Google and all search engines are engineered to provide users with the best search results. Therefore, the tech giant regularly updates its algorithms. It’s a good move for Google users, but it can be frustrating for webmasters and SEO professionals as well as online shops and digital marketers. As a result, some of them use black hat SEO to take shortcuts.
Ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs) opens tons of opportunities for any business, in any industry. We understand the reasons companies turn to black hat SEO. It is the fastest way to improve a site’s ranking in search engines without following Google’s guidelines.
Although it may seem like a quick solution, these techniques are still considered unethical and harmful to your SEO. Before considering any of these tactics, ask yourself: do you want to see your rankings fall because of unethical methods? What is black hat SEO? How can you prevent it from hurting your SEO strategies?
ADVDMS will explain black-hat SEO to help protect your search engine rankings. We will also provide you with the best SEO strategies to ensure long-term success in organic traffic, leads and sales.
What is Black Hat SEO?
Black hat SEO is a practice that is used to increase a page or site’s ranking by using methods that violate search engines’ terms and conditions. These techniques are used by practitioners to try to manipulate search engine algorithms and boost their website’s traffic.
Marketers are tempted to resort to using black hat SEO software to rank their pages when there is so much at stake. There will always be some people who want to cheat the system by using these hacks. Even if the hacking is accidental, it’s time for you to stop because it’s not worth it. Black hat SEO techniques are not recommended if you want to speed up your website’s organic success.
You may have improved your traffic and rankings with black hat tactics, but once search engine bots find out about the manipulation, it is over. Expect to be penalized.
Your site will eventually lose search rankings, visibility, and traffic. Worst case scenario? Your website will be gone forever.
The Differences Between Black Hat and White Hat SEO
An SEO strategy must be compatible with search engine algorithms. Black hat SEO techniques try to defy these algorithms, so they should be avoided at all costs.
Black hat SEO does not conform to search engine company terms. They use manipulation to increase search engine rankings, which could result in a penalty or total eradication on results pages.
On the other hand, white hat SEO increases your search engine rank ethically and follow their guidelines. These strategies aim to improve your website’s rank in the SERPs and provide a great user experience for visitors. Here are some examples of white hat SEO practices:
- Creating high quality content
- Designing websites for mobile-friendliness and fast site loading speeds
- Applying descriptive, keyword-rich meta tags
- Focusing on user experience
Some black hat techniques may improve search engine visibility, but these are usually only temporary. Google will eventually catch these practices and penalize sites who use them.
Although black hat SEO methods may yield increases in website traffic from search engines like Google, recent developments in technology, transparency, and search standards have made white hat SEO more appealing than black hat strategies.
SEO is essential for search engine visibility and high placement on SERPs. To avoid your website being blocked, you should use white hat SEO techniques. Approved optimization methods will improve your site’s ranking in organic search engine results.
8 Black Hat SEO Examples
It is important to understand that using Black hat SEO strategies and tactics can result in your site being removed from search engines. These tactics can prevent you from becoming the top traffic source on the Internet. SEO professionals and digital marketers need to be familiar with these unethical practices and their consequences to safeguard and maintain their website’s ranking.
Here are eight black hat SEO examples you should avoid:
1. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is the practice of repeating a keyword in your copy, even if it no longer makes sense. This is a great idea if you are trying to optimize the post for search engines. However, focusing more on keyword density than writing for people is a bad SEO strategy that can quickly sink your content’s rank.
Keyword stuffing can also cause your audience to lose interest in your writing because it appears like a language that only bots understand.
Search engines will see that you are trying to trick them into ranking your content higher in the SERPs by inserting irrelevant keywords into blog posts.
White hat SEO techniques that include keyword mentions can be ethical. However, you need to do it naturally.
Strategic locations to place keywords include:
- Article or blog post title
- Meta title
- Meta description
- Introduction
- Subheadings
Include your keywords several times in the content. But make sure that they flow well and are understood within the context.
2. Blog Comment Spam
Blog comment spam, a form of black hat SEO, in which links are posted as comments to blogs to increase the number and quality of backlinks to a targeted site, is an example of spamdexing.
If a blog comment has no value for the reader or blogger, it is considered spam. This text is often gibberish and does not relate to the actual blog post.
3. Cloaking
Cloaking is when one piece of content is shown to users and another to search engines. This technique is used by websites to rank content for non-relevant terms. Spam websites often do this to prevent search engine bots from finding the spam content they provide to users.
