Appearing on its Webmaster Help Centre, Google's article advises site owners to be cautious of unethical firms when deciding whether to hire an SEO company. The search engine giant states that, ?deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time, but you can also risk damage to your site and reputation.

So what exactly is SEO? An acronym for search engine optimisation, SEO attempts to increase the amount of traffic to a website by improving its ranking in search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN. SEO companies manage this process by providing services that include reviewing and developing site content, keyword research and offering technical advice.

Although the services offered by SEO firms are clearly beneficial, Google emphasises the importance of selecting an ethical provider. Site owners should make their selection with care and research both the advantages and damage that particular SEO companies could do to your website. Sustainable SEO firms, such as London based 4Ps Marketing, vigilantly follow the Google quality guidelines to focus on the long term benefits for site owners. The practice of some unethical SEO providers can result in the removal of you site from Google listings.

Despite the importance of researching SEO firms, before this is even attempted, Google suggests that it is a good idea for site owners to become familiar with how search engines work. An excellent place to start is to visit the Google Webmaster Guidelines, and a review of this article can be read here; Webmaster guidelines

Google also highlights that SEO can be carried out in-house, without the aid of an optimisation company, by using the free resources that can be found on Google Webmaster Central. However, it is important to remember that SEO is a continuous task and that, to do it properly, it can be time consuming. With this in mind, hiring an SEO company can be extremely helpful, but it is imperative to choose the right one.

So how exactly do you choose an ethical SEO firm? Google stresses the importance of becoming educated consumers, and the best way to do this is to ask questions. Good examples include:

? ?Can you show me examples of your previous work and share success stories??

? ?Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines??

? ?Do you offer any online market advice??

Ethical SEO companies, such as 4Ps Marketing, will always answer yes to the above questions.

According to Google, it is additionally important to be aware of the illicit behaviour practiced by some rouge SEO firms. Avoid companies that send spam emails or claim they can guarantee a ?number one ranking?. Firms should always make it clear what they intend to do to your website, so avoid secretive companies because manipulative content could result in your site being removed from Google listings.

Although SEO clearly demands that site owners do their research, Google maintains that hiring a SEO company can be beneficial. The message from the search engine seems clear enough: with the possibility of site damage from unethical firms, sustainable SEO is the only way to go!