Everybody wants to be visible on Google. In fact, some people want this so much that they are willing to cheat in order to get to the first page. They believe that they can get away with using deceptive techniques and that they will be able to cheat the Google algorithms all the way to the top.
We are talking about black hat SEO. This is something that you do not want to get involved in. Let’s find out everything you need to know about black hat SEO so that you do not fall into any traps.
What is Black Hat SEO?
First of all, let’s break it down and understand what black hat SEO is. Well, we know SEO stands for search engine optimisation. Then, if you think about ‘black hat’, this is a phrase that is often used to refer to an enemy or criminal in a movie. So, when you put this all together, you are going to find that black hat SEO is simply somebody using bad SEO techniques that are not allowed by Google. In particular, these techniques are known to violate the rules and the person using them is trying to cheat the algorithm to enjoy a high ranking.
If you do not have a lot of experience with SEO, it may be best to work with a professional in order to stay away from black hat SEO. This is going to make sure that you generate positive results and a legitimate ranking, as well as stay away from possible Google penalties. In particular, you can work with an SEO agency with proven results and that is award-winning like ClickSlice. This way, you can enjoy peace of mind and know that you are ranking on the number one page of Google because you deserve it and not because you are using dodgy and illegitimate methods. Read on to find out some examples of what you should not be doing.
Spinning Content from the Internet
Have you heard of content spinning before? Unfortunately, this is quite popular by a lot of websites and it is very risky to employ this technique when working on your SEO. Essentially, it happens when you use certain computer programs. It takes some of your old content or another person’s work and it generates a new blog post or webpage copy. It uses different words and phrases in order to do this and seemingly create ‘original’ content. Using the computer program is supposed to help avoid plagiarism that you do not get into trouble.
However, it is recommended that you do not spin your content. It is bad practice and simply too risky. You should never rely on computer programs to write information since they are not always going to make sense. Indeed, when it comes to spinning content, it is likely that what is produced will not be the best work. Let’s not forget that this is not the best way to create original and unique content. Taking the time to do this yourself is what is going to produce results without risk.
Using A lot of Keywords
Keywords have always been important. They can help you gain visibility online and attract the right traffic to your website. But, you do not want to use too many keywords or those that are not relevant. This is something that is known as keyword stuffing and it used to be the case that you could do this to reap results. But, what you get is content that is not readable and not helpful to users.
In addition, it is likely that you will now be caught for keyword stuffing. Google is very aware of this black hat SEO strategy and it is not worth the risk trying to use it in your blog posts or webpage content. Instead, use keywords sparingly and in a way that is going to be beneficial to internet users.
Changing the Visibility of Text
People can get desperate when they want to improve their Google search rankings. In fact, one black hat SEO technique that has come to light is using invisible text. So, say you have a webpage that is blue and you have white text. You could create more text but have it the same colour as the blue background so that it was invisible to users. But, Google would still be able to see keywords and phrases and help you with ranking. Again, this is not something that you want to do. You may think that you have fooled everyone with invisible text but Google does not like this.