Competitor using questionable strategy that is working, Am I Wasting My Time?

[DLRISM]

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[SimonCullum]

Hi David

Your frustrations are certainly understandable and the temptation to follow suit is obviously there.

You question yourself as to whether follow suit as per your competitor, or to continue down the route of quality content creation and ethical link building.

It has to be the later, always, don't sell yourself short. SEO isn't a quick win, those such as your competitor that engage in unethical practices such as link farming (which is what they are doing from your description) usually loose out in the end.

Be in it for the long term, keep creating high quality relevant topical useful content for your visitors and distribute it properly, as you have been doing by the sounds of it.

• If you're after some guidance or fresh ideas to consider with your SEO strategy, have a read of a useful SEO Guide here on SEOmoz and study the Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors which are a really useful resource.
• Also, watch a 9 minute video that was today's White Board Friday video, which is here on SEOmoz, entitled 'Mapping Keywords to Content for Maximum Impact'.

If you are after a quick win, consider PPC if not already and try some online & offline PR. As far as the SEO goes, don't give in to that temptation as you'll likely end up regretting it. It takes time however with focus, perseverance and the right ethical SEO strategy, you'll get there eventually.

With kind regards

Simon

[EGOL]

Keep doing the content attack.

It is very rare to beat an opponent by duplicating their methods.  You defeat them by doing something superior.

That is what you are doing with the content.  Hang in there.

[KeriMorgret]

Rand also offers some encouragement on this thread over at http://www.seomoz.org/q/iffy-question. Stick with the quality content creation and doesn't chase after the types of links you talk about in your question.