Recently, as Search Engine Optimization
has become increasingly popular, black hat techniques
have gained importance as well. Black Hat SEO techniques and
tools are usually utilized by such websites who are looking to
attain a higher ranking in search engines. However, such
practices are unethical and illegal. The most popular Black hat
tools include:
1-Invisible Text- This
black hat technique is most commonly used after the
keyboard stuffing technique. Websites usually make sure
that keywords have been overused in their documents.
However, these keywords are made the same color as that
of the background. Therefore, while they are invisible to
the reader, search engines pick them
up.
2-Keyword stuffing- This
is the most commonly used black hat style. The basic idea
behind keyword stuffing is that if the document is filled
with a particular keyword, it will appear on the search
engines with a greater ranking when compared to other
websites.
3-Doorway pages-
Such doorway pages are not visible to readers but search
engines are able to pick them up. This black hat style does so
with the purpose of confusing the search engine so that the
website achieves a higher ranking in the search engine.
However, all this will manage to do in the long run is annoy
the reader and harm the credibility as well as reputation of
the website.
Naturally, these black hat SEO tools do
work and manage to allow the website to achieve a greater
ranking in search engines. However, this success is
short-lived. When and if caught, the website will be shut
down and not turn up in search engines at all. This will
damage the website’s reputation
forever.
SEO, How to avoid black hat
techniques:
Keyboard stuffing is not only the
easiest but also the most commonly used black hat SEO
tool. The best way to achieve the goal, that is, achieve
a higher ranking in search engines but in a legal manner
would be to spread the keyword through out the article in
a manner that is not only strategic but also legal. There
should be no compromises in quality. The keywords must
first be identified and the content of the article must
be created around these keywords. The average keyword
density within each article should be about 1%. This
means that if your article consists of 500 words, the
keyword must appear about 5 times. This will allow the
document to show up in the search engine with a higher
ranking but also adhere to legal conditions.
The process of linking is thought
to be one of the best ways to avoid black hat SEO tools and
techniques. This allows two web site owners to reach an
agreement so that one owner’s links are present on the other
owner’s website and vice versa. Therefore, if a user is
visiting the other owner’s website, he will automatically be
directed to your website soon after. This allows you to
achieve a higher ranking in search
engines.
A forum which lists out the black hate
techniques and tools and also teaches interested users
how to carry them out is called a black hat forum. These
forums were legitimate several years back but over the
years, people began to use it so freely that there was no
choice but to ban its use. The basic reasons being that
it defies the rules and regulations of search engines and
also that it does not provide the user with a pleasant
experience and nor does it allows him to acquire the
information that he needs.
Search engine marketing, SEO are often
thought to be interchangeable terms and are confused with
one another. Search engine marketing is one which is
classified under i-marketing and increases a particular
websites chances to show up in search
results.
The SEO
checklist:
1-Domain name- 2-The File Name 3-Content 4-Layout and Design- the layout
must be kept simple and as textual as possible. 5-The Page Title-the title must
include a keyword, stop words must not be used and every
document must have a different title. 6-Meta Tags 7-Headings must be used
judiciously. 8-Using Bold Text will slightly
increase the chances of your document having a high ranking in
the search engines. However, it must not be
overused. 9-Internal and External linking-
This too must be carried out wisely. 10-Images and Alt Text 11-Themes- focusing your document
around one theme will prove to be
beneficial.
White hat, black hat, the
distinction:
SEO
techniques can be categorized as white hat, black hat on
the basis of whether they are legal or not and if they
are approved by search engines or not. White hat SEO is
legal while Black hat SEO is not. As mentioned above, if
one relies heavily on black hat SEO techniques, it will
provide temporary success but the website will soon be
shut down. White hat SEO techniques allow individuals to
achieve success in the long run. An SEO tool is thought
to be of White Hat style if the search engines pick it up
and there is no deception or dishonesty of any kind.
White hat SEO allows users to access quality content
without any compromises. Therefore, it makes sure that
the content is at par with the ranking that the website
has achieved in the search engine. This provides the user
with an enhanced experience. This is definitely more
superior to black hate SEO tools in a large number of
ways.