At iBizify.net we often get asked the question "why do we receive so much spam (junk) in our email inboxes?"

Why does spam exist?

There are hundreds of categories of spam, and each has its own motive. Some is distributed through shady channels to spread malware, compromise systems and 'plant' new places from which to deliver even more spam. Other spam can be confidence tricks such as the legendary "419 scam" that has been going on since the days of faxes. Some people inadvertently sign up to mailing services through other products and receive "legitimate" but unwanted email, which is then defined as spam.

The murky world of SEO email spam

A very common form of email spam is produced purely for a very dubious form of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Every day search engine giants such as Google and Microsoft Bing are constantly tweaking the algorithms used to bring searcher's the most relevant results to their queries. Equally every day millions of businesses are working to have their websites at the top of search results. There are also as many businesses that exist to help those wanting to achieve internet stardom. Unfortunately, as in almost every industry there is the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good SEO

The good SEO companies will work with your business to understand its background and goals. Typically an encompassing plan is required that includes a variety of legitimate methods. As with any effective marketing, the on-going process of creating, executing, measuring and tweaking campaigns is what delivers long term success and results.

The bad SEO

The bad SEO companies will likely make unrealistic promises about delivering a surprising amount of traffic to a website and charge a significant amount of money to do so. There are many methods illegitimate SEO companies may employ, and email spam is just one of them. Use of any illegitimate methods is likely to result in the targeted website being blacklisted from search engines altogether.

Illegitimate SEO companies typically employ a distant third party, or a chain of third-parties. These parties often exist overseas and charge a comparatively small amount of money to get traffic to a website. The end party can then use all manner of illegitimate resources to send spam emails with links that end up at the target website. The spam emails typically include brief messages that are known to entice people to click through, such as get rich quick, free casinos, miracle beauty treatments or magic cures. The spam then rolls out all over the world, resulting in a sudden influx of traffic to the target website. The original SEO company has then fulfilled their promise of getting lots of traffic to the target website. Of course the problem is that traffic is likely to be entirely irrelevant and lead to no business whatsoever.

The spam solution

There are a variety of products that can effectively keep spam from your inbox. iBizify.net provides enterprise-grade email services such as Microsoft Exchange Online which is available from just £3 per month + VAT. Exchange includes one of the best filtering services that "just works out-of-the-box". The service is fully configurable, but for most users the standard configuration provides a highly accurate and efficient service.

The SEO solution

If you are interested in SEO services, be aware that achieving effective, long-term results requires extensive knowledge and constant research. Such a task is beyond the resources of most small businesses, therefore a reputable third-party SEO provider is required. Do your research and be sure to measure the results – not based on traffic or 'hits' but on real lead conversion and resulting sales.

Remember, there are no miracle solutions to SEO. If what you are being offered sounds too good to be true – then it probably is. Business revenue via websites can only as effective as the business planning, product demand and marketing that drives it.