As the first couple months of 2011 come to a close, some very important changes have happened this year already to the world of search engine results, notably Google’s commitment to reestablishing the days of “quality content”. We in the industry have been observing major algorithm changes by the search engine titan that have penalized and eliminated websites that use fraudulent tactics to satisfy the algorithms so their websites appear high in page rank.

This is sad news for those webmasters and SEO companies that unfortunately use these tactics, as the “year of the crackdown” starts off strong, but luckily, for those honest and ethical webmasters and SEO companies out there, the changes are embraced!

“Our clients will see good results from this” says WebiMax Founder and CEO Kenneth C. Wisnefski. “Algorithm changes by Google are not feared by WebiMax but welcomed with open arms. Our clients see very positive movement when these updates occur because of the proper strategies WebiMax employs".

So far in 2011, we’ve heard of major retailer JC Penney penalized when their SEO Company employed these tactics and successfully got the retailer moved to the 8th page of search results. We’ve also heard of Overstock.com getting flagged for similar tactics, which got them moved further down the results list as well. If you’re an industry executive concerned of the livelihood of your company’s website, make sure your SEO Company is not employing these tactics and furthermore, make sure your SEO Company abides to an SEO Code of Ethics. Otherwise, you may wake up one morning and discover Google has moved you to the 10th page of search results for keywords describing your products.

The “year of the crackdowns” is undoubtedly going to affect a lot of websites and companies that may not even be aware that the tactics they are using are prohibited. Don’t wait until it is too late to see if your SEO Company is adhering to a Code of Ethics.

What we’ve learned in SEO so far for 2011: It’s not so much survival of the fittest as it is survival of the ethical.