SEO Black Hat Techniques

[Gordon Jacov]

Techniques and methods used to boost web site google rankings which are unethical in there approach are referred to as “black hat seo”. Examples of such techniques include:

1. Those which do not follow search engine guidelines and rules.
2. Those which create a poor user experience because their objective is not help the user but only to boost rankings.

In the early days of search engines, many techniques which were originally ethical, have now been abused to the extent which search engines see them as unethical. Although these tactics can provide short term gains, in the long run these will actually be detrimental to a sites seo. Search engines will in fact penalise sites which use such tactics to the point where they may even be excluded from the search engines themselves. Examples of such techniques which should really be avoided include:

Keyword stuffing: This a technique whereby numerous keywords are stuffed into content and headings in an attempt to fool search engines into thinking that content is relevant. Search engines have been wise to these techniques for a long time will exclude or penalize such pages very easily.

Invisible Text: This is a technique whereby keywords are hidden on a background which will make them invisible to the eye but will still be visible to search engines. Again this technique is well known to search engines and is unlikely to be fruitful.

Doorway Pages: Pages which are fake and the user will never see. It is purely for search engine spiders, and attempts to trick them into indexing the site higher. Read more about doorway pages.

 

All of the above techniques are unethical and are used as a short-cut to improving a websites on-line presence. Many such techniques do work in the short term but in the long run will penalize a site’s ranking. It’s better to invest a little more time in writing well written content encouraging webmasters and internet users to link to your site because of the valuable content. Employing an seo expert who employs "white hat" techniques will be a benefit in the long term.