Iniquitous has been making lots of moves in the Denver SEO rankings lately.  I’m going to show that they have achieved this rank using black-hat SEO methods.

Local Search SEO Spam

Iniquitous has been moving up a lot, especially in local search results in the Google OneBox map results. They seem to be everywhere…but not all with the same listing.

Doing a little research on Google Local, I got to this page of all their listings. Guess what? They have ELEVEN (11) listings. I am frustrated at Google for not doing a better job of such blatant spam. They have used 11 different business names for their listings. Check this out:

1. Iniquitous‎
2. Search Engine Optimization Denver by Iniquitous‎
3. Web Design Denver by Iniquitous
4. Denver Web Design by Iniquitous‎
5. Denver Internet Marketing‎
6. Search Engine Marketing Denver‎
7. Call for your Denver Company HERE‎
8. Denver SEO Company‎
9. Denver Web Design‎
10. Colorado Search Engine Optimization‎
11. Denver SEO Company‎

Most of those list the same address, and all of them (except for their honest business listing) are spam. This kind of irresponsible SEOing sucks. But wait, there’s more!

Spammy Duplicate Content Websites

Google says that they’ve made big strides in preventing duplicate website content from ranking well, and that their anti-spam efforts have been very successful.  Anyone working in SEO knows that Google is still behind the ball.

Some SEO companies decide that until Google catches up, they will spam the hell out of them. That’s what Iniquitous has chosen to do.

Iniquitous has two main domains:

1. search-engine-optimization-denver.com
2. thisisiniquitous.com

They are identical websites, except for two factors: the main navigation anchor text, and the <title> tag.  Let’s take a look:

1. Web Development
   • Navigation Link Text:
     1. Web Development
     2. Denver Web Development
   • Page Title:
     1. Denver Web Development by Iniquitous-Denver Web Design-Logo Design Denver-Boulder Web Design
     2. Denver Website Development-Denver SEO-Web Development Denver, Colorado
   • Page Content: Identical
   • URL: Identical (denver-web-development.html)
   • Sidebar Content: Additional sidebar widget on thisisiniquitous.com website.
2. SEO
   • Navigation Link Text:
     1. Search Engine Optimization
     2. Denver SEO
   • Page Title:
     1. Search Engine Optimization Denver-Denver SEO-Colorado SEO-Boulder SEO-SEM Denver
     2. Denver Search Engine Optimization Company-SEO Denver, Colorado-SEM Denver
   • Page Content: Identical
   • URL: Identical (denver-search-engine-optimization.html)
   • Sidebar Content: Left widget adds a picture, right sidebar adds a widget explaining Organic vs. PPC

How can they get away with this?

There are two websites that are virtually identical, and Google is treating them separately. Furthermore, one of the domains has three hyphens in it and a very long domain name (two indicators of spammy websites), and still the site is allowed to have value (the spammy duplicate site has PR2, the main site PR3). Google, WTF?

What is equally frustrating about this SEO company is that they don’t understand: what they are doing will come back to kick them in the ass.

SEO Best Practice: Don’t Endanger Your Clients’ Websites

If you’re cheating, the good times won’t last

What Iniquitous is doing may be helping them in the short term: they have started to climb into the top 10 for Denver SEO, and are doing very well…for now. When you are trying to cheat a system — blatantly and without showing respect of Google — Google and other search engines will come down hard on your website and the websites associated with your website. When Google finds a SEO company using these tactics, they make sure the web properties are punished, and they will try and find out what other sites you’ve developed. That means that they are endangering their SEO clients.

Walk the line. Learn the ropes. Be respectful of the process. But don’t cheat…it pisses me off and it will kick you in the ass.

I welcome all responses, including official responses from Iniquitous.