Most web web page owners know that white hat SEO techniques are the ethical approach and that black hat techniques are unethical and will get your web page banned by the search engines.
Many are searching and asking their SEO experts to utilize gray hat techniques. What most do not realize is that these gray hat ways are really black hat ways that sometimes slip by the search engines bots, but only for a short period of time before your site will be banned from the SERP’s.
[ advertisement ]
A few of the leading gray hat techniques that some SEO companies have been trying might get you and your site in trouble. Here are a few of the more common ones. The first one is to have an unnaturally high keyword density on your web page and in the content of the page. A few years ago 2% was the upper limit for not being seen as keyword stuffing. Most articles today have a key word density of less than 1%. If your site or content on your web page has a keyword density above 2% you are dipping into the gray/black hat realm.
Procrastinating duplicate content on multiple sites is another gray/black hat method. At first your rise in the SERP’s will be rapid, but once the duplicate content is notices, your website will be reduced or delisted.
Non-relevant link building is also frowned upon. They serve no purpose other than producing a rating increase. The search engine bots know this and it will cost your website in its rankings.
Three way linking is one of the newest gray hat techniques that is set up on purpose to fool the search engine bots. If your experts suggest this consider how this practice is defined. It is a deceptive practice implemented to artificially boast your rankings. That is the definition of a black hat technique. At the moment most think this technique is not detectable by the bots, but is may soon be. The method is simple. By connecting site X with a link to web page Y and site Y to website Z then site Z back to web page X, all the links are seen as one way links. This is all valuable till it gets noticed and you get delisted.
The purchasing of links is not illegal and will boast your website rankings. But if this is part of your Search engine optimization package, then it is only a matter of time until you will be penalized. This is a gray hat method that is deceptive which in reality it is a black hat practice.
As it should have become apparent, gray hat techniques that are employed by your experts can land you in trouble in the future. It like trying to fly under the radar or it’s not illegal or unethical if you don’t get caught.
The choice to use gray hat methods is yours and your SEO expert. Just consider that the algorithms of the search engines go under changes a minimum of 4 times a year. What helped your ratings today could get you delisted tomorrow.
