SEO Cheats are everywhere on the internet. When it comes to SEO strategies we are always testing new experimental tactics and trying to push the limits. However, we will not engage in cheating or “tricking” Google’s algorithm to gain an edge. There is a fine line between operating in the experimental gray-area of the SEO world and blatant cheating. For unexperienced SEOs, cheating the search engines will usually offer temporary positive results, which ultimately will lead to long-term negative results. In some cases, Google will blacklist websites, domains, and even Google My Business listings for blatant attempts to cheat their algorithms. Experienced SEOs know that the gains associated with cheating the search results are not worth the loss associated with the penalties. Below we are going to provide you with detailed descriptions on the most popular SEO cheats that will land your business in Google Jail.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is an SEO tactic that can be described as the blatant overuse of a specific keyword you are trying to rank for in Google’s search engine within the copy of your website in a manner that hinders the readability of the content. For example, let’s say you have a company that sells pet leashes, and you were trying to rank for the phrase “pet leashes”. Keyword stuffing would be writing the copy on your page to look something like this: “Hello there! Looking for Pet Leashes? We sell premium Pet Leashes. Pet Leashes are great when leashing your pets because pet leashes are a helpful tool. If you’re looking for a cute pet leash for your dog, a pet leash for your cat, or a pet leash for your pet leash, then click the link below to shop our pet leashes”. The thought process behind keyword stuffing is that if you are trying to rank for a certain word, that you should just litter your content with that word. This is easily detected by Google and almost all users deploying keyword stuffing within their pages are being hit with massive ranking penalties.
Copy Cloaking
Copy Cloaking is a blatantly malicious SEO tactic that involves disguising keywords or paragraph or keywords within the background of a website page. A user who implements these negative tactics typically uses CSS or HTML to “blend” the color of their requested keywords or paragraph copy to match the background color of the page. Most users who visit sites that have implement copy cloaking do not immediately notice white text on a white background, however, many users will notice random blank spaces on the page, and when they highlight the content area in question, they’ll see the invisible text highlighted. This is a manipulative tactic because it is a blatant act of cheating that includes showing users a different set of content than what the search engines read, as search engines read code and not the “user view” of the page. Those users who execute copy cloaking SEO tactics are usually punished quickly with drastic drops to their search engine rankings.
Fake Reviews
As many SEOs know, a factor of ranking highly in Google My Business listings is the number of positive reviews that your business has. Although the minimum amount of reviews necessary has never been disclosed by Google, the thought process of unskilled SEOs would initially be to flood their client’s Google My Business listing with reviews from fake accounts. Creating fake Google user accounts is simple and quick, and sounds like a sound solution when compared to actually running review campaigns. However, Google can detect IP addresses of reviewers of your business account and if a multitude of fake reviews are coming to your Google My Business listing from the same IP address, then all or most of your reviews will be removed by Google without your consent or knowledge. Even if you take on the tedious task of moving from location to location when creating fake user account in effort to mask your IP, then Google has a second level of detection, which is the number of recent reviews made on your Google My Business listing from newly created user accounts. If Google detects any of these items, your Google My Business listing is at risk of penalties, loss of reviews, and potential blacklisting.
Link Farms
Link Farms are large websites or networks that will create hundreds or thousands of links to your website in effort to increase your Google search ranking. Backlinks (links from other sites to your site) are a major ranking factor in Google’s algorithm for website placements. The logic behind this is simple, if you have a lot of websites linking to your website then your website must have relevant and useful information. Hence, your website will appear to be popular, and Google will rank your website higher. Typically this is seen online, where a company will offer to “boost your backlinks for a price”. However, backlinks are not always about quantity, but rather quality. When you pay for backlinks to your website, the linking websites are usually irrelevant to your website’s content. In some cases, many link farms will actually have dangerous sites within their networks such as gambling sites, porn sites, and blacklisted sites. Having irrelevant or dangerous websites linking to your website actually destroys your website’s search placement in Google’s search results.
How We Rank Our Client Websites In Top Google Placements
Clients often ask, “How can you get our website to the top of Google’s search results if you don’t cheat?”. The answer is simple: give Google what it wants and play by the rules. We never execute risky or manipulative SEO tactics that could potentially put a client’s Google search placements in jeopardy. We optimize code, optimize page speed, optimize user experience, and implement the latest search engine optimization techniques on the basis of improving the quality of the website for the user and not on a basis of tricking a search engine. We have tested thousands of combinations of SEO techniques and continue to test and experiment with different strategies that involve improving the experience for the user, which results in the improvement of search engine placements. We continually strive to improve our optimization techniques for search engine placements, and we continue to produce top-level results for our clients using white-hat SEO tactics. If you want to see how NewStyle Digital can help your SEO, request a free quote.
