Microsites – When are they black hat, when are they ok?

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Posted on 20th April 2009 by iansheldon in Uncategorized

Ugh, ok, so I’m raising the ugly head of black hat Search Engine Optimisation again.  It’s not really a topic I like to talk about but I feel this is a grey area.    The area I am talking about is Micro Sites.

I recently read a proposal from an SEO company that was written about 12 months ago, and the main focus seemed to be built on building 40+ micro web sites based on the agreed choice of keywords that would all link back to the main web site.  Great idea in theory but a totally unacceptable method of SEO in my eyes that does nothing more than litter the web with useless SPAMMY content.

Now, I met with a client this morning and we discussed the possibility of building 4 or 5 micro sites based on products that they sell.  Now from a marketing point of view this makes sense as the sites can focus on these products specifically and they can genuinely link back to the main web site.  I beleive that these sites will provide added value both to the customers and to the client but I am also aware that this isn’t exactly 100% approved by Google – or is it?  Am I reading into Black Hat techniques too much and at the end of the day does it come down to common sense and knowing when you have crossed the line.

Discuss……