My New Personal Code of Conduct for This Section of The Forum

[SEO Training Alliance]

Warriors, I've been a bit childish.

In the past (recently) I've been drawn into SEO 'battles' for want of a better word, with fellow Warriors who have different opinions on SEO than I do.

Typically, these debates get personal, and obviously neither me nor the other parties concede.

It's usually a waste of time for all parties concerned, and I can imagine it would confuse the heck out of a newbie looking for solid information. It really stops being about SEO, and more about who can be right, and it probably fuels analysis paralysis, which is perhaps the biggest killer in the whole IM game. This is really not something I want to be doing.

Well I won't be instigating or prolonging any more of these kinds of debates, and I apologize for doing so in the past.

I mean really, what's the point in fighting with each other? Is this really the best use of anyone's time?

Matt Cutts is sitting there with his well resourced Web Spam team laughing at us, when they should be scared of a group of highly motivated individuals collaborating to always stay one step ahead of them.

So here's my new personal code of conduct for this section of the forum, so that these SEO debates are more productive for everyone.

1) No matter how much I know or achieve, I am still and always will be a student of SEO. There are very few facts, only opinions supported by experiences because things can change literally overnight. Yesterday's truth could be tomorrow's mistake, i.e. anyone remember keyword stuffing?

2) As a student I can still be an expert, but limiting the information I take in or closing my mind to new possibilities is naive and ultimately conducive to a stagnation of skills, particularly in the rapidly moving SEO industry.

3) I want this to be an environment where people contribute and discuss, rather than bicker and argue and will be respectful of all opinions regardless of whether I share them or not.

4) Where I do disagree with an opinion, if I have compelling evidence to support my position I will share it respectfully and in a way that challenges the theory, not the individual sharing it.

5) Where I have no evidence to support my opposing opinion, I will refrain from commenting until I do.

6) There will always be people that want attention and try to make themselves appear smart by criticizing popular threads. Typically they argue for the sake of arguing and have very little to contribute. The best way to deal with these people is to politely ask them to support their opinions with proof.

I feel this approach will be beneficial in the long term.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to pull me up on anything if I slip up as I'm a stubborn bastard!

Cheers,

Gavin

[Tina Golden]

That code of conduct could apply to every section of this forum and to each one of us. Great post!

Tina

[johnharvard]

good post, I've seen too many example of comments in posts that probably wouldn't have been made in person.

[Mike Anthony]

I'll agree with the spirit of the post but on a practical note there are times when you just have to call a spade a spade and it most definitely is in the best interest of the newbies to do so. People are of coursed harmed somewhat by squabbles because they can't find out what the real advice is that they should be listening to but the opposite is more harmful. I can think of SEVERAL thread where if a poster was not challenged people would have gone down a long road of failure by following their advice. So its a balance and sometimes you do have to forcefully point out serious issues.

Add to that that every now and again someone (usually brand new to the boards) comes to the section exclusively to establish their latest get rich quick SEO theories to later package it as a WSO and what I think would be even more helpful is that no one should post a position on SEO unless they can back it up with some meaningful evidence from a third party source not " I have proven this is true or false" based on evidence that is never presented.

Might not be popular to say this here but if you are learning SEO exclusively from this forum you are learning the wrong way.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

I'll agree with the spirit of the post but on a practical note there are times when you just have to call a spade a spade and it most definitely is in the best interest of the newbies to do so.

I'll second that.

Example. Someone asked how delete an adsense ad block they created. I said it
can't be done for various reasons. Next person up simply says log in, manage ads,
delete it. So, I got a little annoyed and repeated the reply about no you can't.
With a bite to it this time. Now that's a mundane question and not really worth
fighting over. But a small example.

No question we squabble among some members in a more affable way.
Can't be helped.

This forum is about helping people. Steering them in the right direction. No way
can many of us bite our tongues at some posts. Not practical and not what the forum
should be, really.

The respect factor has to be be there. I do give more respect to posts and replies
from some of my favorites, like kay king, bgmacaw, askloz, fraggler, jacob martus, brad cullen, tom goodwin, dburk, jazbo, many others, yes including the big mike anthony.
Heck even have buried the hatchet with Yukon.

As far as TMG Tina goes, she's an angel. Normally I avoid replying in obnoxious ways
in any thread she's in.

I have tried to do fewer posts with bites. Sometimes, it can't be helped.

Paul