So we all get into our internet businesses hoping to make a buck or two. The economy is down, but internet usage continues to rise. There are companies and programs out there to help you build your online presence. Many do so using ethical means while others are notorious for underhanded shortcuts.

One segment that I’ve noticed this in, quite frequently, is in the realm of electronic cigarette affiliates. I have seen many, and when I say many, I mean MANY, good stop smoking articles butchered by spinning programs that included their brand of e-cig product. I, myself, have had numerous Ezine articles spun and manipulated to appear that I endorse their products. Which, of course, I do not.

I’m not going to call out any of these affiliates by name, because that just isn’t my way. However, it did irk me enough that I wanted to write an article expressing my frustration with these mislead internet users. I would like to list a few reasons as to why spinning other people’s articles is a bad idea and does not help you with your long term SEO plan.

1. First of all, the articles do not spin very well. It is obvious that the articles in question are spun, and spun rather poorly. This does not really help your business other than to get your anchor text on the internet. But, because they are spun so poorly and are very hard to read, people do not keep them published for very long. So all those efforts to get your anchor text on the web, disappear rather quickly. Google does not appear to like rapid fire bursts of anchor text splattered hither and yon for short period of times.

2. Lets say the spun article gets read by a couple of thousand people. They will quickly realize that the information has been stolen and manipulated. They will see what company is linked AND what site is posting the bogus information. This will soil (for lack of a better word) your brand identity or message. People will not think very highly of your product or service and will often ignore it, even if it’s the number 1 rank on the web. The publishing site may also view the hard to read information and then no longer post your content.

3. Finally, article directories will begin to find out who you are and not accept your plagiarized work. This simply makes it a little harder for you to get your message out. Not impossible, but it is just one more inconvenience for you as you implement your SEO plan. Plus, Google seems to heavily weight organic growth in their formulas. Although it is true that plagiarized work is simple and easy to get out to the masses, it is also true that Google doesn’t seem to view that kind of burst as organic growth. So, it may boost your rankings a tiny little bit, but in the end, your goals will not become realized.

I hope you are now inspired to build your online presence the ethical way, through honesty and hard work. I’m sure many are simply laughing at this article, and thinking to themselves, “poor idiot, he really thinks honesty and integrity are the best policy”. Well, they’d be right. But at least, I’ve said my peace and I can now go back to my naive ways.

Only 50 more original articles to go and maybe then I’ll get off the 25th page of Google. Wish me luck.

Tim Frymyer is a licensed respiratory therapist who is dedicated to keeping the public up to date on the latest stop smoking information in an honest and ethical manner. relx