As search engine optimization has grown more popular, so has the

use of unethical SEO (that’s shorthand for search engine

optimization) techniques. But what are these “black hat”

techniques? Why are they so bad? Better yet, what can you, as a

web site owner, do to legitimately increase your search engine

ranking? These are all questions which this newsletter will

answer. After you’ve read this, you’ll know what techniques are

underhanded and which are acceptable.

 

So what are “Black Hat” techniques?

 

“Black Hat” techniques are unethical techniques that some web

site owners use to get their site listed on search engines. They

usually use these techniques to get a high search engine

listing. Here is a list of three common “Black Hat” techniques

you should avoid if you want to please search engine spiders.

 

1.         Keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is the overuse of keywords

in a piece of content. Generally, this is repeating the same

keywords over and over just to achieve a higher search engine

ranking.

2.         Invisible text. Quite a few cheap sites use this tactic,

which involves making keywords in a font that is the same color

as the background, so that readers can’t see the massive amounts

of keywords, but search engine spiders can.

3.         Doorway pages. These are pages that regular visitors cannot

see, but search engine spiders can. They are done to trick the

search engines so that the site gets a higher ranking.

 

Why are “Black Hat” techniques bad?

 

They’re bad because they go against the rules set forth by

search engines. Not only do they go against the rules, but they

also hurt the visitor’s experience. Who wants to see a site

stuffed with keywords? “Black Hat” techniques are unethical and

wrong.

 

Do “Black Hat” techniques work?

 

Yes, they do, which is why people use them. But these techniques

only work temporarily. Eventually the search engine spiders

catch on and your site is permanently banned from being listed.

This is why you should never use “Black Hat” techniques. It may

pay off for a few short weeks, but it permanently hurts your

site and its credibility on the internet.

 

So if I can’t use “Black Hat” techniques, what techniques can I

use to help my site get listed high on search engines?

 

Fortunately, there are multiple techniques that you can use to

get your site legitimately listed high on search engines. We’ll

go over two such techniques right now.

 

Keywords

 

Earlier in this newsletter, we talked about keyword stuffing.

While keyword stuffing is an awful thing to do, the natural use

of keywords is perfectly fine. By natural, we mean keywords that

are spread throughout a document in a way that isn’t blatant.

 

How do you naturally use keywords in your content to benefit

your site? Well, before you even write your content, take a few

minutes to identify some keywords that are relevant to your

site. Then, begin to write the content. Try to incorporate the

keywords you have picked out in a natural way throughout the

content. Ideally, if your content is 600 words, you’ll want to

use the main keyword between 6-18 times, which is a keyword

density of 1-3%(keyword density is the number of keywords

divided by the total words of a document). Anything less than

that won’t be beneficial to your site. More than 3% keyword

density might seem like keyword stuffing, so try not to go much

past 5% keyword density.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that actual people are reading your

site. Thus, you should make sure that the use of keywords does

not distract your readers from the whole meaning of the content.

 

Linking

 

Linking is a very common practice between web sites. How do you

do it? Well, you ask a site that is relevant to yours to post a

link to your site on their site. In return, you can offer to

link to their site on your site. That way, both sites get a

benefit from the linking.

 

How does this help your listing? Well, each time a search engine

spider visits a page with a link to your site on it, the spider

will then visit your site.

 

If you keep the above in mind, your site will get listed high on

a search engine with no danger of being pulled.

 

To your success,

Murray

 

P.S. While “Black Hat” techniques temporarily do work, they

never pay off in the long run. So if you want a legitimately

high search engine listing, don’t use “Black Hat” techniques.

Use the natural methods for high search engine rankings!