What is black hat SEO?
Black hat SEO covers every measure meant to improve the ranking of a website in a search engine that violates the guidelines of that search engine. Every legitimate measure, on the other hand, is called white hat SEO. Any reputable SEO agency should work with white hat SEO only.
Where does the term black hat SEO come from?
The term “black hat SEO” borrows a device from the Westerns of earlier days. In the classic duel scene, two opponents face each other. The antagonist was always shown wearing a black hat, and the protagonist, the good hero of the movie, a white hat. That is why black hat SEO stands opposite white hat SEO.
Which methods are or were used in black hat SEO?
Common black hat SEO methods were:
- Keyword stuffing
- Cloaking
- Hiding
- Expired domains
- Link farming
What effect do black hat SEO measures have?
Modern search engines often spot attempts at ranking manipulation very quickly. The positive effect lasts a very short time at best, while the damage is severe in the long run. In the worst case, the website is removed from the search engine index entirely.
Google’s algorithm updates are what took most of these methods off the table. The Penguin update alone removed the value from bought and farmed links. Close to the line, but a different thing, is parasite SEO, which publishes content on a strong third-party domain instead of manipulating your own.
Want deeper knowledge about measures that could put your indexing at risk? Our podcast episode covers exactly that topic, and you will find more terms on it in the SEO glossary.
