Don’t Get Burned with These Risky SEO Tactics
It’s only human to want to take shortcuts whenever possible to achieve the desired results faster. However, some of the steps sometimes taken to boost your search engine results are a bit risky. In the world of SEO, such questionable tactics are referred to as black hat or gray hat SEO. You may be able to sneak past the watchful eyes of Google with some negative SEO methods, but the resulting hit to your online visibility could have a serious impact on your bottom line. The San Diego SEO experts at Saba SEO discuss a few common search engine optimization tactics to avoid.
Private Blog Networks (PBNs)
With PBNs, links back to your site are created from expired domains with good authority. The risk is that some defunct domains could have a sketchy history that includes previous penalties or a high turnover rate with domain ownership. Domains with such histories are a big red flag to Google.
Recycled, Borrowed, or Keyword-Stuffed Content
The need to produce fresh content on a consistent basis can sometimes result in the temptation to take shortcuts. Some time-saving techniques like updating popular blog articles with new insights or data are just fine. However, what can get you in trouble with Google is content that includes:
• Scraped articles from your competitors with little or no changes
• Spun articles stuffed with extra keywords
• Multiple variations of the same article
Negative SEO Tricks
“Negative SEO” is the intentional sabotage of your competitors’ websites or content, which might include pointing poor-quality links to their sites, intentionally driving too much traffic to their sites to crash them, secretly inserting malware on their sites, or changing content in a way that’s likely to negatively affect ranking. Aside from just being wrong, such tactics could result in banishment by Google and, in extreme situations, possible jail time.
Link Buying
It’s perfectly fine to reach out to other sites and solicit links in exchange for content that’s relevant to their audience. In fact, this can be an excellent way to get high-quality backlinks likely to expand your outreach. However, simply purchasing links violates both Google and Bing’s policies. Also, you could end up paying a hefty price to buy links, and your efforts may be a total waste of time and money if you get caught.
Cloaked Content
With cloaked content, two separate forms of content are created. For instance, you might have one version of a webpage that’s in line with what search engine crawlers want to see. However, visitors to the site might see a different version of the same page loaded with ads or spammy content.
Search engines are capable of analyzing many different elements on webpages, so cloaking is easy to detect. It’s also one of those offenses that could get you banned by search engines. There’s also the risk of annoying visitors to your website, which isn’t good for your brand.
Playing safe with SEO often requires a lot of effort. However, you’ll enjoy more positive, long-term benefits if your approach to optimization is based on a solid foundation, including high-quality backlinks, relevant content, and active engagement with your intended audience.
Hiring the right search engine optimization experts is the key to boosting your online visibility and avoiding unnecessary penalties. When it comes to high-quality SEO services, San Diego businesses and organizations all over the world turn to Saba SEO. We have a team of specialists with in-depth knowledge of search engine marketing, and we rely on a wide variety of white hat SEO tactics to help our clients increase their online rankings. Whether you need a focused paid marketing campaign or a comprehensive SEO strategy, give us a call at 858-277-1717 today.
