Digital marketing specialists have probably heard of the expression known as unscrupulous SEO techniques. Blackhat SEO entails a collection of strategies utilized to boost 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 rapid route that may get your site to the forefront of search results quickly. However, these techniques are typically seen as dishonorable, and search engines like Google can heavily penalize sites discovered using them.
An infamous blackhat technique is keyword stuffing. This means packing a webpage with search terms or numbers to manipulate a site's ranking in Google search results. They more info might be in a list, group, out of context or in a hidden div.
Creating link farms is another common technique. Here, websites are tied together in a circular network to improve the rank of all the pages in the network. However, if a website is linked to from a high number of unrelated sites, it can also be penalized.
Cloaking is an even riskier blackhat method. This is when different content is presented to search engines than to users, effectively redirecting users to different pages without their knowledge.
Despite the harsh consequences, why do people use blackhat SEO? The straightforward answer is: for immediate results. These tactics give websites the pretense of relevance, boosting them up the search results rapiidly.
However, the benefit is short-lived. Search engines now incorporate advanced algorithms which identify these fraudulent techniques. Once they're identified, penalties can include lower rankings or even being deleted entirely from the search index.
As a claim, many websites are shifting to white hat SEO strategies. These are approaches that aim to build a website's prominence in legitimate ways. Some methods are creating meaningful content that provides useful information to the reader, optimizing website tags, or creating a positive user journey.
So, while blackhat SEO may seem a fast way to boost your site's visibility, it's a risky game to play. It's wiser to focus whitehat SEO strategies, that improve your website through legitimate means, consequently providing long-term success.