When it comes to getting your website to rank on top of search engines like Google, there are right ways and shady ways to go about it. The right ways are called "Whitehat SEO" and involve creating high-quality content, building relationships, and providing a big impact to website visitors.
On the other hand, the shady ways are called "Blackhat SEO" and involve tricking search engines with shady tactics to increase your website visitors and make more money fast. Blackhat SEO is a quick way to get ahead of your competition, rank new websites pretty fast, and make money however, it is not sustainable most of the time. Search engines come up with new algorithms to track and remove blackhat websites from the top rankings.
And once they catch your website, you will lose all your traffic and revenue. However, for those of you who are interested to learn about these blackhat SEO tactics that can help your websites rank fast and make money quickly, then this article is yours to read.
1. Keyword Stuffing: Cramming in too many keywords
One of the oldest tricks in the blackhat SEO playbook is called "keyword stuffing." This is when you try to fool Google by repeating the same keywords over and over again on your website, even if it makes your content sound weird or robotic.
Here's an example of what keyword stuffing might look like:
"Buy cheap shoes online. Cheap shoes are the best shoes. If you want cheap shoes, buy cheap shoes from our online shoe store for cheap shoes."
Not only does this make for a terrible reading experience, but Google is smart enough to spot this kind of thing from a mile away. If you get caught keyword stuffing, your website could get punished with lower search rankings or even get kicked off Google entirely.
2. Cloaking: Showing different content to Google and users
Another shady blackhat tactic is called "cloaking." This is when you show one version of your website to Google and a completely different version to actual people who visit your site.
For example, let's say you have a website about healthy eating. You might show Google a bunch of content about nutrition and recipes, but when people click through to your site, they get bombarded with ads for weight loss pills or manhood enhancement supplements instead.
Cloaking is a huge no-no in Google's book. If you get caught, your website could face serious consequences, like getting banned from search results altogether.
3. Hidden Text and Links: Concealing Keywords and Links
Some blackhat SEO folks try to be sneaky by hiding keywords or links on their websites. They might make the text the same color as the background, so it's invisible to human eyes but still readable by Google's algorithms.
Here's an example: A website might have a big block of white text on a white background, stuffed with keywords related to whatever they're trying to rank for in Google.
Hiding text and links is just as bad as keyword stuffing in Google's eyes. If you get caught, your website could get slapped with a penalty or even removed from search results entirely.
4. Doorway Pages: Creating Low-Quality Pages Just for Google
Another blackhat trick is creating what's known as "doorway pages." These are thin, low-quality web pages that are designed solely to rank for specific keywords in Google. They often have very little useful content and exist only to funnel people to another part of the website.
For instance, a plumbing company might create a bunch of doorway pages with titles like "best plumbing services New York," "top plumbers NYC," and "reliable plumbing companies in New York." Each of these pages would have just a little bit of content before trying to send visitors to the main website.
Doorway pages provide a terrible user experience and are a huge red flag for Google. If your website gets caught using them, you could face serious penalties.
5. Buying Links: Paying for Links to Boost Rankings
In the world of SEO, links from other websites to yours are like votes of confidence. The more high-quality links you have pointing to your site, the better you'll tend to rank in Google. However, some people try to take a shortcut by buying links from shady websites or "link farms."
Buying links is strictly against Google's guidelines. If you get caught, your website could face a major penalty or even get removed from search results entirely.
Earning links the right way – by creating great content that other websites want to link to naturally – takes more time and effort, but it's the only way to build a sustainable, long-term SEO strategy.
6. Duplicate Content: Copying and Pasting Content All Over the Web
Some blackhat SEO practitioners try to game the system by copying and pasting the same pieces of content across multiple websites or pages. They might think this is an easy way to get their content in front of more people, but it can do more harm than good.
When Google sees the same content popping up in multiple places online, it doesn't know which version to rank in search results. This can lead to something called "duplicate content issues," which can hurt your website's visibility in Google.
Even worse, if Google thinks you're deliberately copying content as a way to manipulate rankings, your website could get hit with a penalty.
The best approach is to create original, high-quality content that provides real value to your readers. That's the kind of stuff that will help you rank well in Google and build a strong reputation online.
7. Content Scraping: Stealing content from other websites
"Content scraping" is a fancy way of saying "stealing other people's content and passing it off as your own." Some blackhat SEO people use special software to automatically copy content from other websites and post it on their own site without permission.
Not only is this plagiarism, but it's also a major violation of Google's guidelines. If you get caught scraping content, your website could face serious penalties, like getting removed from Google's search results.
Creating your own original content takes more time and effort, but it's the only way to build a website that both Google and your readers will trust and respect.
