental to our responsibility to our clients. #SEOChat
Pam Portland
A8. I think the biggest part of making sites safe for customers is doing a full data audit. What do we collect when? How do we use it? Remember, just having a server collects PII according to the CCPA! #SEOChat
Doug R Thomas, Esq
A8: Most of the places where I have worked are head and shoulders ahead of government guidelines on privacy, so I have not touched this much. #SEOChat
Pam Portland
I sincerely hope this overview was useful. You can find it here if you missed last week’s #SEOchat.
