[powerpress] There are many “SEO experts” out there who try to convince webmasters that black hat SEO techniques can be effective and long lasting. This is wrong.
Why? Simply because black hat SEO is unethical and can cause you to get banned from search engines. Google will rank your site based on two simple elements:
- Content
- Backlinks
If your site has unique content, with the correct relevant keywords and other with quality sites link back to you, your site will be ranked high in the results (SERPS). It is a simple as that… You cannot beat Google. Google always finds a way to eliminate spammy tactics, so it is better to make it like you site.
How? Avoid black hat SEO techniques that break search engines rules and regulations.
Top 10 Black Hat SEO Techniques to Avoid
1. No content. Content is king and especially when it is unique. Pages with no content, full of keywords and keyword phrases will not work. This is mainly the reason that your squeeze page is not in SERPS!!
2. Duplicated Content. Google likes unique content and hates spams. Search engine spiders will probably treat your site as spam and ban it from SERPS if it is full of duplicated content.
3. Link Farms. Backlinks are great only when they come from relevant, high quality websites. Creating useless backlinks in unrelated, low quality blogs and websites will result you get banned.
4. Doorway and Gateway pages. Doorway pages are “fake” pages invisible to your website visitors which are used in an attempt to “fool” spiders. Google only ranks rich content landing pages accessible to humans, so no reason for a doorway page at all.
5. Unrelated keywords. Choosing the correct keyword and optimize for them can bring you tons of organic traffic, but irrelevant onces are totally useless. Let’s assume for example that “free ipods” is a keyword of high demand and low competition and that you can optimize for it. For a while Google will send you traffic. This means that when someone searches for “free ipod” your site will appear in the results, and you will have a visitor But, your site is about Canon Cameras! Can you convert that visitor? Absolutely not… She is looking for a free ipod and you are trying to sell a camera.
6. Blog Spamming. Commenting on blogs is a great way to build backlinks, but only when the blog is relevant and you have something to contribute to the conversation. Spamming other people blogs using software that generates text full of keywords will get you banned
7. Keyword Stuffing. This means to use many long keywords and repeat then again and again. Google hates keyword stuffing and it will flag your site as spam.
8. Pingback Spam. Pingback spam is to notify ping servers several times per day/hour/minute and give the illusion that the content is new, when it is not. Users will report you in no time.
9. Social Networking Spam. Finding targeted people and send the spam messages about your site/product is consider social networking spamming. No-one likes spam and thus user will report before you get any traffic.
10. Trackbank spam. Trackbank spam is to abuse trackbacks with links to irrelevant topics and/or websites. Link back only to relevant and legitimate sources.
Iliana Lola has been online since 2007 and she is now a full time Internet Marketer.
She is the owner of www.ilianalola.com, a blog dedicated to give free tips to newcomers on driving traffic to their site.
Great post Matthew and was actually a topic I was furiously Google approximately a week ago for tips. As a full time web developer and relatively new SEO consultant, i’m trying to avoid any underhanded tactics and blacklisting client sites.
I am interested to hear yours or anyone elses thoughts on keyword stuffing and in today’s “Pandafied” world, has percentage spread of what Google considers not spamming changed at all.
Hi Dallas, my philosophy is to keep it real, keep it consistent and to keep it as original as possible. This way not matter what changes are made in algorithms you are always on the right side of the change.
That is a wonderful very essential post you have there. I hope a lot of webmasters will read this. I have been trying to build my site traffic also and have been focusing on content…at least i am on track. I surely will be making use of these tips.
Thanks a lot Lola
Thanks a lot for your nice words. I am very glad I helped!
One thing i have a hard time doing is getting enough content because i own an online auction website now i have other websites but this site because the fact that it is an online auctions site is hard to get content for related to the topic online auctions and if i do it is even harder to work it into the main page without messing up the template any ideas ??
Excellent article.
It’s amazing that while I’m in the process of building traffic ro my website,all the landmines of black hat seo techniques to avoid!I’m So glad I read this post.btw:good ebook.
Interesting post. Good advice. However.
If only Google was as good as you suggest at identifiying the doorway pages. In the industry sector I work in there are sites with 500+ doorway pages still ranking high. The highest example has over 30,000 long-tail search doorway pages many of which rank high. For some searches 8 out of the top 10 can be doorway pages of those who have gone over to the dark side.
Doing the right thing is the right thing to do. But the blackhat may still rank higher than you.
Dave, funny you should mention this I was doing a search and I ran right into a highly ranked doorway page that even had a script which disabled the back button! It works but I think short term. Google eventually gets it then it is back to square one. It is better to build it solid for the long term.
Matthew, unfortunately eventually can be years, not weeks. There are a lot of doorway pages that have been around for over a year. Plus Google appears to be ranking sites with doorway pages quicker than legitimate sites. Still studying them to identify why Google ranks them high. Age of domain looks as if it is significant.