8. Comment Spamming: Leaving spammy comments just to get links
You've probably seen this one before: spammy comments on blog posts or forums that don't really add to the conversation, but instead just try to sneak in a link back to the spammer's own website.
Here's an example: "Great post! Check out my website for more info on this topic [link]."
Leaving these kinds of low-quality, spammy comments all over the web is known as "comment spamming," and it's a big no-no in the eyes of Google. If you get caught doing this, your website could face penalties or even get banned from Google entirely.
Instead of resorting to comment spam, focus on building real relationships and contributing valuable insights to online discussions. That's how you'll earn genuine, high-quality links that will help your website's SEO.
9. Negative SEO: Trying to sabotage competitors' websites
"Negative SEO" is a particularly nasty blackhat tactic that involves trying to harm a competitor's website by pointing lots of spammy, low-quality links at it or posting negative reviews and comments online.
The goal is to make the competitor's website look bad in the eyes of Google and get it penalized or removed from search results. This is not only unethical, but it's also potentially illegal.
If you get caught engaging in negative SEO, your website could face serious consequences, like getting banned from Google. It's just not worth the risk.
Instead of trying to tear down your competitors, focus on building up your website with great content, user experience, and legitimate, whitehat SEO strategies.
10. Link Manipulation: Trying to trick Google with fake links
Some blackhat SEO folks try to manipulate Google's search rankings by creating fake links pointing to their websites. They might do this by setting up "link farms" (networks of low-quality websites that exist only to link to each other) or by using automated software to blast their links all over the web.
Google is getting good at spotting these kinds of fake, manipulative links. If you get caught using them, your website could get penalized or even removed from Google's search results.
The best way to build links is to earn them naturally, by creating content that's so great that other websites can't help but link to it. It takes more time and effort, but it's the only sustainable approach to link-building in the long run.
11. Article Spinning: Churning out low-quality, rewritten content
"Article spinning" is a blackhat tactic that involves taking an existing article and using software to automatically rewrite it, swapping out words and phrases for synonyms to try to make it look like a new, original piece of content.
The problem is, that the resulting "spun" articles are usually total gibberish, full of awkward phrasing and sentences that don't quite make sense. They provide zero value to readers and are just a cheap attempt to game the system and rank for more keywords.
If Google catches you publishing spun content on your website, you could face penalties or even get your site removed from search results. It's not worth it.
Instead, focus on creating original, high-quality content that provides value to your readers. That's the kind of content that will help you rank well in Google and build a strong, trustworthy brand online.
12. Invisible Text: Hiding keywords to trick Google
Some sneaky blackhat SEO folks try to manipulate Google by hiding keywords on their web pages in ways that make them invisible to human readers. They might do this by making the text super tiny, setting it to the same color as the background, or even hiding it behind images.
Here's an example: A website might have a big block of white text on a white background, crammed full of keywords they want to rank for in Google.
Hiding text like this is a big no-no in Google's book. If you get caught, your website could face penalties or even get kicked out of Google's search results.
The best approach is to use keywords naturally and strategically throughout your content, in a way that makes sense and provides value to your readers. That's how you'll rank well in Google without resorting to shady tactics.
13. Cybersquatting: Snagging domains to profit off others' brands
"Cybersquatting" is when someone registers a domain name that's similar to an existing brand or trademark, in the hopes of profiting off the confusion or selling the domain to the rightful owner at a huge markup.
For example, let's say you're a small business owner who hasn't gotten around to registering your brand name as a domain yet. A cybersquatter might snag a similar domain (like yourbrandname.net instead of yourbrandname.com) and then try to sell it to you for a ridiculous price.
This kind of domain squatting is not only unethical, but it can also be illegal. If you get caught engaging in cybersquatting, you could face legal consequences and damage to your online reputation.
The best approach is to register your brand name as a domain as soon as possible and to only register domains that you actually plan to use for legitimate purposes.
14. Clickbait: Tricking people with misleading headlines
You've probably seen "clickbait" headlines all over the web — you know, those over-the-top, sensationalized headlines that make outrageous claims or promises, but the actual content fails to deliver.
Here's an example: "You Won't Believe What This Celebrity Did!" — but when you click through to the article, it's just a bunch of recycled gossip or speculation without any real substance.
Using clickbait headlines to trick people into visiting your website might get you some short-term traffic, but it's not a sustainable strategy. If people feel misled or disappointed by your content, they're not likely to trust your brand or come back to your site in the future.
Instead of resorting to clickbait, focus on creating headlines that accurately reflect the content of your pages and provide real value to your readers. That's how you'll build a loyal audience and a strong reputation online.
