Is it considered "black hat" to embed my website name on a viral video?

[Boodreaux]

The video has nothing to do with my website but it got a lot of traffic this first week.  Just because a site gets a lot of traffic is it worth it to have my linked imbedded? Does the domin and web authority go real high fast with a viral video?

[Gijsbert]

I would for sure give it a try. Can't imagine that it should be black hat..

[SilverDoor]

Don't do it!

If it sounds too good to be true...it probably is.

From what your saying to me it sounds pretty "grey hat".

This is the sort of thing that might be ok now but at any given time could go black hat. If that happens you'll see a lot more long term damage then short term gain.

It's entirely up to you, but I recommend you avoid doing this.

Hope this helps

Thanks

SilverDoor

[Boodreaux]

One pro and one con....I am back where I started.  Any other suggestions.  It is a viral video that I taped while taking pictures for my company.

[EricaMcGillivray]

If it's related to your business -- which it sounds like a company culture/fun video -- I think it's perfectly fine to put your company's URL at the end. At Moz, we make lots of silly videos, like one of our office dogs or for the Star Wars "holiday" May the Fourth (Be with You). It adds a lot of flavor to who we are and gives people the opportunity to see the human side of our brand. Sometimes people get upset that the videos aren't about digital marketing, but most of the feedback is positive.

[Boodreaux]

It is just a random video I took while taking some photos on the ocean it involved a shark. Nothing to do with my business though.  Do you still think I should put my website domain link embedded in it?

[EricaMcGillivray]

I don't think it would harm your business, but I don't think it would help your business.

[Boodreaux]

If the video is on a lot of big sites like ABC news , espn, etc....it seems like the video is pointed to my website then I would be a big boost from the higher domain websites that are posting it.  Wouldn't that be the case?

[EricaMcGillivray]

Traffic, yes, SEO, no. Search engines cannot "read" videos very well, unless you have a very robust video sitemap, which each of these sites like ABC news, also uses. (It's unlikely they'd do that.)