Think again.
Google founders Larry and Sergey (we’re not really on a first-name basis with these guys, but we’d like to be) are always a step ahead. At least that’s what Dharmesh Shah argues in an article on search engine optimization at MarketingProfs.com.
“There are many efficient SEO techniques to optimize your business’s Web site, and then there are nefarious methods, which not only ruin your reputation and get your site banned from Google but also have legal ramifications,” he says.
And just what are these so-called ‘nefarious methods’ that dare to invite the wrath of the mysterious Google monster – and the judicial system?
For your benefit, here’s our interpretation of Shah’s ‘Six Sneaky SEO Techniques That Will Get Web Sites Banned’:
1. Link Farms: While the number of inbound links plays a critical role in search rankings, creating a group of dummy sites for the sole purpose of linking to a real site isn’t conducive to increasing your traffic. Nor is it conducive to your time management. Look at it this way: If half as much time was spent trying to build a business honestly instead of trying to cheat the system, dummy sites wouldn’t need to do the dirty work.
2. Keyword Stuffing: Repeating keywords over and over on a page will not better your organic search ranking. Search engines are smarter than ever, and they’ve subsequently figured you out. Shah suggests that the practice of keyword stuffing is a wasted effort. Not to mention a reflection on the poor diversity of your vocabulary.
3. Hidden Text: Mastered the disappearing act, have you? You’re better off leaving optical illusions to Criss Angel. Because though it may seem like loading a page with white-on-white text is a surefire way to trick spiders into ranking the page higher, Shah says your tactic will eventually be detected.
4. Cloaking: Don’t even think about delivering different Web site content to search engine spiders than what you deliver to human users. Shah admits that the motivation behind this makes sense – so the crawlers can rank a certain term – but this practice is easily detectable, like when a Google employee personally checks up on you.
5. Automated Content Generation/Duplication: For shame! Attempting to trigger search engine spiders to index more pages from your Web site by auto-generating content or stealing content from other sites and republishing it is not only unethical, it’s also illegal.
6. Doorway/Gateway Pages: Similar to cloaking, instead of dynamically delivering different content to spiders, the doorway page generally ranks well in search engines but redirects human users to a different page. The risk here, according to Shah, is alienating end-users since they won’t get the content they expected.
In layman’s terms, consider Google a parental figure and yourself a rebellious teenager. You may think you’re flying under the radar with your sly SEO techniques, but the Google Gods will figure you out. When they do, expect the hammer to fall – and hard. You won’t be sent to your room like the good ol’ days; instead, you run the risk of being banned from the most popular search engine in the world.
As a preventative measure, repeat these words: Google is smarter than me, Google is smarter than me, Google is smarter than me…
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