One of the oldest areas of unspoken SEO blogging is the SEO Code. In short, blogging (now inclusive of Twitter) is a dangerous thing in this industry. On the one hand, you want to break stories, post something unique and different and even cause a buzz to get lots of people talking about your blog. On the other hand, you don't want to be ousted by the community for 'outing' any other SEO.
Todd (aka Stuntdubl) took the time to write a post named What's your SEO code? In that post is classifies various types of people in the industry. But I take offense to the classification of the "Journalist" and I'll quote him:
For people whose business model is based on news, hype, ratings, and traffic - they’re going to out as much stuff as they can to get the traffic. Just the same as traditional media, they are not active practicioners of SEO. The trouble becomes when you are an active practicioner of SEO and don’t respect your craft enough to have a solid code.
Todd is the same person who commented on our code, the Search Engine Roundtable Code of Ethics - which was one of the first ever code of ethics written in the SEO blogging space. Todd said then, in 2005:
Very nice to put the "unwritten rules" down on paper Barry. You've done a very nice job earning everyone's respect, and it's a tough thing to do.
Being one of the people who probably generates the most news or journalistic oriented content in this industry. I.e. I write several posts here per day and write several at Search Engine Land, including manage virtually all the topics that get written by other authors or go into the SearchCap. I might take offense when Todd, who I respect, calls Journalists in our industry people who do not "respect your craft." That cannot be further from the truth.
I know Todd was likely not thinking of me personally when calling Journalists out - so I have no ill-will towards him. But some might take Todd's blog post the wrong way, which is why I write about it today.
From someone who has been writing in this industry for six years or so. From someone who created one of the first SEO blogging ethics ever. From someone who, I believe, never really crossed that line. I hope the Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Land prove that you don't have to sell out to blog in this industry.
Forum discussion at Sphinn.
