Think On This:
Before you venture into the Black Hat SEO world, it’s a fitting idea for one to be well informed. I was guilty of practicing some of the methods without fully understanding what I was getting myself into.
My only concern was to get high rankings in the search engines. Alas, I was an inexperienced beginner and choose the wrong strategy, or did I?
Flashback To 1994!
The internet was born! For those of you who became computer owners during the early years, like me, we got to experience first hand, what it was like to be on the internet.
Who remembers some of the first search engines?
- WebCrawler -1994- is the oldest and still exists
- Lycos – 1994
- Yahoo – 1995
- Excite – 1995
- AltaVista – 1995
- Ask Jeeves – 1996
- Google – 2004
The job of the search engines was to crawl the websites and try to revise their code of algorithms in the pursuit of providing quality search results. On the other side, site owners found tactics to create advantages and fool the algorithms in order to get their website ranked higher.
From 1994 until 2007 the internet world was very unsettled. Nobody cared and the mental attitude was a “free for all” or anything is acceptable.
Like everybody else I never took the search engines seriously. Even though the search engines had rules, rules were meant to be broken and users were not penalized. It became a game of cat (search engines) hunting down the mice (wrong doer’s).
Google was in the mix of search engines competing for top position, but did not rule the game of search engines until 2007-2008.
What Are The Two SEO Strategies?
In 2009- 2010, I was running a website and I needed to use search engine optimization to improve my website rankings. Remember it was okay to use any methods that were practiced in order to get the ranking results.
So I did. I fell into step with what was being practiced. Being new at SEO I had no clue that there were 2 strategies used and the one I choose was the bad guy or Black Hat SEO strategy.
I started using defiant and unethical methods and tactics that focused on fooling or tricking the search engines and I didn’t comply with the guidelines and rules of the search engines.
I should have chosen the good guy or White Hat SEO strategy, which focuses on the humane side. The methods used are organic, ethical and natural plus obeys the rules of the search engines.
Black hat strategies are not acceptable. Sure you can get higher page rank but doesn’t provide the most or best value to the users.
White hat strategies are 100% acceptable. Yes you can get page rank but it is a much slower method and provides more value to the users.
No risk of algorithmic penalties which can wipe out any progess permanently.
This Was My Dilemma, Then
- I was a “green horn” with a new website business
- SEO had 2 strategies
- Never heard of the strategies
- Training within my new website business did not say what kind of SEO they used
- High rankings in the search engines meant more money in my pocket
- Didn’t know the role between the SEO world and the search engines
- Did search engines matter
The temptation of using Black Hat SEO methods was worth the huge risk I was taking. And yes I choose the bad guy but the experience gained eventually led me down the good path.
Here’s A List Of My Black Hat SEO Strategies
Keyword Stuffing – This method was my favorite mainly because I hated doing keyword research! It was okay to use one or a few similar keyword phrases a certain number of times on one page of my site.
The idea of endless keyword possibilities were dependent on how many pages I had and my search rankings would go up!
The old Google worked on a key word based search and was an effective way of increasing my rankings. Definitely a No No today.
In 2017, Google’s semantic search capacity will deem this keyword stuffing method as futile. Your rankings could actually fall if it hinders the quality of your content. Putting a keyword someplace where it doesn’t make sense is a bad idea.
Don’t try and trick Google with over stuffing your keywords as it will lead to punishment.
Invisible/Hiding Text – I only tried doing this tactic once as I was uncomfortable with it. How I did this was by using white text on a white background. This is an older technique and not practiced much today.
The text contained irrelevant keywords detected by Google but, the user’s could not see it.
Now in today’s practice, it is all about the users and what they can see. If it is good for the users then it is good for Google.
On the other end, if you don’t want your readers to see it, then you don’t want Google to see it either. The end result will get you penalized if you try hiding this from Google.
Spinning/Duplicating Content – I was duped into thinking that the more content I had, I would achieve more ranked pages and obtain a higher authority. Isn’t more always better?
I went ahead and bought software that would spin new or existing articles into somewhat different versions. Then once they were spun I sent 200 versions to article sites and directories.
Today Google is not interested in quantity. They are more concerned about the quality and originality of your content.
Don’t let Google catch you stealing content by spinning or duplicating it as it does not benefit you in organic searches. Again you will be penalized.
Cloaking or Disguising Redirects – This method was another one I liked to use. The cloaking strategy allowed me to use one set of keyword rich content to Google and a different set of better readable content to users. Compared to keyword stuffing it was more reader friendly.
The devious redirects would block the users from visiting the page they choose and redirect them to another (my website) page. Surprise!
Today one would get a penalty because this strategy would not pass the search engine guidelines. Remember content is not for the search engines.
The Appropriate Ending!
Over time I was not seeing any ranking results. Then my resolve started to crumble and I became extremely suspicious that something was going to happen.
I knew I was in the wrong and before Google caught me and penalized me, I took my site down. Totally wiped cleaned any evidence that I was on the internet.
I gained a lot of knowledge because of this experience and I will never ever try to fool Google again!
No more Black Hat SEO for me and I would advise anyone contemplating this bad practice to stay away. Stick with the White Hat SEO strategies!
Since Google rolled out algorithmic changes through Penguin and Panda it has definitely changed how we look at Google search results and how we practice SEO in 2017.
In Closing…
After a lot of hard thinking and and a few years later I wanted to get back into the online world. I dabbled in a few ventures but they didn’t pan out.
I happened to stumble upon the Wealthy Affiliate site and after I took a test drive with their free trial offer, I was so impressed with what they could do for me, I became a member.
WA has the best training platform where they teach newbies or advanced marketers on how to create a long term and successful online business.
Are you looking to stay up to date on some of the latest white hat SEO techniques for 2017 and beyond?
Wealthy Affiliate helped me build my own website, this is your starting foundation, and understand the importance of keywords and which keyword tool to use. Plus creating quality content, using and placing links properly, and implementing social media.
Learning SEO the correct way is the only way to go and that is why I would recommend that you check out Wealthy Affiliate for yourself and see if they can help you as much as they helped me.
I welcome any questions or comments you may have, please leave in the box below. I will do my best to help you out!
Take Care
~Barb~