Would this be below your ethics?

[dickbaker]

A poster on this forum has always advised people to seek out links from the best sites they can: authoritative sites, high pr sites, etc.

In my niche, there are few if any sites that meet those standards. The exceptions are government sites for agencies that regulate the activity of people in my niche. One type of agency is at the state level, and every state has one. For my state, the agency's site has a PR of 8 and is definitely an authority site.

It occurred to me that full-time webmasters probably have their own sites that they work on in their off-hours. That got me to thinking that one or more of these webmasters might be open to either a monetary "compensation," or help promoting their own sites via advertising on my site. All I'd ask in exchange would be a link on the agency's home page. It could even blend into the background so that nobody would ever see it.

The greedy side of me says try it, but the ethical side says no.

Your thoughts?

[Leosghost]

Knowing the subject matter of your site and it's "niche" ..( long memory etc )..and therefore what you mean by "agency"..

the answer has to be ..don't ..

if you found any takers for your offer ..you/they could both be at best fired ..and /or wearing orange for some time in the future ..

[g1smd]

I'm drinking this post in, thinking about what this subject matter could be, but you driving the point home about the people in charge of the site could be in trouble for getting involved, looks like it could be something quite serious. :-)

[dickbaker]

Leoghost, I'm certain it's not the big government agency you're thinking of.

But I can't do it anyway. It's unethical.

Too bad my competitors lack ethics. :(

[vincevincevince]

Too bad my competitors lack ethics.

Would it be unethical to shop them for it?

There are sometimes legitimate ways to get links from government sites. Think about that.