6 Black Hat SEO Tricks You May Be Doing & Google WILL Penalize You!

We often talk about The DO's and The Tricks to improve your SEO ranking, but we don't talk enough about TheDon'ts... and more importantly, The Taboo.Maybe you've hired an agency to do your SEO, maybe you're doing your own... and maybe you're reading this and know exactly what I'm about to say because you're one of those agencies I warn about.There are numerous “black hat” ways to manipulate SEO techniques to produce immediate (albeit short-lived) results that are not sustainable and eventually will get your website penalized by Google and knocked flat-out of ranking.If your SEO strategy currently contains any of the following black hat tactics then it’s time to take a long, hard look at who's advising your business and RUN:

Unrelated Keywords – Adding extra keywords to your content for the sole purpose of getting extra page hits. Keep your content focused on one particular topic, so users get exactly what they’re looking for. (Don’t) Example: “GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s strong SEO strategy helped him win the digital race in Nevada, let’s make your SEO Strategy great again!”

Keyword Stuffing – Shoehorning keywords into content so that it’s so redundant that it reads like gibberish. Instead, write sentences that make sense and have reasonable keyword density. (Don’t) Example: “Revamp your SEO strategy by letting PBJ’s SEO strategy team get its hands on your SEO strategy.”

Hidden Text and Links – Placing small, illegible text at the bottom of pages or placed throughout landing pages and blog posts. Create content that is meant to be read by users and make your links visible. (Don’t) Example: “This sentence is too small to read, but might boost your short-term SEO performance.”

Cloaking – Are search engines and users getting the same experience? Links should always go to relevant articles and landing pages, not unrelated content. (Don’t) Example: “Learn more about improving your SEO strategy.”

Page Swapping – Also known as the old bait-and-switch, don’t get one of your pages indexed and ranked with popular content, before changing the page entirely. (Don’t) Example: “PBJ has painstakingly compiled a list of SEO tips for you to view.”

“Splogs” – Commonly known as “spam blogs,” splogs utilize software that generates garbled text containing keyword phrases with the sole purpose of getting users to click on ads. (Don’t) Example: “PBJ Marketing enjoys Dr. Pepper while snacking on Ruffles Chips and studying SEO strategy.

Our Approach

At PBJ Marketing, a Google Agency Partner, we only abide by Google's best practices in all things digital -- including SEO. One of the most compelling features of SEO is the ability to see what your customers are looking for and then produce SEO rich content they want to read and Google loves to see.First, we develop a keyword strategy aligned with the way your audience searches for your services. Then, we install the proper SEO tools onto your website platform and make recommendations to ensure your website’s sitemap, link structure, and page content are all optimized for SEO. With the two in place, we go to work monitoring your web properties and making modifications to ensure quality conversions.