My strategy with SEO is to always wear the white hat. I think in the end, Google will crush everyone who tries to outsmart the search. Like I wrote in a previous post, it’s my theory that even though not many click on it, Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button is everything to them. It’s a source of pride and ego. If Google gets a whiff that you’re trying to work an angle and get that link, they will jump on you. To me, SERP Flooding is exactly a technique aimed at doing that.
SERP Flooding (Search Engine Results Page Flooding) is a strategy where you try to monopolize all of the search results by creating multiple websites and domains. For example, a coffee roaster with the domain Buckstars.com goes and buys domains: java.com, mocha.com and latte.com. Buckstars puts unique content on each page but all of the content and links take the user to Bucksters.com. The links to Buckstars.com help that site with Google page rank. The baby sites serve as funnels for the user so that no matter which one appeals to them in the search results, they all bring customers to Buckstars.com.
For it to work, these baby sites have to not come off as a shill — they must have some redeeming value. If you’ve made Buckstars as good as it can be, you’ll have a tough time coming up with interesting and unique content for mocha.com. You’ll also have to do regular updates to these sites and perform normal SEO tasks to keep them highly ranked.
What I’ve just described is not unethical or illegal. Google has not cracked down it. The practice is merely smarmy. So I ask, what do you think of that? Do it because it works and you can get away with it? Or always wear the white hat and approach SEO with the goal of simply creating useful content?
