McDonalds is The Root of All Evil

Save the Stupid Americans From Fat

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine in the UK a while back... about McDonald's. He was convinced that the Golden Arches were evil and should not be allowed to do business. Why? Because they preyed on the "less intelligent" members of society with their fast, inexpensive, tasty but unhealthy fast food.

(Mike: you mean this isn't true??!?!?!)

After many arguments over capitalism and free market trade and simply giving people what they want, we got to the bottom line. He thought none of us dim Americans knew what good nutrition was! After I informed him that not only was good nutrition taught in schools but also was prominently featured on children's programming, public service announcements, and many news stories, talk shows,and cooking programs he was dumbfounded. Americans know fast food is bad for them but they eat it anyway?

The fact is, people want the convenience, the taste, and the ease of fast food. It may be a bad choice, but it is a choice, not a deception or coercion.

(Mike: BTW: Not me! I haven't eaten McDs in 4 years and counting. I feel so... much better!
Scottie: Since when are you an American, Mr Smartypants? We are all very happy for you, now back to the article...)

Spammers are the Root of All Evil

It seems the same argument applies to those who feel it is their personal duty to rid the SEO world of spam. They march under the banner of "protecting the innocents" and assume that the only reason a company would hire a spammer or employ spammy techniques on their own site is because they have been misled.

I don't buy this argument. Not only is there a TON of excellent information out there for people to read, most of the top industry voices pretty much agree that real businesses don't need to spam- even the top spammers will tell you most sites have no need to spam. You have to look hard to find the bad information these days- you have to bypass a dozen articles on the best way to do things to find one article on how to do the tricks.

The sad fact is that many people want to spam. Yep, I said it. Those innocent newbies often want to spam. A long, slow climb to the top is boring and takes time and work, and they want the fast track. So they seek out the tips, tricks, and "secret techniques" that they think will give them the edge. Cause they are so much smarter than everyone else, they think they can get ahead without having to work too hard.

The other thing is that we learn by doing. I think every professional today has "tested" things they would never employ on a client site, just to see if they worked, and how well. Part of being a good SEO is learning and the best way to learn is to experiment.

It's About Free Choice

As long as people want hot, greasy fries and a Big Mac, McDonald's will continue to thrive. Because they are selling what people want. If activists closed McD's down, people wouldn't then choose to stay home and make a nice green salad, they'd just go to Burger King. No one is forcing anyone to eat fast food, people do it because it's convenient, inexpensive, and tastes pretty good! Sure, there's a downside, it's unhealthy and will make you fat but people accept that risk.

As long as there are people looking for the fast and easy way to the top of the search engines, there will be spammers and published spam techniques. They aren't good for you, but you can't stop people from finding what they want. What we can do is what the bulk of the industry already does- publish good solid information, marketing techniques that build a great site, and provide guidance to the people who do want to learn the right way, the first time.

The others will be back to learn when they realize their "super secret tricks" really don't work. We'll offer 'em a nice lean roasted chicken and some ideas for real content!