The New York Times recently wrote an article about Black-Hat Optimization and how it impacted the Department Store JC Penney. JC Penney used paid inbound links from unrelated websites to boost its position within the Google Search Engines. The only problem is Google considers this a no-no. What is an inbound link? Inbound links are links from pages on external sites that link back to your site. Inbound links bring new users to your site. Besides bringing new users to your site, the right inbound links add credibility to your site in the eyes of the Search Engines. A good example would be if you are a family law attorney and your site is linked to Family Law directories that Google gives a good rating, then your site will have more credibility or trust in Googles eyes. As a matter of fact Google states on one of their own blogs, "As many of you know, relevant, quality inbound links can affect your PageRank".
What happened to JC Penney? They were showing at the top of the page for many of the products they sell. But, once Google found out about their Black-Hat Optimization they fell well off the first page. Some products slide in the 70's for rankings.
Every SEO company will tell they can get you to the top of Google. Each company probably has clients who are on top of the search engines. But, please be careful before you say yes to doing business with them. Do your homework. It could cost you in the long-run.
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