What Is Black Hat SEO? – SEO Basics From Semalt

In the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), experts warn against the risks of Black Hat SEO practices. But, what is the Black Hat SEO? It refers to the SEO practices which are in violation of the Google's Webmaster Rules. As a search engine, Google has established webmaster guidelines for the permissible SEO and what cannot be accepted in the SEO context. Google uses its search engine to create whatever rules they find useful and violation of the outlined guidelines causes the removal of a site from Google. Consequently, any SEO expert can influence on search engine results, which is not a bad practice. Google aims at finding any site and exactly determine its content or what it is about. Nevertheless, Google's business is to determine the most relevant websites to searches.

Jack Miller, the Semalt Senior Customer Success Manager, explains that if a developer has a site about tropical flowers, Google encourages optimization of such sites with tropical flower related keywords.

Black Hat SEO Practices

Typically, Black Hat SEO practices involve backlink schemes or tactics to trick search engines such as Google into considering a site to be something different from what it is in reality. The following are examples of Black Hat SEO:

• Purchasing backlinks or otherwise offering monetary payment for backlinks (including providing discounts for links).
• Link pyramids – building many links to provide backlinks to some other websites.
• Inserting hidden text on a web page, which includes extremely small texts incorporated with keywords, invisible words and text of similar color as the background.
• Building doorway pages. These refer to links intended to attract search engines before redirecting users to different websites.
• The use of proxy servers or producing dozens of IP addresses to make a website appear like many web pages for the purpose of getting backlinks.
• Duplicating content from other websites to make an illusion that a site has lots of updates and contents.

The Dangers of Black Hat SEO

There are two risks of engaging in Black Hat SEO practices. Foremost, Google is working on its search algorithm to eliminate Black Hat SEO practices. Experts argue that Google has already achieved success in this undertaking. Thus, Black Hat SEO sites risk losing ranking.

The second and final danger has a little possibility of happening but is a more serious hazard. When Google establishes a site that practices Black Hat SEO, they can decide to radically lower the ranking of the site or entirely delist such web pages. A delisted website will never show up in Google rankings at all.

The Advantages of White Hat SEO Practices

A site can build in authority and strength by investing time into White Hat SEO tactics that are acceptable by all search engines. A site will rise to rankings slowly but will maintain the gained rankins.gs. The site's SEO would also build from previous SEO practices instead of starting afresh every time. Ultimately, a site can reach a level the peak of organic search results and focus attention on the maintenance of SEO. Additionally, keeping the top ranking (attained legitimately) is far much easy work than achieving the ranking in the first place.