Black-hat SEO is exactly the reverse of SEO that is white, in the sense that it discovers and capitalizes on weaknesses or loopholes that exist in Google’s algorithm for search to improve its position on the SERP. It doesn’t stick to Google’s list of SEO’s SEO dos and don’ts, and instead uses paid or spammy link-building techniques such as keyword stuffing, displaying different content to crawlers/bots as well as humans (called”cloaking”), and so on. to gain an advantage. It is a given that the use of black-hat SEO could result in your website being and its ranking lowered and it’s best not to do it. In addition, these risky SEO methods will only give you temporary outcomes.
A decade ago there was a widespread belief that SEO or search engine optimization (SEO) was a method to alter algorithms used by search engines to give websites a higher rank. Doing this to gain ahead of the competition is known as SEO which is black-hat.
A lot of marketers used black hat SEO techniques to ensure their sites got higher rankings. But, due to the advances in algorithms of Google the game has dramatically changed. Search engines have improved and honed their assessment methods to the point that SEO practices that are black hat can cause much more damage than good for websites.
Instead of employing shady black-hat methods to boost your site’s ranking and more prominently, you must implement SEO in a responsible method so that search engines will not consider your site to be fraudulent. Therefore, in order to remain within the bounds of Webmaster Quality Guidelines and follow the ethical practices of SEO, we will look into the black hat SEO and the reasons why you shouldn’t use it to rank.
What exactly is Black Hat SEO?
Black Hat SEO is a series of bad practices used to get higher rankings within Google searches. These methods are referred to as black hats since they go not in line with the search engine guidelines set out by Google. The most commonly employed SEO methods include Keyword Stuffing, Cloaking, Paid Links doorways pages, hidden content, and duplicate content. Let’s discuss each in depth.
SEO White Hat vs. Black SEO
SEO practices that are not black-hat violate the numerous guidelines established for search engines. Manipulating these guidelines and swindling on the top could lead to fines imposed by search engine companies. In addition, you may be removed completely from the search results. White-hat SEO, however, is the most sustainable and ethical method to conduct your SEO efforts without having to worry about negative effects.
Marketers must always use white-hat SEO techniques. Achieving a positive user experience, while adhering to the guidelines of search engines can prove to be an excellent advantage for sites. This strategy is not only viable, but it could be a factor in more prominent ranking on the search engine result pages (SERPs) for extended durations of time.
Black Hat SEO Techniques
- Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing refers to the stuffing of several keywords into one phrase. This technique involves filling pages with keywords in order to make them appear higher within search result pages. Repetition and repetition of similar sentences and words are used to alter the Google search engine and obtain higher results.
- Duplicate Content
One of these ways is in which content from a particular page is copied by the webmaster on his own site. Copying other people’s content is considered a crime, isn’t it? It’s the same for content. Google is firmly against this and believes in original content.
- Cloaking
It is regarded as among the hacker-man strategies This method involves showing a particular version of your site for the Google bot and a different version that is shown to users.
This can be done in two methods:
- Displaying the HTML web page for search engines while displaying a page with CSS, JS, and images-heavy content to the users.
- Incorporating keywords or text on a page, and then displaying it only when the person who is crawling through it is actually an engine and not a human visitor.
- Buy Links
This is a bad practice where the website owner makes a payment to another website in exchange for them a hyperlink back. There are numerous agencies that sell these links for sale, and they are usually sloppy and of poor quality. You’re better off not having these harmful hyperlinks on your site.
- Doorway Pages
Door pages, bridges, or jump pages were specially designed for targeted search queries. They are designed to be highly ranked for certain keywords. These pages are not of any value to the user. They only serve to trick the search engine and redirect users from a search query to a different collection of websites i.e. a vague destination.
- Link Farming
Link farms are web site or groups of sites that were created specifically for link building. Each site within a link farm is linked to a website that will be higher ranked on search results pages. Web crawlers rank sites by analyzing the number of websites linking to it, as well as other factors. Black Hat SEO makes use of this to increase the number of backlinks that a particular site receives from these link farms.
- Hidden Text, Links, or Link
A somewhat shabby effort, this technique is based on using white text over white background. The idea is to match the color of the text to the color that the background. This way, site owners block their website’s keywords from searchers but they are visible to Google’s Google bot. Similar practices are applied to hyperlinks.
- Spam in Blog Comments
Ah, those intellectuals and scholars commenting on the blog. This strategy includes putting comments to blog pages as well as links to their websites. This is only intended to be done in the hope of gaining a backlink from this particular website. Google does not now accept blog links; webmasters make the links non-follow by default.
- Incorrect Re-directs
Redirects are an excellent method for redirecting users to a functional page in the event that the current page is experiencing problems. Webmasters use redirects to 301 in these situations. But, black-hat “experts” employ these redirects to take the user to a different website completely. This way they fool users as well as the Google bot and the users by directing the user to a website with a poor URL that they didn’t intend to go to.
- Private Blog Networks(PBN)
The private network of blogs (PBN) can be described as a set of trusted websites that are used to build links. The PBN websites connect to the main site via poor-quality links with the aim to influence the search engine. The majority of PBN websites link to the main website without linking to the other. Most of the time, PBNs make use of expired domains to link to, and these are sites that have previously gained some level of credibility. PBN is among the SEO methods that are black hat since these domains that are expired are bought only to create private blog networks in order to generate manipulative external links.
