Where's the line on incoming links?

Because competitors do?

[joost]

Hi, this is my first post here. I look forward to your answers.

intro:
For a few years now, I own a few websites that do fairly well in Google, partly because of non-reciprocal incoming links. These sites apparently offer content that people wish to link to.

Recently I noticed that a certain affiliate program did better for my wallet then all my original business plans together, and decided to start a new website around that affiliate program.

problem:
For this new site I studied the competition and noticed that the search results for just about any keyword combination are dominated by websites with few "legitimate" incoming links. Just about all of them use spam-like techniques such as:
- interlinking multiple sites with little content;
- guestbook entries (example: one particular site with 1300 guestbook entries but not one legitimate incoming link on first page of 172.000 results search;
- linking to index page from hundreds/thousands of subdomains;
- advertisements at high ranking sites (example: 21.000 incoming links from 1 text add on all pages of a large and well-known site with PR7).
-and, most of all, combinations of all of the above.

question:
I don't see how I can beat them "my way". Should I join them, then? I consider the following positioning plan: first concentrate on all the "old-fashioned" solid stuff (page optimization, legitimate incoming links, etc) and then add a little bit of all the techniques mentioned above. Would this be a good idea or should I stay away from it all (and forget about top-rankings)?

[le_gber]

Hi joost and welcome to WebmasterWorld

first concentrate on all the "old-fashioned" solid stuff (page optimization, legitimate incoming links, etc)

Definitly the solution. If you have a site that do well in a similar user/customer base, why not linking from this site. Also if you own a lot of site you could use them as well (if the content is somewhat close tho the new site's content).
The techniques your competitor is using seems to boost PR (I think) but the optimisation + legitimate linking might get you ahead of him.

and then add a little bit of all the techniques mentioned above

I wouldn't because if you are too kind to use spam reports some of your competitors might not be and will report you to take you down if you trick the SE.

[James_Dale]

If you feel it is necessary , and are fully confident you won't be caught, then go for it. If in any real doubt, don't bother, since you'll kick yourself when the spam reports start coming in.

Having said that, absolute familiarisation with the less 'ethical' techniques is very important. Not only will it help you respond more quickly to competition if you are blown out of the water by, for instance, an effective cloaking campaign - but it will also enable you to quickly spot other sites utilising sly tactics and protect yourself.

Sometimes, market conditions require a practical knowledge of 'non ethical' SEO techniques.

[joost]

le_gber and James_Dale, thanks very much for the advice! Guess I'll first see how far I get without unethical stuff. And maybe I should overcome my distaste of reporting spammers..

[skibum]

Bottom line is Google seems to hold the site owner accountable regardless of whether it was an SEO company that pulls the fast one and regardless of what the competition is doing.

Go for agressive tactics, and its a gamble, maybe a small one, but we generally know what's in and out of bounds. That's not to say being agressive doesn't pay off sometimes though.