Hello,
I primarily do web design, SEO and SEM for my own small business, and inadvertently ran across a company which asked me to work on their AdWords account because they found out about my knowledge in the aforementioned areas. I agreed to optimize their account a bit as a one time service. In the process I learned that they and their competitors were paying a small fortune (about $15k a year) on their AdWords accounts. I learned of the coveted keywords for their niche, and now see an opportunity to build a website for this niche, optimize it for the keywords, and then turn around and sell the site to anyone within this industry. Would this be unethical?
Sincerely,
Brian

yes - and from your wording I think you realize that - especially if you are still doing any work for them.

BTW 15k a year is a very small PPC spend - a million a month is a big spend and is being done by many companies

Thank you for your response. ...Actually, this seems to be a bit of a grey area, and hence my question. Is there some type of online industry standards for SEO ethics that would cover this topic? I'm not still doing work for them, nor was I looking for an opportunity for insider information from them. This is similar to when someone goes to work for a company as an employee, and learns a trade through that work experience. Do they then turn around and never use that experience to go into competition with their former employee? Of course not. -- At least, this is my take on this, but I'm open to learn more about what I may not be seeing.

you risk bad reputation - if they see it is you and let others know - so loss of clients vs profit

To Aussie's point, be careful not muddy-up the pool you swim in. You can always talk to your clients, let them know your intentions, and figure out a way to minimize impacting their business. If you've been in this industry long enough, you have so much generalized competitive data in your head that it would preclude you from working on anything on your own. Be respectful of your clients but don't be afraid of making use of your experience in a transparent and fair way.

Thanks for the valueable advice. :-)I decided to not build a site for the niche. :-)

I have seen this done a few times over before. And if you do not set up a site to capitalize on the opportunity, no one most likely will. What I would do is to tell them about the opportunity and give them the option to hire you to do it.. if they don't, then you have a clear conscience to run with it. If they do, then you can make a few $$ quickly. You could also use it as a directory or sell ads (links) on the site.

don't know why you would abandon idea - just work it right and it will get there - too many others get complacent
work YouTube