Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by Tim Qui on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 10/11/2013).

Should I go to the grey area by doing a piece of BlackHat SEO to boost ranking?

Now I`m pretty new to SEO so I may be being a bit naive here. But I`m working on my first client`s site and doing some competitor analysis has left me feeling a bit disheartened.

All of my client`s main competitors seem to owe their high rankings to lots of external links from link farms and spammy content sites. What`s more, they`ve been enjoying their high perch for several months now. Shouldn`t Google have penalized them by now?

I didn`t want to go down this route as everything I`ve learned so far has discouraged black hat methods. But in reality do all SEO`s buy a few links here and there? I`m just concerned if I do it could negatively impact my client but it certainly doesn`t seem to have hurt the competition.
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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • Dave Elliott: Yeah I wish google actually did what they say they would as well. It is really irritating. I dont have a good answer to that im afraid but we dont all do that
  • Beth Morgan: Disheartened by what?  ;All the competition?
  • Craig Moore: Have a read of the five pages I have written about safe link building ideas that have worked. All Google friendly. I really like the giving away photo one. https://s3.amazonaws.com/craig-moore-adsense-seo/seo-tutorial-safe-link-building.html
  • Tony McCreath: I'm waiting on the day they all get smashed and my clients float to the top. We can all have dreams :-) 
  • Tim Quin: Ha! No I'm not quite that naive Beth Morgan. Sorry if I was unclear, I was referring to being disheartened about sites with no substance ranking high purely down to Google spamming techniques and nothing else.
  • Simon Fryer: +Tim Quin ;Most major brands buy links in one form or another, whether it's through sponsorships, product reviews, advertising, or industry associations.

    Many things technically outside the Webmaster Guidelines are still very effective, but the "squeaky clean" approach is going to be safer in the long run. Reverse engineer all the competitions good links and then go get your own.

    Have faith that over time the better sites will be rewarded. ;
  • Matt Raynes: Major brands invest big budget ;into digital marketing.  ;Ensuring quality content that is marketed effectively socially and on the client's own blog will usually bring a natural back link acquisition.  ;I guess it boils down to how they now interpret buying links.
    SEO outreach programmes are shifting more toward traditional PR exercises, where there's enough budget.  ;This is a good read that covers the shift quite well - ;http://www.welikepr.co.uk/blog/seonewpr.html
  • Simon Fryer: +Matt Raynes ;that's just the point - it's hard for SE's to draw the line when it comes to what constitutes a "bought" link, and links that are the result of genuine relationships (which may happen to include an exchange of money). ;
  • W.E. Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 00:33:37 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/should_i_go_to_the_grey_area_by_doing_a_piece_of_blackhat_seo_to_boost_ranking

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 10/11/2013).

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