When talking to a prospective client some months ago, he indicated to me that another SEO firm had promised him #1 Google rankings within something around 30 days.
Black hat SEO = bad. Very bad.
Of course, I did what I could to strongly discourage him from believing that outrageous claim, informing him that nobody could legitimately make such a guarantee. Over time, though, my views have changed. I do believe that it is possible to rocket to the top of the Google SERPs practically overnight. But to do it, you must enter the shady world of black hat SEO. Among other things, that means link spam (probably pornographic in nature). And keyword cramming and invisible text. And doing sleazy back-end work with IP addresses.
As I say, such practices can and do succeed in delivering top rankings. However, nobody really stops to consider Google. That company–which is right now the only search engine that matters–employs the brightest minds on the planet and expends ridiculous resources specifically to hunt down sites engaging in these practices. If you engage in black hat SEO, you run the very real risk of making yourself a target of Google.
If they find you–and given their size and reach, the odds are on their side–you will be delisted. In other words, for the purposes of search engine marketing, you’re finished. If you’re looking to get listed in Google, you’ll have to start over with an entirely different website and URL.
Yes, a different URL. Oh, you were using www.awesomekeywordstring.com? Too bad–that URL now bears the scarlet letter in the eyes of the Googlebot, so you’ll have to find a different address.
Oh, the actual name of your company was on the old site? Well, that’s a much, much bigger problem, possibly one that can’t be overcome. See, Google now associates the name of your company with underhanded tactics, meaning that any future sites bearing your company name is likewise tainted, and will likely suffer the same fate.
Listen. SEO is complicated, and it takes discipline and time to see results. Even ethical SEO professionals with the best intentions can commit critical errors. And I really, really don’t like the fact that one search engine wields such ridiculous power. But that’s the situation we’re in right now, and trying to game Google is likely to end badly.
But by all means, go ahead and try. Just recognize that you’re playing with fire.
Black hat SEO vs. white hat SEO
When talking to a prospective client some months ago, he indicated to me that another SEO firm had promised him #1 Google rankings within something around 30 days.
Black hat SEO = bad. Very bad.
Of course, I did what I could to strongly discourage him from believing that outrageous claim, informing him that nobody could legitimately make such a guarantee. Over time, though, my views have changed. I do believe that it is possible to rocket to the top of the Google SERPs practically overnight. But to do it, you must enter the shady world of black hat SEO. Among other things, that means link spam (probably pornographic in nature). And keyword cramming and invisible text. And doing sleazy back-end work with IP addresses.
As I say, such practices can and do succeed in delivering top rankings. However, nobody really stops to consider Google. That company–which is right now the only search engine that matters–employs the brightest minds on the planet and expends ridiculous resources specifically to hunt down sites engaging in these practices. If you engage in black hat SEO, you run the very real risk of making yourself a target of Google.
If they find you–and given their size and reach, the odds are on their side–you will be delisted. In other words, for the purposes of search engine marketing, you’re finished. If you’re looking to get listed in Google, you’ll have to start over with an entirely different website and URL.
Yes, a different URL. Oh, you were using www.awesomekeywordstring.com? Too bad–that URL now bears the scarlet letter in the eyes of the Googlebot, so you’ll have to find a different address.
Oh, the actual name of your company was on the old site? Well, that’s a much, much bigger problem, possibly one that can’t be overcome. See, Google now associates the name of your company with underhanded tactics, meaning that any future sites bearing your company name is likewise tainted, and will likely suffer the same fate.
Listen. SEO is complicated, and it takes discipline and time to see results. Even ethical SEO professionals with the best intentions can commit critical errors. And I really, really don’t like the fact that one search engine wields such ridiculous power. But that’s the situation we’re in right now, and trying to game Google is likely to end badly.
But by all means, go ahead and try. Just recognize that you’re playing with fire.