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Does it feel like you’ve tried everything to get your website to rank?
You’ve got great content. You’ve built solid backlinks. And your site runs like a stallion!
Where’s the love, Google?
In your search for ideas, you come across the seedy underworld of black hat SEO.
Sure, you know this back alley is filled with gamblers, liars, and cheats. But they’re reaping the rewards! It sure seems like there’s a new sheriff in town And playin’ by the old rules ain’t gettin’ you no where, no how.
Well, watch out, partner!
Your website might end up dead!
What Is Black Hat SEO, Anyway?
The term “black hat” comes from the symbolism in old Western TV shows.
The good guys like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and John Wayne often wore the white hats.
And the bad guys, playing villains like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Doc Holiday wore the black hats.
This made for some predictable TV. When you saw a gang stroll into the saloon or sitting at a table playing poker, you knew whose side they were on right away.
Today’s “black hats” don’t make it as easy to tell. But they’re still livin’ the outlaw life by breaking the rules, cheating law-abiding citizens, and attacking innocent folk.
Is Black Hat SEO Illegal?
If you try out black hat SEO, will you become the Sam Bass of search?
Will Marshall Dillon come lookin’ for you?
Is Rooster Cogburn going to hunt you down like a dog?
Although (most) black hat tactics won’t put you behind bars, they’re still a violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines.
If Google catches you holdin’ 5 aces, they ain’t callin’ the law. They’re takin’ matters into their own hands. That’s right! Vigilante justice!
Your website will pay the price! Your rankings might take a bullet. Or your site might even get banned from the search results!
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Avoid These 14 Black Hat SEO Techniques
- Content Automation – AI and Bot-Created Content
- Cloaking – Pretending One Page Is Another
- Link Schemes/Farms/Wheels – Paying for Links or Trading Links
- Automated Google Searches – Having Bots Search for Your Brand or Site
- Duplicate Content – Copying Content With the Sole Intent to Rank It
- Phishing Pages and Distributing Malware – Shady Content and Viruses
- Doorway Pages – Pages with Sneaky Redirects
- Hidden Text or Links – White Text on White Backgrounds
- Keyword Stuffing – Using the Same Keyword(s) Over and Over
- Blog Comment Spam – Sharing a Links Repetitively in Blog Comments
- Guest Posting Networks – Paying for or Trading Irrelevant Posts
- Article Spinning – Rewording an Article to Make It Look Unique
- Reporting a Competitor (or Negative SEO) – False and Frivolous Claims
- Rich Snippet Markup Spam – Gaming to Rank Unrelated Content
Watch this video from Neil Patel, “SEO Mistakes to Avoid | 3 Black Hat Techniques That WILL Get You Banned from Google” to learn more!
Don’t Suffer the Consequences
Being a black hat SEO outlaw might seem like an exciting life. But one day, your ride will come to an end, cowboy. Once Sheriff Google uncovers your lawless deeds, you’re looking at a sentence of lower search rankings.
Or worse.
Your website might ride off into the sunset, never to be seen again!
Black hat SEO only offers short-term results. These strategies break the rules or take advantage of loopholes in Google’s webmaster guidelines.
When Google finds and fixes the loopholes (and they will), justice will be served, and your site’s rankings will vanish in an instant!
Ride With the Good Guys!
Stick with white hat techniques and it’ll all pay off! Don’t try to win one hand at risk of getting kicked out of the game!
The stakes are high. But the deck is stacked in your favor when you play it clean.
Sure, you might feel like the underdog. Just hang in there and you might win the whole pot!
Want help ranking your website the right way and getting results that last?
Call Heltzel Virtual and book your free consult!