The doorway pages are distorting the market I operate in and I see more people joining the dark side.
Google cleared out many of the doorway pages with the 2004 Austin update, but they have slowly been coming back. Hopefully they will soon reach a level that registers with Google and they do something about it. My concern will then be how many legitimate sites become collateral damage and are badly affected. Eight years after Austin and I still remember being badly hit.
Really interesting Dave. I have noticed them myself. Thanks for your perspective.
This is true, but do not forget that Google will update its algorithm soon and then we don’t really know what will happened with all those site. Isn’t better just to be safe and build our traffic using ethical ways?
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White Hat techniques are for the cautious and safe website or seo owner. The blackhat boys are the ones that want things done faster and see faster results. Any good SEO person knows that some blackhat issues can be accomodated into white hat sites without any issues at all. The issues to remember are that a lot of blackhat tools can get your site banned, so be careful.
I agree,It’s basically common sense on commenting and social networking,it’s all about respect.If you give respect,post relevant comments,you’ll get it back in return.Best bet is to stick with valuable, well trusted & respected SEO sites and build traffic the right way.Cutting corners will get you stuck.
I really love this article. It gives you concrete and detail information on how NOT to get your site banned by Google and major search engine. I have really learned a lot from this article. Every marketer should read this article. This article is very nicely written.
That was a good article and would be truly helpful for those new to the online sector. Sure, it’s all common sense but it’ll also stop newbies making mistakes that could get htem blacklisted. For the experienced advertisers who still use these techniques I’d say, ‘you’re cutting your own throat’.
Overall, great article.
Nice post, very interesting and I have been educated.
Matthew this post speaks for itself as you mentioned earlier, that you are keeping it real. I see the logic and reality in this post, and I will certainly be gleaning more from it. Very profoundly written with good tips and insights. I believe it coincides with some articles I have written relating to “Personal Development and The Entrepreneurs Mindset” which is the key to success. Very interesting article!!
I tried to sum up the common mistakes that most newbies webmasters are doing in a try to get traffic very quick. I think you are right, the correct mindset is the key to success, but unfortunately very few have it.
Even though this may be a simplified way of thinking about how to approach it – the blackhat scene is one all about trying to game the search engines for the most profit in the shortest amount of time possible as they KNOW that they’ll be found out sooner or later, get their blackhatted domain or website banned and roll right along with their various other nefarity. I think that as long as there IS such profit available that cause them to use various manner of manual and automated methodology to obtain it, they will always be motivated to stay a step or two ahead of the search engines and they’re a clever bunch. It’s the same underlying motivation in the felonious art of bank robbery. But, then again – there’s a lot less penalty in the case of the Blackhats. They don’t care about getting a domain banned. They probably have 337 more domains on tap, ready to go, unlike you or I. So, unless there was a threat of some immediate incarceration, this blackhat stuff ain’t goin’ away anytime soon. But, you’re destined to be running on a treadmill faster, and more brutal than all the online revenue generation programs combined. Nothing costs less than doing it right the first time.
Interesting point Lee. Yes, the true blackhat marketers know they will get busted and are mobile, ready to move to the next domain the next back up plan. I agree with you in the end justing doing right the first time is the most efficient way to do things. Thanks. Matt.
Excellent tips. It did bring up a question for me though… Would it be possible for a blackhatter to generate enough traffic and direct some of it to their white hat sites, through thousands of spun articles, link exchanges, a few legitimate blog posts here and there, etc., to actually get a reasonable amount of traffic without the search engine’s help? (Not that I would do this, just curious)
Most blackhat techniques work on the short term.
Great tips and all, but either common sense or second nature to those doing it right in the first place. Right. It’s all well and good to take the whitehat, upstanding, moral approach, but, if you haven’t noticed, the blackhats are all about what EVERYONE ELSE ON THE INTERNET IS – the cash.
Google means nothing to them, neither does any other search engine on the planet, they’re not interested in observing the rules of common social courtesy in any of the networking spheres, or really any other areas. They just don’t have a care for the posterior of a Rattus norvegicus (lol). No long term thought. Kinda like the sentiment echoed by Jay-Z when he said “I got to live for the “Right Now”". THEY DON’T CARE. That’s what no one gets. If someone wasn’t actively making money at it, there would be NO INCENTIVE to even attempt such sheinanigans. And with the current offline economic crunch, look for them to turn malicious even nasty, about the pursuit of that green stuff.
Interestingly enough, which is the anthropomorphization of the age-old concept of the service of Mammon……
Interesting dilemna. I guess it comes down to “if you can score it you deserve it.”
Great tips, I am still trying to figure out to be expert SEO.
Thanks, I would love to apply those tips.
Spamming is definitely not good especially using some bots.