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When SEO first began, many people wrongly thought it was a tactic for manipulating search engine results - all about cheating the algorithm and making a profit.

The truth is, this should never have happened, and SEOs should have always focused on creating the best quality content on the web, not merely making it seem that way.

However, Google's algorithms were much simpler at that time, particularly when it came to web spamming.

Now that times have changed, search engines like Google have developed their algorithms in such a way that if you use any shady tactics that violate webmaster quality guidelines, you will be penalized extremely quickly.

Black hat SEO practitioners know the rules of SEO and use that knowledge to take unethical shortcuts that don't conform to search engine guidelines.

In this article, we will explore what is Black Hat SEO, the bad Black Hat SEO techniques, and why you should avoid them.

What is Black Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO is the use of unethical SEO techniques to manipulate search engine rankings. These techniques are against the search engine's terms of service, and websites using them can be penalized or banned.

All search engines, including Google and Bing, clearly state what types of practices they prohibit. Additionally, their guidelines are quite clear regarding the potential consequences of violating them. Black hat SEO techniques can penalize your website, which will most likely result in lower rankings and a downturn in organic traffic.

Black Hat SEO techniques are often used to achieve quick results, but they are not sustainable and can harm a website's long-term success.

Does Black Hat SEO still work in 2023?

Black hat SEO strategies still work today. However, you won't gain much from these strategies. The built-in technologies in Google are quite capable of identifying any low-quality content, keyword spam, and link spam. It is ultimately not worthwhile at all.

In addition, Google frequently rolls out new algorithm updates, such as the SpamBrain and Helpful Content Updates. Therefore, even if your black hat strategy is effective right now, a new update might make your method useless or even ruin your site reputation.

Black Hat SEO Techniques : Things to AVOID

As we just discussed, using shady strategies to rank highly in Google can lead to a penalty.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the most common black hat SEO techniques and how to avoid them!

Some of these you might be doing unintentionally, so it's a good idea to educate yourself on black hat SEO techniques to ensure you're not breaking any rules.

1. Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is when you overload a page with the main keyword that you want to rank for.

Step back 10 years, this bad SEO tactic was widely used to delude search engines, however it is no longer in use. It not only has a negative impact on your site's rankings, but it also leaves a bad experience in the mind of your visitors. As a result, it is regarded as one of the most noteworthy black hat SEO techniques.

Overusing your primary keyword unnaturally across a page can result in a penalty or even a ban from search engine result pages.

2. Scraped Content / Article Spinning

Scraped content is content that is copied from one website and published on another website as the original content.

Another type of scraped content is Article Spinning. This can be done manually, where somebody uses another site’s content, rewrites everything, and then posts it as if it were original content. Some publishers may pursue legal action against users who plagiarize their articles.

As a result, you should ensure that you write articles in your own unique manner as well as you provide enough value to satisfy your visitors.

3. Buying Backlinks

Backlinks — links from website A to website B — are one of the most important ranking factors that search engines like Google consider when determining how web pages should rank.

Link schemes are one of the most common black hat SEO techniques. Buying backlinks to boost your page's ranking is strictly prohibited by every search engine including Google and Bing. However, many website owners are engaging in such unethical nonsense SEO practices.

Buying backlinks violates search engine guidelines while also doing nothing to benefit your website.

Fortunately, there are numerous best link building strategies available to help you build high-quality backlinks to your website. For example, you can write guest posts, collaborate with other bloggers in your niche, use broken link building strategy, and so on.

4. Cloaking

Cloaking is the practice of showing different content to search engines than what is shown to users.

This technique is used to manipulate search engine rankings by showing search engines a keyword-rich page while showing users a different page.

One common cloaking method is to serve a page of travel destinations to search engine crawlers while displaying a page about best website hosting to users.

This technique is against the search engine's terms of service and can result in a penalty or even a ban.

5. Hidden Text

Hidden text is the practice of adding text to a web page that is not visible to users but can be read by search engines.

This technique is used to manipulate search engine rankings by adding keyword-rich content to a web page without affecting the user's experience.

This technique is against the search engine's terms of service and can result in a penalty or even a ban.

6. Sneaky Redirects

Using redirects is a good SEO practice. It's the best way to ensure users and search engine crawlers can easily access your site.

However, similar to cloaking, black hat SEO “experts” use misleading redirects to mislead search engines and show content that differs from what a user sees after landing. It’s an offense according to search engine webmaster guidelines.

Sneaky redirects are explicitly defined as a black hat tactic that violates Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

7. Doorway Pages

Doorway pages (aka Gateway Pages) are a kind of cloaking.

Doorway pages are the practice of targeting a page for a specific keyword and sending the user on a page that has absolutely no relation to the search query.

Google introduced a doorway penalty algorithm in March 2015, designed specifically for this type of black hat technique.

8. Misuse of Rich Snippets

Rich Snippets or Schema Markup is a good SEO practice.

Rich Snippets are search results that include additional data like ratings, location, recipes and so on. These snippets have higher Click-Through Rates (CTRs) than standard links.

However, some people often misuse this opportunity and provide fake information to manipulate both users and search engine crawlers.

For example, an advertiser may post fake product reviews and add structured data to display the fake ratings in SERP. But keep in mind that Google can detect everything. Many brilliant people are working on the backend to shape the Google algorithm. You can’t fool them anyway!

This tactic, like the others on this black hat SEO checklist, is pure fraud and should not be explored.

9. Blog Comment Spam

This strategy involves posting comments on blog pages and including a link to their website. This is done just in the intention of getting a backlink from that particular site. Some blogs maintain nofollow tags on their blog comments to avoid this kind of comment spam.

You can use this SEO strategy, but you must make sure that your input is meaningful. For example, you can share a suggestion and then link to a relevant post that users might find useful.

Dangerous Risks of Black Hat SEO

Using Black Hat SEO techniques can result in penalties or even a ban from search engines. When a website is penalized, its ranking is lowered, and it becomes harder for users to find the website in search engine results pages.

A ban can be even worse, as it means that the website will no longer appear in search engine results pages at all.

Why You Should Avoid Black Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO techniques are not sustainable and can harm a website's long-term success.

Instead, you should always focus on using White hat SEO techniques to achieve higher search engine rankings.

White hat SEO techniques such as creating high-quality valuable content, optimizing web pages for proper keywords, and building high-quality backlinks, are more sustainable and can lead to long-term success.

FAQs

Q. Is black hat SEO legal or illegal?

Yes, Black hat SEO is considered illegal because it not only violates Google's Webmaster Guidelines but also fools users and search engines in order to boost rankings.

Q. Do Black Hat SEO Techniques Still Work?

Black hat SEO may work for fewer days, but it will get you penalized, which leads to a drop in search results or being totally removed from search engine result pages.

Q. What are some common Black Hat SEO strategies?

Some common Black Hat SEO techniques include keyword stuffing, cloaking, link farming, content scraping and hidden text.

Q. How to Report Black Hat SEO?

If you suspect a website is ranking because of paid links, spam, or any other violation, you can file a spam report with Google.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Search Engines like Google exist to make the web a better place for their users. As long as you strive to deliver the best value to your visitors, Google will reward your website with additional domain authority which leads to higher rankings.

Keeping your content honest, original, and insightful is usually enough to drive long-term SEO success.