If you have a website on the internet, you must be aware that it is crucial to rank high on Google. Those websites that fail to make it to the top page are unable to get the desired traffic. And, if you don’t get the requisite traffic, you should not expect to do well in the online circuit.
So, what should you do to rank well on search engines like Google? You need to get on top of the SEO game to rank well on search engines like Google.
To do well on the internet, you need to play the SEO game the right way. SEO is a field where you need to be patient, persistent, and ethical. If you use unethical methods to climb the search engine ladder (read Google), then your website can be penalized.
And, the use of unethical means to climb the search engine ladder is known as Black hat SEO.
Often, website owners don’t even know that their website is suffering from Black hat SEO. But in case your website follows unethical ways, it is likely to get penalized.
That is why it is vital to know a few things about Black hat SEO.
What is Black Hat SEO?
According to Webopedia, “in search engine optimization (SEO) terminology, black hat SEO refers to the use of aggressive SEO strategies, techniques, and tactics that focus on search engines and not a human audience, and usually does not obey search engines guidelines.”
Essentially, there are two types of search engine optimization – White hat and Black hat SEO. Websites that follow White hat SEO use legitimate methods to rank for keywords that are pertinent to its content. On the contrary, Black hat SEO content is specifically designed for search engines and not for humans. It is designed to mislead both the readers as well as the algorithms.
Why should you avoid the stigma of Black hat SEO?
It is vital for businesses to understand that it does not pay in the long-term to deceptively optimize your website. That is why you should avoid the stigma of Black hat SEO. Some of the main reasons why you should steer clear of Black hat SEO are:
It creates an awful user experience. Imagine, clicking on a website where the content does not match the headline you read on Google. It is not just unethical, but it also does not pay you well in the long run.
Another reason why you need to avoid Black hat SEO is that search engines will downgrade the ranking of your website, which ultimately will reduce your traffic. Earlier, it was fine to use unethical methods to promote your website, but it is no more the case now. But because search engines have become smarter these days, you stand to lose more than gain anything if you follow unethical means to promote your website.
Finally, Black hat SEO not just lowers your ranking, but it can also cause a site to disappear completely.
Black hat SEO tactics which you need to avoid
It is important for you to keep both the search engines as well as the users in good humor. To do this, you need to follow ethical ways of promoting your website, which means you need to avoid the use of Black hat SEO. Avoid these Black hat SEO tactics:
Avoid low-quality content – It is important for websites to have a lot of high-quality content because this is what search engines prefer. And, since it is difficult to generate high-quality content continuously for some, black hat marketers try to fill the gap by publishing low-quality content. Hence, it is always advisable to generate content that is relevant and valuable for the readers, and this is what search engines prefer.
Avoid spamming blog comments – To gain links back to your site, if you start commenting on scores of blog posts with a link back to your site, it is a Black hat tactic which is wrong and needs to be avoided.
Avoid keyword stuffing and duplicate content – When you try to indiscriminately use the keyword in your content to rank your page on the search engine for the target term, then it is called keyword stuffing. It is a Black hat tactic, which goes against the search engine guidelines. Hence, you need to avoid it.
When you publish the same content on several pages of a website to attract search engines, it is duplicating the content. It is again a wrong practice which you need to avoid.
Don’t abuse structured data – Schema markup or structured data is added to a webpage to inform search engines about the rich information which needs to be displayed on the search results page. But when you try to manipulate structured data to get the search engines to put out false information in search results, it is a Black hat tactic which should be avoided.
Avoid cloaking – When you try to trick search engines into ranking your content for a particular search term that is not relevant to the context of the webpage, it is called cloaking. In the case of cloaking, you show one piece of content to your users and a different piece of content to search engines. It is again a Black hat SEO practice which needs to be avoided.
Don’t buy backlinks – If a lot of high-quality sites link to your site, it can boost your search engine rankings. But it only helps if it happens organically. If you pay high-quality websites to link to your site, it is a Black hat SEO practice, which is unethical and wrong. You, therefore, need to avoid it because it can hamper the progress of your website on the SERP.
Avoid using misleading redirects – False redirects are used to mislead the audience as well as search engines. It is a Black hat SEO tactic which should be avoided. A redirect link is used to take the users and search engines to different pages. Or, when a high-quality page is redirected to a low-quality page to boost its ranking.
Don’t falsely report your competitor’s site – If you falsely report that your competitor is indulging in Black hat SEO tactics, then it is an unethical practice for which your site can be penalized. Hence, you need to avoid it.
Avoid using link farms, and private blog networks – Private blog networks and link farms are two Black hat tactics that are used to build links inorganically and climb the search engine rankings quickly. If you use or pay to use a network of websites that are created only to link to other sites for ranking purposes, then it is an unethical way for which you can be penalized. Hence, it should be avoided.
If you want a robust SEO strategy for your website, you can get in touch with vStacks Software Solutions now. We are a digital marketing company specializing in the field of SEO, and we know what it takes to improve your rankings on Google.