15. Automated Queries: Faking search popularity
Some blackhat SEO people try to manipulate Google by using automated tools to send fake searches for their target keywords, making it look like lots of people are searching for those terms.
The idea is to trick Google into thinking those keywords are more popular than they are, in the hopes of ranking higher for those terms in the search results.
However, Google is good at spotting this kind of fake search activity. If you get caught, your website could face penalties or even get banned from Google entirely.
It's just not worth the risk. Instead of trying to fake your way to the top of the search results, focus on creating great content that people will want to search for and share with their friends. That's the only sustainable way to build search popularity over time.
16. Misusing Schema Markup: Lying to google with structured Data
Schema markup is a special code that you can add to your website to help Google understand your content better. It's a great tool when used properly, but some blackhat SEO folks misuse it by providing inaccurate or misleading information to try to manipulate the search results.
For example, a website might add schema markup claiming that a page contains a recipe, even though there's no actual recipe on the page. They might do this to try to show up in recipe-related searches, even though their content isn't relevant.
Misusing schema markup like this is a violation of Google's guidelines. If you get caught, your website could face manual penalties or even get removed from the search results.
The best approach is to use schema markup honestly and accurately, to provide additional context about your content to Google and make your search results more informative and useful. Don't try to deceive Google or manipulate the search results with fake structured data.
17. Paid Links: Buying your way to the top
Buying links from other websites is another big no-no in Google's book. Some people try to take shortcuts to the top of the search results by paying for links, rather than earning them naturally.
They might buy links from "link farms" (sketchy websites that exist solely to sell links) or participate in "private blog networks" (groups of websites that secretly link to each other to game the search results).
Google is good at spotting these kinds of paid link schemes. If you get caught buying links, your website could face a major penalty or even get banned from the search results entirely.
The only sustainable way to build links is to create great content that other websites will naturally want to link to. It takes more time and effort, but it's the only way to build a link profile that Google will trust and reward over the long term.
18. Spamming: Blasting your links all over the web
"Spamming" is a catch-all term for a variety of blackhat SEO tactics that involve blasting your links all over the web in a spammy, automated way.
This can include things like:
- Posting spammy comments on blogs and forums, with links back to your site
- Sending automated "link exchange" requests to other websites
- Using software to automatically generate low-quality posts on social media or article directories, with links back to your site
All of these tactics are big red flags for Google. If you get caught spamming, your website could face serious penalties or even get banned from the search results.
Instead of resorting to spam, focus on building real relationships and creating great content that people will naturally want to link to and share. That's how you'll build a strong, sustainable link profile over time.
19. Programmatic SEO
While programmatic SEO may not inherently be a blackhat technique, it can still potentially be used in a black hat way. If programmatic SEO tools are used to automate and execute manipulative tactics that violate search engine guidelines, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, or spammy link-building practices, then it would fall into the realm of black hat SEO.
The key factor is the intent and the methods employed. If the goal is to deceive search engines and manipulate rankings through unethical means, regardless of whether programmatic tools are involved, it would be considered black hat SEO.
20. Parasite SEO: Leeching off other websites' authority
"Parasite SEO" is a sneaky blackhat tactic that involves trying to piggyback off the search authority of reputable, high-ranking websites.
The idea is to create thin, low-quality pages on reputable websites (like Wikipedia, WordPress.com, or Blogspot) and then link back to your site, in the hopes of siphoning off some of their search authority and rankings.
For example, someone might create a bunch of thin, keyword-stuffed articles on a free blogging platform like Medium, with links back to their website in each article.
This kind of thing is strictly against the terms of service of most reputable websites, and it's a huge red flag for Google. If you get caught engaging in parasite SEO, your website could face penalties or even get banned from the search results.
The only sustainable way to build search authority is to create great content on your website and earn high-quality links from other reputable sites in your niche. Don't try to take shortcuts by leeching off other websites' hard-earned authority because Google updates will clap your site, just as we have seen with the recent Google update.
Conclusion
Blackhat SEO tactics might seem like a quick and easy way to get ahead in the search results, but they're just not worth the risk. Google is getting smarter every day at spotting and penalizing websites that engage in manipulative, deceptive tactics.
If you want to build a website that will stand the test of time and rank well in Google over the long haul, you need to focus on creating great content, building real relationships, and earning high-quality links and social shares naturally.
It takes more time and effort than resorting to blackhat shortcuts, but it's the only way to build a sustainable, profitable online presence that will continue to grow and thrive for years to come.
So don't be tempted by the dark side of SEO. Stick to whitehat, ethical strategies and focus on creating real value for your audience. That's the path to long-term success in the world of search engine optimization.
