What is Black Hat SEO
I have been doing some form of search engine optimization since 1999. In the “old days” solid rankings were easily achieved with keyword rich title, meta tags and submission to the major search engines.
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Fast forward almost 10 years and much has changed. Keywords tags are obsolete, description tags have been replaced by solid keyword rich content on the page, relevant link popularity is truly king and Google is now actually giving flash more than a passing glance.
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With so many changes it is no wonder that many sites accidently engage in “black hat” SEO. I say accidently because most site owners do not realize that what they are doing is wrong. Honestly much of what is considered black hat today was a legitimate way of optimizing your site in the past. However, overzealous optimizers and their questionable tactics have caused search engines to take action and punish these practices.
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So what is black hat SEO or spamdexing as it sometimes referred? Simply it is participating in optimization practices that counter search engines rules as well as presenting content to the user differently than to the search engines. The most popular black hat optimization practices include:
- Use of invisible text
- Keyword stuffing in meta tags as well as main content
- Mirror sites - duplicate sites but different domains
- Links from link farmsand questionable sites
- Gateway or doorway pages
Most of the search engines provide recommendations on what elements are acceptable for a site. Not following these recommendations can result in your site receiving a reduction in rankings and possibly be removed from their index.
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However as bad as black hat SEO is, there is also some very good news. It has a complete opposite — the perfectly named white hat SEO. Utilizing the techniques of white hat or proper optimization can result in long term success not only in a site’s rankings but in your bottom line!
