It does not matter whether you are a business or running a blog, you want your website to be the number one result on Google. We all know that this spot gives you authority and users will visit your site because you are right there.
But, getting to that number one spot is not something that is easy. A lot of webmasters want to get there overnight. This means that they can take risks in order to achieve their goals. Are you someone that has thought about using black hat SEO tactics before?
Do not worry, we have all been tempted. After all, SEO is time-consuming and you want to see your site move up the rankings quickly. But, there are some tactics that are not worth the risk. In other words, if Google finds out that you have violated their guidelines, you are going to be in big trouble. We are talking about having a blacklisted website. Gere are some SEO tactics that you may not realise are dangerous and could be affecting your site.
Article Spinning
First of all, let’s start with article spinning. We are talking about using software to rephrase content and then posting it on your website as if it is unique. This is very risky and it is just another way to duplicate information you find on the internet. You have to be careful since it is plagiarism.
We know that it can take a long time to create quality, unique content. This is what is going to move you up on Google. There are no shortcuts for this one. Well, you can hire an SEO agency. They are going to know better SEO tactics you can use, as well as create engaging and unique content for you. For instance, check out ClickSlice. They are an award-winning agency in London that know how to achieve results by abiding by Google’s guidelines. In other words, they can grab you the number one spot on Google without taking any unnecessary risks.
Keyword Stuffing
Most people know that keyword stuffing is not a black hat SEO technique. It has been for some time and will not get you results. But, the mistake we see a lot of webmasters making is keyword stuffing without actually realising it. In other words, they are over-optimising their content. This can be damaging even if you do not mean to do it.
There are consequences to keyword stuffing even if it is innocent. So, make sure that you are careful when the content you create. Yes, you want to maximise your visibility on the internet and this means using popular search terms. But, too much can be very damaging to your Google ranking.
Negative SEO
There are some webmasters that are guilty of negative SEO. That is, creating unnatural links to one of their competitor’s websites. This is something that you have got to know is wrong. You are sabotaging someone else’s website in order to make yours look better.
But, just as in life, you should be less concerned about your competitors and more focused on what you can do. You are better off investing your time in positive SEO tactics that will help your website in the long term.
Using Invisible Text
Have you ever been tempted to use invisible text to optimise your website pages? This is something that people do, including inserting keywords and making sure they cannot be seen. There is the belief that this can work and that Google will not know what you are up to. After all, you cannot see the text, right?
Well, we can confirm that this is a risky SEO tactic that can really affect your website if you are caught. Just because a user that is visiting your site cannot see the text, this does not mean that Google is clueless. In fact, this is no longer going to slip under the radar.
Unnatural Anchor Text
We all know that link building is important. But, you have to be very careful when it comes to anchor text. In other words, you have to carefully craft what text you are going to use for your link. Otherwise, you might get in trouble. In particular, using unnatural anchor text is going to affect the user experience. They will feel that it is pushy and simply marketing. In addition, if you keep using keywords as anchor text, this is something that Google does not like.
Therefore, make sure that you put some thought into the anchor text. Yes, you can use keywords sometimes. But, do not do this every time or it is going to start to become noticeable and have negative results.
