Like it or not, the search engine optimization (SEO) strategies implemented by your webmaster may impact more than your company's keyword rankings. Black Hat SEO, as unethical search engine optimization practices are generally called, can have negative consequences for your company's public image as well.
A relatively recent case in point would be the doorway pages utilized by automaker BMW. Google penalized the BMW site for using doorway pages, which trick search engines by showing them different content than what is presented to users. BMW got a lot of free publicity out of the deal, but probably not of the type they were hoping for. BMW quickly removed the doorway pages from their site, and more than likely, someone behind the scenes got their hand slapped too.
If your company is intent on building not only a brand, but a stellar public image, the last activity you'll want to engage in is Black Hat SEO tactics. Although there are some gray areas, certain practices are widely considered unethical and could tarnish one of your firm's most valuable assets, your company image.
Black Hat Techniques to Avoid
Building doorway pages into your site is forbidden with just about every search engine. Doorway pages, which are really ?fake? pages or ?spider food? that cater to search engine algorithms but are never seen by users, have one primary goal: to trick search engines into higher rankings. They should be avoided at all costs.
Placing invisible text on your site can also get you into trouble with search engines. An example would be putting black text on a black background on your site. This practice is also unethical. Keyword packing or stuffing, which involves putting long lists of keywords on your site without anything in the way of content, can also get you banned from the search engines.
If your webmaster or SEO firm is engaging in any of these tactics, beware. Your site could be penalized by the search engines for these tactics, and any gains that result from them early on could be more than offset by the cost of being de-indexed by the search engines, not to mention the black eye that unethical practices could give to your company.
Link farms and linking schemes with the primary intent of manipulating search engine rankings, as opposed to providing valuable content on the web, can also get your site dropped or banned from Google. Google also has a very dim view of duplicate content, which involves the promotion of two or more nearly identical sites.
Black Hat SEO is simply not worth the risk. Your best choice will always be to engage an SEO firm whose ethics reflect the stellar image your company has or is striving to achieve.
Feng Shui Black Hat
There is a strange trend among some types of website template designers and internet marketers. These individuals are endeavoring to get into unscrupulous Black Hat Marketing techniques when they label their designs in ways to entice non-suspecting decent folks to buy their templates and/or try to justify a higher price. These types of designers and marketers are trying anything to get a toe hold on their declining sales or make a few more bucks at the risk of losing creditability and risking the permanent termination of their customers' AdSense accounts it is strange to see this type of mindset countless times, and everyone trying to cash in from the latest cash cow and even from guys that we considered trustworthy and who we "thought" operated ethical businesses.
What does Black Hat marketing mean? Quite frankly it means anything that is not honest including but not limited to tricking people into doing whatever the webmaster wants them to do.
If you are a consumer than you know that honesty is always the best policy when you are trying to establish trust and nurture client relationships. As a consumer wouldn't you want to feel you could trust the merchants you do business with? On the other hand, there are these unscrupulous template designers who mislead people into buying their designs often label their templates as:
AdSense Ready Templates
W3C Validated Web Templates
Affiliates Website Templates
AdSense Compatible Web Templates
AdSense Optimized Website Templates
Instant AdSense Templates
AdSense Website Templates
Full Website Templates (meaning a fully developed website)
[Insert other misleading Label or Niche here, and links possibly taking you to objectionable sites or pages asking you to register on adult sites before you are allowed to gain excess to their great and valuable knowledge] Web Templates, etc.
Why on earth would someone do this? Well, here's why.....
It takes six times the effort and expense to find a new customer than it does to resell to an existing customer. If a template designer or marketer is regularly coming up with what is technically called Black Hat marketing techniques to trick someone into buying your product, they are not establishing solid relationships with their existing or prospective customers who visit their website. They might trick a customer into buying an expensive or niche-labeled misleading product once or maybe even twice. But once the buyer figures out them have been scammed, the designer has lost their business and respect forever.
Although we are sure most template designers who intentionally hoodwink people into buying their designs are deep down good people, they are simply caught in a loop mindset and cannot seem to get out. Because they might have successfully tricked someone into buying a product once or twice, that momentary adrenaline rush is addictive, and they cannot stop long enough to see that they are harming their business and their customers' relationship with them more than they are actually providing a valuable product or service.
Think of it this way. Would it be a Black Hat marketing technique if I took a Granola bar , removed the packaging and replaced it with a wrapper that was labeled "super powered snack bar ", "Good for Your Website crunchie ", "Internet Marketers Power Snack" or "Affiliates Granola " and then sold it to non-suspecting people for 10 times its original retail value? Of course!
Don't fall prey to the marketing myth that you can purchase a template labeled, AdSense Compatible, AdSense Ready, AdSense Optimized, Instant AdSense Templates, etc. and start making tons of money with AdSense.
Google AdSense provides you with all the information you need to optimize and develop an effective website based on YOUR OWN ORIGINAL CONTENT that works well with the AdSense program and doesn't immediately put your AdSense account in jeopardy.
Google's AdSense Optimization Tips
FACT: There is no EASY WAY to develop an effective website that will continue to bring in years of income. The EASY WAY is the FASTEST WAY to failure. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it and everyone would be millionaires.
Purchasing fully developed websites from even those so called successful internet marketers that are sold to more than ONE person is a violation of Google AdSense' Terms of Use. These unethical marketers are putting you at RISK of LOSING YOUR ADSENSE account PERMANENTLY.
Both Cari Haus & Karansupertramp are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Cari Haus has sinced written about articles on various topics from SEO Techniques, Family and Dogs. Cari Haus retails Amish log furniture and log beds on the Internet from her website, http://www.logcabinrustics.com/. Cari Haus's top article generates over 1300 views. Bookmark Cari Haus to your Favourites.
Karansupertramp has sinced written about articles on various topics from Site Promotion, Marketing and SEO Techniques. For more useful tips & hints, please browse for more information at our website:- http://www.ezines-success.com. Karansupertramp's top article generates over 1300 views. Bookmark Karansupertramp to your Favourites.
