Competitor ranking through SPAM

[Dekoda_Jones]

We have a competitor called SwitchWise who has done a whole heap of social bookmarking and article marketing, using a deceptive link with anchor text reading "i select electricity" which has got them ranking #2 in Australia for the term iselect (a big comparison company here in Aus).

The articles are low value, the link is deceptive and it is generally bad for the consumer.  I could copy their tactics for my client, but I'm concerned about the links eventually being devalued and the company placed in the sin bin.

What is the best course of action as I really don't want to let them get away with this, either we need to be  up there, or alternative we need to dislodge them.

p.s I know this is not a great keyword, but it's more about stakeholder management in terms of what my client sees and how they interpret what we are doing relative to their competitors.

[Dekoda_Jones]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback.

[toddmumford]

Hi Joshua,

Overall the competition doesn't look terribly high for that keyword. I always opt to keep it clean insofar as inbound link quality. There is very little reason you couldn't move SelectWise out of position two for this keyword.

Try the comparison product approach in inbound links. It helps the links look more editorial as opposed to trying to rank a competitor / alternate website for a potential brand or trademarked term company.

[Francisco_Meza]

Check to see if they are buying links 1st. If they are, then you may be able to report them though Google Webmasters and they an get hammered. I did this for one of my shady competitors and they got wacked in the SERPS by Google.  f they are article spinning, then I don't think you can really do anything about it. Anybody can article spin.

[Dekoda_Jones]

My client is not iselect, they are a direct competitor to switchwise.

It is more a question of risk and reward v danger.  I don't really want to copy their SPAMMY tactics for the risk of having our site penalized, but it is hurting my relationship with my client for every day they stay there.

[JamesNorquay]

If your client is iSelect? It is down to them to them to do brand reputation management on the term, using their own properties "brand owned" to out rank the specific Switch Wise domain.

Really it raised an argument: is Switch Wise an affiliate of iSelect? Should they be targeting the brand terms via the organic space, it is easy to switch the off button on paid but with organic you really need to do your own reputation management.