By, JR

There are two types of Search Engine Optimization, one is referred to as White Hat and the other is Black Hat. Basically, White Hat is the kosher/”legal” version, where Black Hat uses unethical strategies to manipulate higher rankings in the SERPS (search engine rank pages) and the risk of getting banned by search engines.

For complete checklist of White Hat SEO see 6 Step Checklist for On-Site Search Engine Optimization.

All in all the choice of Black Hat SEO vs. White Hat depends on the Webmaster’s goal. A quick fix throwaway domain for the a temporary big payoff or a sound business that may take a lot of hard work but will which will remain stable and make money over time?

Because Black Hatters are often looking for a big payoff, they do not worry too much about being banned, while White Hatters stick to the rules in favor of long term business stability.

BLACK HAT SEO TRICKS and TYPICAL TECHNIQUES

1. Invisible Text – Text that is stuffed with keywords and h1 tags and camouflaged behind same color background with the purpose of fooling the search engine spiders, but is hidden from human eye.

2. Keyword Stuffing – Over stuffing content and Meta Tags with keywords. 5% keyword density is optimal per page. On home page the keyword should appear 6-7 times.

3. Unrelated Keywords – Using popular unrelated keywords just to lure someone to the site. Also using irrelevant keywords and description in the Meta tags to get a click through. Totally lame since that traffic is completely untargeted.

4. Doorway Pages – Pages built only for search engine spiders, optimized for one word or phrase. It’s basically a “fake” page that the visitors will never see. It is built for search engine spiders, and tries to trick them into indexing the site higher.

5. Tiny Text/Alt Tags – Tiny keyword text placed on pages for spiders, and using unrelated keywords in Image Alt Tags.

6. Mirror Sites – Creating exact duplicates of sites across different domains to manipulate SERPS. This is a BIG NO NO as discussed in Duplicate Content Myth and Fact and will get you a big penalty.

In my opinion, Black Hat is the road to nowhere and is not worth it. I for one would never want to waste time on SEO strategies that can lead to my sites being banned.

In reality, if Google finds out, then you will either lose major rank value or have your website completely removed from the Index, at which point you will have to make the changes necessary and then request a reconsideration from Google. All of which just adds extra work and wait time, and loss of money and in the end you will just have to do the original honest labor you were trying to avoid.

Basically Black Hat can be a road to nowhere, you may see quicker results, but in the end it’s not worth it, especially when it comes to flagship sites/blogs and niche sites where you want to become an authority.

Make sure your hard work pays off and brings long term results, with White Hat you won’t have to worry about being sent to the dead zone.

What do you guys this? Anybody use Black Hat? Anyone disagree with me?