If you want to enjoy a better ranking, you have to give up on black hat SEO techniques. Google does not love black hat tactics, whether done consciously or consciously.
In order to gain popularity in the world’s most famous search engine like Google, you have to stay updated about the algorithm changes continuously. Since Google wants to deliver the best user experience, they make sure that every website ranking offers relevant information and does not use any black hat technique.
This is the reason why Google has also offered the webmaster guidelines so that the SEO professionals or web developers get to know about the game rules. No doubt every business or company out there wishes to win this game without following the rules, but Google will not let you do that.
Black hat SEO techniques were commonly used by the professionals who wanted to get a better ranking in less time. These practitioners have knowledge about search engine optimization and like to take shortcuts that are not included in the best practices of Google.
Google makes use of popular techniques to identify such techniques and penalize them. But people still do not stop trying them as people love shortcuts. So, the following are some of the best black hat practices that you must avoid in order to become a victim of penalty.
Since some of these techniques are done without intention, it is better to know about them to avoid any bad scenarios.
Table of Contents
What are black hat SEO techniques?
Black hat SEO is actually the practice which is used by some practitioners to get instant results. However, the practice is against the guidelines of search engines. It is mainly used to get an improved ranking in search results within less time. Making use of these unethical black hat SEO tactics will not solve the problem but will result in getting penalized by the search engines.
While there is a multitude of black hat SEO strategies that you have known, here I will include some of the most common black hat SEO tactics that can restrict your business’s growth. Remember that when you choose the shortcut, it will always result in getting degraded after a certain time interval. If you want to sustain yourself in the game, you have to abide by the rules and guidelines of the search engine.
Black hat techniques on content
Keyword stuffing
Many people think that SEO is only about using keywords. If it was so, then using a keyword block would be enough to get the number one rank on Google. But as Google would like to offer high-end results, it looks for the content which has semantically linked the keywords.
Following this rule, algorithms will be able to offer high-end content instead of creating content that only has keywords. So the focus should always be on creating high-quality content by placing keywords properly to get the best ranking.
Duplicated content
Google would definitely not support duplicated content. The same goes for plagiarising, as they are against the trademark or copyright laws. Since Google wants to improve the user experience, they only share high-quality domains where there is no plagiarism on duplication.
Cloaking
Cloaking is not a popular black hat technique in recent times, but it was used earlier in the day. Here the professionals made use of animated or flash pages for concealing information. Here, only Google could see the HTML and not the information. However, if Google catches your manipulation, you will instantly be penalized, which can be a bad decision.
Rich Snippets Spam
Rich snippets are considered the type that comes with comprehensive information. As we all know, Google would love to improve user experience, and a website offering relevant information can get more traffic. However, there are several ways that the schema markup can be used for generating traffic. The manipulation can become worse for many.
To help professionals understand it in detail about it, Google has already created an entire page dedicated to it. Make sure that you read thoroughly and then get some useful knowledge. Do not use or try to manipulate Google, as it is simply impossible.
Stuffing with keywords in ALT tags
If you are new and you’re thinking that there is no harm in using the opportunity of importing keywords as much as possible in the ALT tags, it is definitely not a great idea. When you stuff keywords on the ALT tags, it can also hinder the ranking of your website.
What are ALT tags?
- These ALT tags are the ones that can be read by visually impaired users by using screen readers.
- The ALT tags are highly effective in helping search engines understand what the image is all about.
- The ALT tags will get displayed when the image file does not load.
Hidden Content
Similar to hidden links, hidden content is something that is created in similar colours to the background. This is a tactic that the professionals create just to include as many keyword phrases as they can. They would like to link as many keywords on a page to help them get a better ranking.
Well, the reality is the Google algorithm is so strong that it can easily tell the difference between keywords that are hidden in the background and a paragraph.
- You can start publishing a guest post from a website that includes hidden content
- The commenting system might be sufficiently rigorous and which fails to pick up the hidden content.
- Your website can get hacked, and the hidden content can be put up by them. It is also known as parasite hosting.
However, you must know that not all hidden contents are forbidden. The term rule is that the content can be said okay as long as it is visible to both search engines and the users.
Article spinning
It is almost similar to plagiarized or duplicated content. Article spinning is a technique that is rewriting content by using synonyms or changing the structure of the content. It also means rewriting the text while communicating. When you maintain the structure and use synonyms, it also means that you are spinning the article. One can do it by using an app or manually.
Since the article that has been spun degrades the quality of the internet, it is mostly penalized by Google.
Hacked website
When you don’t have a secure website, you might not be technically violating the panda and penguin update, but it can result in losing the valuable ranking that you have got after years of effort and time.
By any chance, when the website gets injected or attacked with the malicious code and Google finds it out, they will immediately block the website from showing up on the search engine. Even when it is not your fault, you will be the one to suffer for it.
It will not only result in losing the trust of your visitors who used to follow you when required but also it will result in a drop-off ranking. While Google will continuously notify you by using Google analytics that your site has been hacked, it means that the site has malicious code that can penalize your website from the search results.
Black hat techniques for links
Buying links
When your website has relevant and high-quality links, it can drive quality traffic to your website. It is also like telling the algorithm that you are a reliable source to get the specific information.
