Black Hat Techniques Your SEO Company Should Avoid

The popularity of search engine optimization has resulted in many SEO companies being set up today to cater to the growing requirements of businesses. The growing number of SEO companies has brought along with it some SEO service providers who don't mind using unethical tactics in the hope of achieving good results in a short period of time. Such unethical techniques are known as Black Hat SEO techniques, and are frowned upon by SEO experts as well as search engines.

The following are some Black Hat techniques which your SEO company shouldn't use for the promotion of your website:

• Keyword Stuffing

Some SEO companies try to popularize a web page by stuffing it with keywords within the content as well as in the design. This is called keyword stuffing, which is one of the most visible Black Hat SEO techniques. Firms providing SEO services, however, need to realize that search engines are becoming smarter by the day and can now recognize and ban websites using this Black Hat technique.


• Link Farming

It is a well known fact that relevant inbound links can hike rankings of websites. Search engines expect link building to take place between websites relevant to each other. However, some link farm sites are specifically built by SEO companies to increase inbound links. These sites do not have any relevant content and are built specifically for linking purpose. Experienced professionals for SEO services realize that a site can be banned for life for indulging in farming of links.

• Duplicating Websites

Search engines are constantly looking for fresh content; this prompts some web owners to create duplicate sites of competitors and siphon off clients from them. Any professional SEO company will tell you that if you indulge in such practice now, search engines will not only be able to spot you, but also ban your website. While using SEO services from any professional, instruct them not to create duplicate websites but instead focus on creating interesting and unique content, that will be useful in the longer run.

• Doorway Pages

Some unethical SEO companies create doorway pages mainly to attract search engines towards the website for a particular keyword. There is no relevant content on such a page and it is generally mass-produced and posted through a software. This is probably the easiest way to get your site blacklisted. When you avail of SEO services, ensure that your website has no doorway pages.

• Cloaking of Content

SEO companies using Black Hat techniques can also cloak content within the web page to gain advantage with the search engines. Cloaking ensures that the content seen by the search engine and the visitor is different. Using short cuts for getting high rankings convinces many SEO service providers that they can entice the search engines for a higher ranking. For example, one method of cloaking is to write keywords in the same color as the background; this way, the visitors cannot see it but the search engines can. Such methodologies give search engines the impression that the web page is full of relevant keywords. If such a trend is spotted in any website, it can be reported and banned by the search engines. Hire only that SEO company which can provide you with affordable SEO services without using such methodology.

Avoiding shady SEO service providers becomes easy if you are aware of some Black Hat SEO techniques like the ones mentioned above. Look for a genuine and experienced SEO company which can help you get your website attain a decent ranking through legitimate White Hat SEO techniques.

Why Experienced SEO Consultants Do Not Guarantee Search Rankings

With the importance search engine optimization has attained in the past few years, the number of SEO consultants offering SEO services has also increased. This increase in service providers has brought along with it a plethora of tall claims like guaranteed no. 1 rankings, which continues to perplex organizations seeking SEO services as well as those providing it. But the fact remains that search rankings cannot be guaranteed. The following are four reasons why you shouldn't believe SEO consultants when they promise guaranteed rankings:

• Search Engines Warn Against Guarantees
  

Any search engine, be it Google, Yahoo or the Microsoft's recently-introduced Bing, is unanimous in their opinion that guaranteeing a No. 1 position in their search engine is impossible. SEO consultants who guarantee search rankings are actually looking to hook less-informed clients. Such consultants cleverly sign a contract for SEO services guaranteeing rankings for certain keywords. They then go on to select and work on non-competitive keywords, which may quickly climb in rankings, but may not get in relevant web traffic. Search engines hence warn organizations to specifically avoid SEO consultants who guarantee rankings.



• Search Rankings Constantly Fluctuate
  

The ordering of search results is likely to change every few minutes; even if you search for a particular keyword and then hit the refresh button, the order of the results may change. Experienced SEO consultants hence stay away from guaranteeing any position on rankings, preferring instead to focus on bringing in relevant web traffic and making the site more popular with regular visitors. Although SEO services are associated with search rankings, improved rankings are the end result of a lot of hard work, and even after best efforts, cannot be guaranteed.



• Ethical Problems with SEO Guarantees
  

What SEO consultants should guarantee is the quality of SEO services they will provide. They can also evaluate your site and guarantee an increase in web traffic. But search ranking is something there is no guarantee for. SEO consultants who give such guarantees sometimes compromise on the ethical issues related of search engine optimization. They use Black Hat SEO techniques to boost the site rankings, which are considered unacceptable in the industry. A hasty job and unplanned steps may cause more harm to your SEO campaign than benefit it. It is hence wise to chose SEO services from those consultants who don't give guarantees but slowly and steadily work towards bringing in relevant traffic and slowly improving search rankings.



• Search Rankings Do Not Reflect Overall Performance
  

This is something each organization needs to understand before launching its SEO campaign. SEO services should not be hired only for getting a good ranking in search results, but for getting relevant traffic towards one's website. Real performance of the SEO consultant can be judged through increase in relevant web traffic and not only rankings. Sometimes in the obsession of getting a website in the leading position, an SEO consultant botches up the job and more time is spent thereafter in repairing the damage done.

If you want to plan an effective SEO campaign for your organization, stay away from SEO consultants who offer "guaranteed No. 1 position" and "instant improvement in search rankings". Professional and experienced SEO consultants focus on getting relevant traffic, which is the purpose of search engine optimization in the first place.