- Highly optimized pages
Do you know the expression that too much of something is harmful to your health? The same is true of your website pages. Sometimes SEO experts are too busy trying to improve their sites that they may end up doing something a bit too excessively. This is due to using a variety of On-page components, including the over-optimized anchor text, an overwhelming number of internal links keywords-stuffed titles and descriptions, and even content.
All of this could be a disaster and could end up having you punished by Google because your actions will be viewed as being black hat SEO methods.
- Bait and Switch
When you use Bait and Switch the first process is to write pages for Google and incorporate a set of keywords. Then, once the rankings improve, switch it to other projects and products. So, users are able to see something that is completely distinct from the subject that they have clicked. This is also known as Page Swapping, and it is used to fool both search engines and users. These illegal practices comprise the Black Hat SEO.
- Clickbait
Clickbait refers to a compelling and attractive headline written in order to convince people to click the link. It is a method of copywriting commonly used to attract attention emphasizing a subject to entice a user to visit a website which leads to irrelevant information. These kinds of strategies are employed to generate profits based on the number of clicks. It is a method that is often employed in tabloids and makes up a large portion of SEO Black Hat.
- Guest Post Spam
This is a Black-Hat method used to obtain backlinks. The messages are sent to bloggers asking them to publish an unrelated article using do-follow links. Links to these articles posted during guest blogging can impact the rank of a site. Although they’re not of high quality, these blogs are nevertheless placed on websites that are not relevant just for the purpose of building links.
- Negative SEO
This is the practice of employing black-hat SEO techniques to alter the rankings of a competitor’s engines. The steps are:
- Hacking the website
- The creation of numerous spammy links to the site
- The content is copied and distributed around the web
- Links to websites with different keywords
- Removal of the top backlinks from the site
- Automated Google queries
It is a black-hat SEO practice that uses software to create automated searches using specific keywords to help the website rank higher in the search results. Automated queries cannot be permitted without the permission of Google. Automated Google queries indicate that the software is utilized to expand the number of searches that are made for a specific keyword in order to make it more prominent in the SERP.
- Rich snippet markup spam
Rich snippets of text provide additional information about the content of websites. It is possible to alter the snippet to ensure that it is formatted so that your site is distinct from other websites in the SERP. This fantastic opportunity is being used by spammers to the extent that it is so Google has implemented strict report snippets of spam tool. If web administrators make content invisible to the user or offer inaccurate and irrelevant reviews, content, or videos, they are deemed rich text spamming. Giving false evaluations and reviews, inexact or false information, and fake or inexistent videos within the rich snippets of content is the most common instance of black hat SEO practices.
- Article spinning
Article spinning is one of the infamous SEO black hat techniques and is a wildly popular one too. Although search engines love good content, a spun article can be penalized by Google. The majority of articles are made by hand or with an application on a computer – in which the content is written by using synonyms and manipulating sentence structure. The purpose of spinning articles is the ability to create up a large number of articles and then post them on multiple websites simultaneously. The spun articles aren’t distinctive, do not provide useful details, and are generally not read.
How do I Report Black Hat SEO?
There are two possible scenarios where you should declare SEO methods that are not black-hat. The first is the case when your site is targeted by malicious hackers malware or any other SEO-related activity which includes spam hyperlinks. A different scenario could occur when black-hat SEO techniques interlinked detect the spamming Web outcomes for a keyword competitive to the one your site is ranked on. To stop the problem, you should submit a webspam report with Google Search Central. Falsely reporting websites that compete is also considered to be a black hat tactic.
If malware or viruses has infected your site You may request a review of your malware after you’ve removed the malware or virus.
If your website is targeted by negative SEO campaigns, make use of the Disavow Links tool in Google Search Central once you reach out to the Webmasters who have links to your site in order to remove them.
Why should black hat SEO be avoided?
- While black hat SEO isn’t illegal but it does violate the guidelines for webmasters that are enforced by search engines.
- Most often, websites that show the use of black hat SEO strategies are instantly removed and the possibility of “domain blacklisting” is one of the ways to mitigate domain penalty.
- Google penalty could result in decreasing the number of results for search or being completely removed. The website will receive lesser traffic and has hardly any customers. Although some companies offer Google penalty recovery it is advised to avoid the services at all costs.
How to avoid Black Hat SEO?
- Avoid cloaking by providing inconsistent information to the search engine and users could result in your site being removed from the search results.
- Create content that is of high quality There is nothing that can beat the potential of quality and relevant content that users are able to use.
- Be sure to follow the guidelines for structured data It will help you get higher rankings on search engines’ lists and rank higher without the need to resort to black-hat SEO techniques.
- Don’t purchase or sell links The purchase or sale of links for greater traffic might be beneficial in the short-term however it is a massive risk that is not worth it.
- Avoid networks with private blogs Private blog networks can be a death sentence for your site. Google may penalize your website or block it from appearing in the search results.
- Keep up-to-date with SEO guidelines When you are aware of the difference between black and white SEO, examining the most recent guidelines for the search engine will ensure you are in line with the latest guidelines and regulations that will help you avoid techniques that are considered to be black-hat.
FAQ’S
Q1. What exactly is Black Hat SEO?
Black SEO is a collection of unprofessional practices that go against guidelines for search engines laid out by Google to gain a higher ranking on SERPs. It’s the act of manipulating SERPs using untruthful SEO.
Q2. Why is SEO Black Hat Illegal?
SEO that is black hat is considered illegally since it not just is against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines but also tricks both users and search engines to boost rankings.
Q3. Does Black Hat SEO Still Work?
Black hat SEO can be used, but for a short period of time. Black hat SEO can result in the devaluation of results for searches or being removed completely from SERPs.