If you’re new to the world of SEO, you’ve probably heard the term “Black Hat SEO.” In this article, we will discuss the concept of Black Hat SEO, what SEO practices are known as Black Hat, and how using them might affect the health of your website.
So, what is Black hat SEO? Black hat SEO uses unethical techniques in an attempt to generate more traffic. Examples of Black hat SEO methods include keyword stuffing, buying backlinks, and hiding content. Instead of earning a position on a search engine by implementing correct SEO strategies, Black Hat SEO makes use of improper methods. It is essentially being impatient and not putting in the effort to get where you want to be.
To find out more about Black hat SEO and how it can harm your campaign, continue reading.
In the words of HubSpot, Black hat SEO is “highly controversial tactics used to manipulate search rankings of a given web page and are generally in violation of search engine guidelines”.
So, yes, Black hat SEO is bad for your campaign. This is because these tactics are generally heavily penalised by search engines such as Google. The penalty can negatively impact your domain authority score, which can have a significant effect on your ranking, as it deems you to be a less trustworthy site.
Though Black hat SEO tactics seem tempting, they are not worth the risk. As previously mentioned, these methods can harm your authority score, but they can also harm your overall website performance and UX (user experience). This may result in a significant loss of keyword performance and organic traffic which will ultimately impact your bottom line.
Black hat SEO tactics are essentially an attempt to avoid doing work that requires time and effort. Outlined below are three of the most common black hat SEO strategies that can severely damage your website’s credibility or even get you blacklisted.
Keyword stuffing is the practice of adding certain terms to your text in order to control where the page ranks in search results pages. This method offers little to no value and creates a bad experience for users.
Backlinks add to your authority score; the more you have, the higher your score and the more trustworthy your website is seen by search engines. Buying backlinks provides a brief boost, but as with every other Black hat SEO tactic, it is not worth the risk.
Purchasing backlinks will almost certainly result in low-quality links, which may then cause a penalty. Earning backlinks demonstrates that others trust your information and consider you credible in your sector. It will not benefit your website in the long-term.
Hiding content involves making text and links the same colour as the background or font size 0 so that users cannot see them. However, search engines can still read this information in the code.
In addition to frustrating users, it could result in a loss of customers if they are unable to find the content they are looking for. In extreme cases, it can even result in your website being removed by Google as it might be perceived as spam.
Common tactics for hiding content include:
As WordStream explains, “White hat SEO refers to any practice that improves your search rankings on a search engine results page (SERP) while maintaining the integrity of your website and staying within the search engines’ terms of service. These tactics stay within the bounds as defined by Google.”
Marketing Charts reports that 48% of users begin their browning journey on a search engine. Therefore, it is clear that investing and practising White hat SEO techniques has massive potential.
Yes, White hat SEO will improve your website performance. In reality, the only way to rank well is to use white hat SEO techniques. This is because White hat SEO uses ethical approaches that demonstrate your dedication to being authentic in your industry.
There are endless benefits to using White hat SEO techniques. Implementing them correctly and making sure they meet a high-quality standard, however, is crucial. These are three of the most important white hat SEO techniques you should be aware of.
When written for a specific audience, high-quality content attracts them to your website and motivates them to interact with it. A user is more likely to continue to browse a website if they find the content useful, hopefully leading to a conversion.
Not only that, but search engines like Google will identify that your content is of high quality. This helps to increase your keyword rankings and will encourage other sites to organically link to your content (backlinks).
According to Daily Blogging, mobile devices take up 63% of organic search visits and 58.16% of global web traffic originates from mobile devices. So, ensuring your website is easy to navigate on a mobile is essential.
Forbes confirmed that 40% of users will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. This stresses the importance of page loading speed and demonstrates how important it is for UX.
At Wildcat Digital, we pride ourselves on helping businesses punch above their weight online. We use ethical practices to ensure your brand’s online presence thrives, whether through our SEO services or our PPC campaigns.
Wildcat Digital is an award-winning agency that helps businesses of all sizes improve their online presence. To get in touch, fill out our online form today.
