Question

Topic: SEO/SEM

I Wore A White Hat But It Is Turning Grey

Posted by Anonymous on 9/6/2010 at 10:12 AM ET 200 Points
Every decent SEO practitioner on the onset of their seo experience starts of with a white hat that could turn grey fairly quickly. How the heck do you stay away from the temptation of using black hat tactics when you see Google rewarding sites who do ? I know they will be caught eventually but they are reaping the rewards for years before they do. I feel guilt when submitting spam reports to G, makes me feel like a rat. Seriously who hasn't bought links? This dilemma really came about when I acquired an expiring domain with a lot of "Google trust" and now I am contemplating on either developing this (a lot of time, effort and financial commitments) or just doing a 301 redirect to one of my sites to benefit from the juice. Is this wrong? I know it is unethical but I've seen it done before.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 9/6/2010 at 10:36 AM Accepted
    There are a lot of dishonest people in the world. They play almost everywhere, and many never get caught.

    Rather than deal with the temptation to join them, one option is to ignore them and follow what YOU believe is right and fair. At least that way you will sleep well and be able to face yourself in the morning.

    Don't deal with what others do (and get away with). Just stay in your own world and do what you know is right.

    Sorry if I sound like a preacher, but I've been around this track a few times, and done my best to observe what happens when people focus too much on their competition or on questionable practices.
  • Posted on 9/7/2010 at 10:29 PM Author
    @mgoodman : Thank you and as you well know I highly value your opinion. I would rather have a good night's sleep than thinking if what I did was wrong. I'll also stop emailing spam violations to Google on our competitors because it just doesn't make me feel good. Do Good, Feel Good, like my hero mGoodman ! zing :)
  • Posted on 9/7/2010 at 10:43 PM Author
    @ KSA : I'll have no qualms in doing a 301 on an expired domain . If they let the domain expire then my take is it's like finding something in the trash and you made it valuable again. The main reason for this dilemma is what I have is somewhere in the line of a .med.pro it was not expired but the previous owner didn't want to maintain or own it anymore and I renewed it and in exchange for some other considerations. I can't even transfer it to my name due to some licensing requirements and until I figure out what to do with it. I just know it was valuable due to the PR estimate and links from institutions.
  • Posted on 9/7/2010 at 11:04 PM Author
    @dvogel : The link to the SEland article seems to be broken. Great move on the KCDP purchase . I love hearing about these out of the box moves. Like in this case you could even claim his business listings on merchant circle and manta to link to a money page on your site but that would be unethical right? For my case I even have the content but Is highly irrelevant to my projects. I could keep the content and possibly just do links but that just doesn't seem proper due to the highly irrelevant nature . My point is like if you get to somehow acquire a .coop before it got reset and 301 it to a client's site I am quite certain you'll get a boost in your serps and trust rating . I am quite lost on what to do with this site . I could probably donate it to an institution who can put it to good use.... or sell it to a professional. I got it!!!! I'll go look for a local professional and send them a quote . Thanks Guys for the advice and feedback I now know what to do with this without compromising myself.

  • Posted on 9/9/2010 at 11:29 AM Author
    Thanks Guys. For sure dvogel I will ask for a link back to one of my sites. Google Instant is just driving me nuts today as I am sure you guys are re-evaluating your SEO strategies as well. I'm just glad I optimized the Google Places for most of my local projects .
  • Posted on 9/10/2010 at 1:21 PM Author
    Thank you guys .
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(SEO/SEM)