It is possible to tailor your content for different users. You might, for example, reduce the website’s size when someone visits it from a mobile device. You can also alter the language of a webpage depending on where someone is located. These examples are acceptable as long as they don’t change the content visible to search engine crawlers.
Although there are no rules that will tell you what is acceptable or unacceptable, ask yourself if the solution you propose is beneficial to the user. If it does, it is acceptable. Search engine bots crawling your site should be treated the same way as any other user.
You can use the fetch Google tool to see how Google views your website and then compare it to what other users see.
4. Hidden texts
Hidden text, also known as invisible text, refers to hiding keywords from visitors but is still visible for search engines to crawl and index. Hidden or invisible text can be described as keywords with the same background color and text that is too small to read. It’s used to include as many keyword phrases or keywords as possible on a page.
Be careful with this deceptive SEO tactic. Google’s advanced algorithm can distinguish between keywords in a paragraph’s body and keywords hidden in its background. Search engine bots are getting more sophisticated everyday. No matter how obscure your keywords are, bots will immediately detect them.
5. Duplicate content
There’s no denying that it can be challenging to create compelling content, especially when you don’t have the time or are short of ideas. Many marketers try to copy content from other sites or pages out of desperateness.
Duplicate content refers to a black hat SEO technique that involves copying and pasting large amounts of content on the same website or across multiple domains. It generates content that ranks for many keywords automatically and does not require any effort to produce useful content.
One example of this is a website with many location pages, all using the same content. Only the name of the location is different.
Plagiarism is never a good idea. Original and high-quality content will not only set your website apart, but it will also build trust and convert visitors into customers.
6. Doorway pages
Doorway pages, also known as gateways or bridges, are created to rank for specific keywords and redirect users to other pages. These gateways use keyword variations and incoherent text to fill a page with relevant content.
These landing pages are usually of little or no value. These landing pages are designed to fool search engines and redirect visitors from one result to another.
Google isn’t happy when websites trick people. They will be penalized.
7. Paid links
High-quality links can drive traffic to your website and can be trusted by Google. You must work hard to earn them. However, businesses that want instant results should avoid the hassle of purchasing links. Google doesn’t approve of this.
Google can tell if you are buying links and performing black hat link building. Bots can now track both links that were likely to be bought and earned.
While earning legitimate backlinks takes time, effort, dedication, and connection, the result is more than worth it. Manipulating your position to be at the top of search engine results pages through paid links will only earn you a penalty from Google.
Paid link building is a black hat technique that can completely put your website growth at a disadvantage, as Google strongly disapproves of paid links.
8. Link Farms
A link farm or link network is a site or group of websites that are created solely for building links. Each website links to the site they wish to rank higher in search engines. Search engines use links to rank websites based on the number of backlinks that point to them, and other factors. This is where black hat SEO takes advantage of link farms to increase the number of backlinks a site has.
Link farms are often low-quality sites with lots of links. The anchor text of the links usually contains the keyword the link farm wants the site to rank for. Google and other search engines can detect link farms easily, so it is best to avoid them.
How to Avoid Black Hat SEO
Black hat strategies are dangerous and should not be a part of any SEO strategy. These are the best ways to avoid black hat tactics.
- The searcher and the search engines should be treated the same. Do not “cloak” search engine crawlers or trick them by redirecting them on to another page. Focus your efforts on the searcher, and make sure you create great user experiences from search engine to website.
- Only write original, high-quality content and avoid keyword stuffing. Do not duplicate, copy, or reword content belonging to others.
- When adding structured data on your website, be sure to follow the rules. Make sure any schema markup that you add to your website is accurate and does not mislead users.
- Do not create a private blog network to get links. Make your website unique and make sure people link to it naturally.
- Keep up-to-date with webmaster guidelines to avoid black hat tactics that are prohibited by search engines. Refer to the guidelines from Google, Yahoo, and Yandex.
Stop Hurting Your SEO With Black Hat SEO Backlinks and Software
Every business wants to rank high in SERPs and stay there. Resorting to black hat SEO may be the easy way, but it can hurt your website’s rank in the SERPs. It may get you instant results, but they are not sustainable. These manipulative techniques can have a disastrous impact on your website.
Collaborating with Advanced Digital Media Services for SEO services in Denver guarantees a solid strategy that doesn’t include any black hat tactics. Our team uses white hat methods to improve and maintain your Google search engine result pages ranking. Achieve your goals using recommended, ethical SEO tactics.
Reach out to our team today and find out more about how we can strategize Google-approved SEO techniques to boost your rankings.
