Using unconventional strategies to boost a website’s search engine results is common these days. These techniques are called Black Hat SEO. These techniques often go against the rules and standards. These methods work quickly but it also comes with risks. If you are wondering what is black hat seo? Read on because this article is for you.
Characteristics of Black Hat SEO
The technique is to take advantage of the loopholes in search engine algorithms. These strategies are often frowned upon. However, they do offer short-term gains. Black Hat SEO does not hurt the quality and trustworthiness of online material when done correctly.
Common Types of Black Hat SEO
Website owners should know all about Black Hat SEI. This way, it will be easier to identify if they are used on their website content. Here are the commonly used Black Hat SEO strategies to be familiar with:
- Content Scraping and Plagiarism. A common Black Hat strategy is to take material from other websites without permission. Websites then pass it off as their own. This is now allowed and can get the website in trouble.
- Cloaking. One version of a webpage is shown to search engines and a different version is given to users. This method is used to get high rankings for keywords even if they are not relevant. This tricks both the website users and the search engines.
- Doorway Pages. These are low-quality pages that are full of keywords and were made to rank for certain terms. This directs users to another site or page. Doorway pages do not give website visitors any real information or value.
- Hidden Text and Links. You add text or links to a site that are hidden from the readers. They are often masked in an HTML code. Some would make them the same color as the website background. These are believed to help with the website rankings.
- Keyword Stuffing. You “stuff” the website content with too many keywords to affect the search rates. Keywords are important for SEO. However, using them too many times on a page can make it lose its readability and usefulness.
- Link Farms. These are groups of websites that were made just to provide backlinks. These are important for SEO rankings. However, buying or selling backlinks is against search engine rules. Having them though makes a website look more authoritative.
- Misleading Tags. The goal is to get more clicks. However, this can affect the user experience.
The Risks of Black Hat SEO
This SEO technique comes with risks. Simply because the strategies are considered unethical. Continued use of Black Hat SEO can result in penalties. Users will also lose trust in your website content which can dampen your reputation. There may also be legal consequences like copyright infringement.
Remember that deceptive advertising may violate the regulations, which can lead to legal actions against the website owner. The best alternative is to use White Hat SEO. This uses ethical website optimization techniques that align with search engine guidelines.
