You should always avoid black hat SEO techniques as they can result in penalties that include your site being omitted from search results. Here are five common black hat SEO techniques you should know about so you can avoid using them.
Hidden text
This technique involves hiding text on a page so that it is not visible to users, but visible to the search engine. An example would be to use a gray background and write keywords all over the page in the same gray background color so that the words blend in and are invisible to users. Avoid using hidden text as it is easily caught by search engines and will result in fines.
Obfuscation
Obfuscation is a practice that displays different content depending on who is viewing it. The most common obfuscation method is to display images to human users while only displaying HTML text to the search engine. Search engines reject this tactic because it allows users to be bombarded with unwanted content, such as ads or malware, when they expect something else. Normally, search engines can warn users about potentially malicious websites, but cloaking bypasses these precautions. When a search engine detects obfuscation, it penalizes the page.
Private Blog Networks (PBNs) aka Web Rings
PBNs, also known as webrings, work on the premise that having external links from other websites benefits search engine rankings. But in this scenario, you own all the sites and link them to each other. By linking to each other, the pages are able to push each other into higher search rankings. While this may be a legitimate method for users who own multiple sites, it becomes problematic when the sites are all the same and only serve to channel traffic between each other.
Keyword stuffing
Keyword stuffing takes advantage of how search engine algorithms scan pages for keywords relevant to the searcher’s query. It involves randomly repeating keywords throughout a website’s content for phrases or topics that you want to rank highly for. The result is usually a website that is poorly written or useless to anyone looking for real, relevant information. Search engines are designed to recognize keyword stuffing, and it provides no value to your users. Not to mention, keywords aren’t the only thing search engines look for to rank a page high, so keywords only get you so far.
Blog comment spam
One of the oldest black hat SEO methods is adding links to your sites in the comment sections of someone else’s blog as another form of creating backlinks to your content. Since this method is so well known, most sites will just mark your comment as spam and ban you. Additionally, using this method can make your brand appear amateurish or illegitimate to users who see you spamming your links in comments.