No Black Hats
What is a Black Hat? What comes out of it if it isn’t a bunny? Black Hat SEO practices are known for being deceitful. What comes out of them? Spam. Black Hat means spammy posts, spammy content, spammy links and much more spam. There are several reasons why people want to use a Black Hat practice, the main one being to outrank competitors in search rank. Here are some Black Hat practices in Seo:
Keyword Stuffing
It is almost exactly what it sounds like. Keyword stuffing is placing an excessive number of keywords into the content. Keywords that are stuffed are not easy to understand and it makes the content sound like rubbish. It is similar to overusing words too often to prove a point you know your audience is aware of. Keyword stuffing is frustrating to read and will deter potential consumers of your content.
Link Spam
Link spam is the use of excessive links. The links are intended to manipulate. Websites need links, but when websites have too many links it becomes spammy. The user does not desire excessive links. The user desires effective links, ones that answer their question or satisfy their curiosity.
Misleading Functionality
Misleading functionality is promising access to content or functions but leading the user somewhere else. This can also be known as the bait and switch. Misleading information is a waste of time. Users do not want their time to be wasted.
Sneaky Redirects
Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky…Would you want to be redirected to a useless page that takes you away from where you were before? No, and neither does the user. Sneaky redirects are when a website redirects a user to a different site, one other than they requested.
Yes White Hats
What comes out of a white hat? Magic. SEO magic. The users want SEO magic that will give them exactly what they want when they want it. Instead of tricking or deceiving your users with Black Hat practices, avoid them. Become an SEO magician and wow your users with appropriate, useful, and accurate content.
2 Responses
I think that it is easy to fall into the trap of participating in Black Hat SEO without even realizing it, so making sure that you’re on the straight and narrow is of utmost importance.
I appreciate all the areas you cover in this post, as some people do not even know that outdated practices can be black hat SEO. Plus, great visual metaphor!