Digital marketing specialists have probably heard of the expression known as blackhat SEO. Blackhat SEO embraces a collection of strategies utilized to increase a website's or page's ranking in search engine rankings, but done in ways that violate the search engines' terms of service.
Fundamentally, blackhat SEO is a shortcut that can get your site to the top of search engine rankings quickly. However, these techniques are often seen as dishonorable, and search engines like Google would seriously penalize sites discovered using them.
An infamous blackhat technique is keyword stuffing. This means packing a webpage with keywords or numbers to manipulate a site's ranking in Google search rankings. They might be in a list, pile, out of context or in a hidden div.
Link farming is another common tactic. Here, webpages are tied together in a circular network to boost the rank of all the websites in the chain. However, if a website is linked to from a high number of unrelated sites, it could also be penalized.
Cloaking is an especially deceptive blackhat method. This is when different content is presented to search engines than to users, basically redirecting users to different pages apart from their consent.
Despite the risks, why do people use blackhat SEO? The evident answer is: to achieve quick results. These techniques give websites the pretense of authority, boosting them up the search results quickly.
However, the advantage is fleeting. Search engines now incorporate complex algorithms which identify these deceptive techniques. Once they're identified, penalties can include reduced rankings or even being deleted entirely from the search index.
As a result, many websites are embracing white hat SEO strategies. These are methods that aim to build a website's prominence in legitimate ways. Some methods are creating relevant content that provides helpful information to the reader, optimizing website tags, or creating a positive user experience.
So, while blackhat SEO may seem a rapid way to boost your site's visibility, it's a risky game to play. It's smarter to concentrate whitehat SEO website techniques, that improve your website through legal means, consequently providing enduring success.