When you start getting quality backlinks, it can also help Google to understand that your website is trustworthy, and they get an understanding of what you are talking about. With this, it becomes easier for the search engine to understand where and how to rank in the search result.
However, if you choose to buy links, which is completely against the webmaster guidelines of Google, it would certainly not work. In case you get caught, you will get a manual or automatic penalty that will have an impact on specific pages and can take down the entire website. Since Google keeps track of the link, the earned links will always get better results.
Free product for the links
If you are choosing an exchange policy where you give and take links, it is also considered the link scheme by Google. Whether you are taking or giving links in exchange for free products, you will be thoroughly checked by Google.
If you don’t want to get considered in the link scheme, you can choose a no-follow link. It is a link that comes with the “no follow” tag. Making use of no-follow links makes sure that it does not have an impact on the ranking algorithm of the search engine.
Footer link
The footer section is the primary place for the link, as the footer appears on each and every page of your website. So if you keep adding the links with your commercial anchor text in order to manipulate results, the chances of identifying by Google are likely higher with will result in penalizing it.
Hidden Links
If you think that it is possible to hide links on the text of your website or by making the link appear in a similar colour to the background, it is not a great idea. Google will definitely be able to notice it and penalize you for trying this system which they do not suggest.
Moreover, when you include irrelevant links, it will trigger Google to direct less traffic to your website as you are diluting its relevance.
You will violate google guidelines by Hidden links. It again means:
- Making use of CSS, you should not keep the text off-screen.
- You should not use font size 0.
- Do not hide text behind any image.
Comment spam
You might think to share a link to the website in the comment section of it, but it is recommended to avoid doing so until it is required. If you keep doing it, you are actually increasing the risk of getting penalized for being a spammer who is using comments to create links.
Overuse of Anchor text
It is a great way to match the title of the page every time when you share a link with it. When the title is about the page and its consistency, it can definitely show its relevance. However, it is also taken as lazy spamming from Google’s perspective. When you make overuse of the anchor text, Google can easily identify it.
So, you can choose to shorten the anchor text and make it relevant to the link page. Do not over stuff with keywords and keep it unique. The rule is similar for both external and internal links.
Malicious backlinks
Some practitioners who follow the black hat SEO technique will also try using the penalty system of Google to make advanced strategies. When you advance your strategies by choosing a website that you would not want to associate with the link will eventually result in dragging down the page rank. It is the reason why Google has created another form that would help you to disavow links.
Using this, while going through the backlinks, you can easily get rid of any undesirable domains.
PBN (Private Blog Networks)
Websites that are considered as PBNs are the ones that are linked with each other. It is a practice that was known back in the 90s and early 2000s. It was particularly observed in the fan pages for different movies, musicians, TV shows, and much more.
These are not bad things, but in modern times, webrings are also considered as the link scheme when they work for manipulating algorithms.
How to avoid black hat SEO?
It is certain that black hat SEO tactics are definitely a risky business and are not worth engaging in. So here are some of the best practices that you can do to avoid black hat SEO.
- Make sure that you treat both search engines and search users similarly. Avoid tricking or clocking the search engines by directing them to other pages. It is always advised to focus on making efforts that help to offer a better user experience.
- Make sure that you focus on writing great quality and original content that does not have any keyword staffing. Make sure that you never duplicate content as it is against the content guideline of Google.
- Make sure that you follow the rules while adding structured data on websites. Add valid schema markup and do not miss lead your users.
- Do not buy or sell links in exchange. It is a big black hat SEO technique.
- Make sure that you are updated about the webmaster guidelines so that you can avoid the black hat SEO tactics that the search engine has prohibited.
Bottom line
No doubt that even now, many professionals use the black hat SEO techniques, but you must know that the rewards are short-lived. Not only are they unethical, but also they can worsen the internet experience. So, if you want to improve your ranking, it is always recommended to choose the white hat SEO technique rather than the black hat part.
However, if you have a business and cannot take care of it, you can choose the black hat SEO services companies, and professionals offer. At Digital Habibi, I have been working with the best tactics that can help websites get the ranking properly. I am strongly against black hat SEO practices as I know the consequences of using black hat strategies. So, if you want to improve your ranking in an ethical manner and get long-term results, it is recommended to use white hat techniques and eradicate the black hat SEO tactics.
You can also get in touch with me if you want someone to take care of your website on a regular basis and offer the best results over time.
Black Hat SEO FAQs
Google uses robust web crawlers that can immediately take down your website when they find any black hat SEO tactics. Most of the time, you will not find any rewards; instead, you might get penalized by this search engine, but even in some cases, if you get it, it is for a short time. As soon as Google understands that you are trying to manipulate the rules, they will immediately take you down.
There is not one but a multitude of ways that you can use as Black hat tactics. Not only black hat SEO techniques can be followed by a link, but also one can do it on content. However, it is recommended not to use the black hat tactics if you want your business to survive the longest of times.
If you have a business where you want to focus on offering great services and products, you definitely need an SEO professional. Not only will an SEO professional take care of your website but also they make sure that no black hat techniques are going on the website. Apart from this, since there are chances website hacking exists, a professional can keep an eye on your website and help in website growth and expansion with time.
