The temptation to be on top of the list on every search engine is tremendous, for that many SEOs use techniques known as black hat SEO. In simple terms these are not ethical or simply put, bad SEO, which used to go undetected by the bots. But most search engines have now updated their bots with new algorithms which will be deeming websites spam and ban them from being displayed. So to be visible, here are a few don’t dos for your website, which might harm it entirely.
Cloaking
Never cloak, and ask your SEO not to cloak. This is an unethical practice where the codes are written in such a way that the search engine reads something and the result in the end is something else. It might happen that you might be directed to some adult porn site when you have actually read description of an adult education site. This is a strict no no for any website.
Link Buying
If the site is stuffed with irrelevant or unreliable links then the site may be marked as spam. So, be careful while buying links and make sure that the links are relevant and reliable. Buy with care.
Hiding Extra Copy
This practice is also known as keyword stuffing which is done by hiding keywords. They are blended with the background color. Now the sophisticated computers of the search engines will be able to track them out and ban them too. Alluring as this may seem, every responsible SEO should avoid doing this.
Stuffing Keywords in Meta tags
Stuffing too many keywords in the Meta tags will be penalized by the search engines. They will be considered as spam by the search engines and hence banned. More importantly, the same result will happen if the keywords are irrelevant.
Even stuffing too many keywords in the content without proper relevance may call for the same penalty. So keep the Meta tags relevant and clean. Develop the content properly and ethically.
Plagiarism
It is and was a common practice to copy contents from high ranking websites to improve rankings. But they come under intellectual property and copyright laws. So if any website or content is found to be plagiarized, there is a fair chance that the site might be shut off by the search engines.
Complex coding
Do not use complex codes to build your site. If the bots fail to read the contents, they will render your site’s content to be irrelevant and not display on the search results. Try using simple codes, allowing the spiders of the search engines to crawl easily.
Using Java Script for fast Crawling
This trick used codes to call or draw search spiders, and hence optimization was fast. This practice will simply call for a ban under the new codes laid down by the search engines. DO NOT use this SEO trick.
Links
Do not create hundreds of links overnight. This practice will result in a penalty rather than better rankings. Also avoid using anchor tags. This could also result in a penalty by the search engines.
DNS Settings:
Improper DNS or Domain Name Server hampers website ranking considerably. Be careful while hosting and add a correct domain name.
To wrap things up
There are so many other practices that can be termed as unethical and can attract penalties. Like always, avoid hidden links, invisible texts, and irrelevant redirection of links. Try not to use your competitors’ good name to upgrade your rank as that is also considered as a malpractice.
Keep your website updated regularly and feed your clients with constant updates and contents. Interesting content will always generate huge traffic and hence a better rank. At the end of the day the quality will always prevail. So, it is always better to refrain from malpractices and indulge in clean SEO techniques.
About the Author
Brianne is a blogger by profession. She loves writing, reading and travelling. She contributes to World Financial Group.
