Black hat is one of those terms that comes up with every web development discussion with a developer or designer. But what exactly is black hat, and what does it mean for a business?
Black hat is the usage of tactics meant to "cheat" a search engine by overemphasizing standard SEO tactics - examples are keyword stuffing in the webpage structure and inserting links that misdirect users to intent given in the anchor text.
But its unethical quality is less about one tactic being bad and more about extreme usage of website code and features. Thus a number of white hat tactics can become black hat when they are misused in deployment.
While black hat is associated with SEO - bad links, keyword stuffing, etc. - social media has black hat issues of its own. So if your business team is unsure if black hat tactics are being used, consider the following tips to keep strategy in the white.
Black Hat Issues To Watch Out For When Planning a Digital Presence
- Avoid keyword stuffing or hidden keywords in the code. Some designers hide keywords within a website. Not only is this pointless - meta tag data is not as heavily considered in search queries as it was years ago - search engines considered a black hat technique to be red flagged.
- Audit links for the quality of sources connecting to your site. Consider using disavowal links or no follow links where appropriate. Each has a different purpose, but both indicate to search engine bots to not follow a given link. Disavowal and no follow links are used for:
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- Links that connect to untrusted content
- Crawl prioritization for search engines bots
- Ignoring paid links.
- Within social media, remove paid Facebook and Twitter follower feeds. You are paying for followers when there is no engagement over the long term. Tweet real comments and post real FB commentary that seeks engagement.
- Avoid generic blog replies - these are usually the result of spam and link bait tactics. Most real commenters will have a detailed reason for why they have responded to your post, not a generic “It’s just what I was looking for” ego-boosting comment.
- Be cautious about displaying images that misrepresent your business - Your pictures should show what your business is, not just what you aspire it to be.
- Use Google Webmaster Tools or Bing Webmaster Tools to identify the sites that link to your site and to avoid linkbait sites
- When planning links, landing pages, content, and paid search, think long term on what these elements should look like. They should provide branding and functionality that will build the business. This approach will encourage selecting the right elements that are sustainable for a white hat presence.
- Eliminate “doorway pages” in the webpage design. Doorway pages are created specifically for search engine bots, and optimized for keywords, and yet funnel visitors to a specific page that may differ from visitor intent or purpose.
