Part of the guide: Blog Traffic
Black Hat SEO, sounds like a crime doesn’t it? Well it might not be illegal, but within the Internet Marketing crowd, it’s always frowned upon. I just wanted to clear the air about Black Hat SEO and I wanted to tell you that it’s in fact totally ok!
Yah, it turns out that it doesn’t actually damage your site’s reputation and most importantly rankings. It’s shocking news I know. I’m just kidding, but it’s probably surprising to some of you. Seriously, what’s up with everyone thinking Black Hat SEO is unethical or something? It’s not, it’s the way forward and the future of search engine optimization. Well, more like the present but you understand.
So here are some shocking facts about Black Hat SEO that will absolutely stun you!
1. It doesn’t damage your rankings and or site reputation (unless abused).
2. It absolutely CAN skyrocket your site’s rankings and traffic flow.
3. The only reason you’ve been deceived about it being unethical or potentially dangerous is so the SEO gurus can dominate the damn Internet while the white hatters struggle and wonder why their traffic is stagnant.
4. BILLION dollar companies started using automated link building software WAY before us marketers even heard of the term black hat.
So, judging from those facts you should be able to understand exactly why you’d be stupid not to take advantage of this magical thing called Black Hat SEO. But first, what the heck is it? Well…
It’s usually referred to as an unethical way of cheating the search engines into ranking your website. Or otherwise referred to as spamming the Internet. When really, it’s just automated link building. It’s taking normal link building methods and using technology to automate them. I.e. Using software to automatically create accounts on websites, post unique content which links to your site and so on.
Anyway, the whole point is that I am sick and tired of people calling this an unethical way of building backlinks. When the truth is that almost ALL good marketers are using Black Hat SEO to build backlinks on a large scale. As it’s their only option if they want to compete among the millions of Internet Marketers out there.
(Quick sidenote: I know some of you will think some of this article is incorrect, but I’m speaking from experience here. With my 50+ websites all on page 1 for their keywords, I actually do know what I’m talking about when it comes to SEO. Manual SEO does work and it can be really effective. Manually writing and submitting content out there, creating link wheels, mini-nets and so on. I’ve tried it myself and done pretty well with manual SEO. The purpose of this article is to teach you that you can use technology to automate GOOD SEO that complies with search engine terms.)
So why is this relevant? Well because I still see people manually building backlinks to their content which results in page 5+ rankings and basically no traffic whatsoever. So if you’re one of those people, it’s time to change. It’s time to stop mucking around and start taking advantage of automation. Now there’s basically good Black Hat SEO & bad Black Hat SEO.
The bad is creating thousands of user accounts and spamming sites to death with duplicate content directly linking to your sites. That’s one approach some people take, and sometimes it seems to work. The whole thing about Black Hat SEO getting you banned from search engines is sort of crap. Yeah, there are people who’ve been “banned”, de-indexed and placed in the mythical sandbox. So is it all true?
To some degree. Sites getting banned, de-indexed and “sandboxed” actually happens often due to people abusing automation. As sure, if you take a brand new website and spam a billion blogs with comments all at once. That might get you temporarily sandboxed. But, what you have to realize is that you must leverage technology. Like there are tools out there that you can use to create user accounts on article directories, blogs, web2.0s, forums and more. The same tools allow you to submit content and links to those sites automatically.
For some weird reason, that automation is being called unethical and against the rules. Truth be told, it’s just smart marketing. Why do things by hand when you can literally program software to do it for you?
Speechless? I hope so…
Anyway, the point is that you can unleash the fury with a few tools. Just be careful about building too many links too quickly or putting bad quality content out there. The problem with Black Hat SEO is that it can be easily misused. Literally by stealing content, doing 1 click spins and submitting it to several thousand sites in one go. Then there’s the smart way…
Writing good content, manually spinning it and making it completely readable. Then slowly submitting it to directories, web2.0s, press release sites and so on over a period of time that looks natural. It’s not about gaming the system, it’s about cutting corners, saving time and getting better rankings a lot faster. I’m sure you’ll hear SEO companies tell you different, that you’ll be banned from Google in a few months.
I’ve heard a ton of guys say that, but I also know SEO professionals who use every tool, software & blog network under the sun. Google has actually devalued countless black hat techniques. The reason being because idiots are taking major advantage of them to skyrocket their rankings. BUT, only for a short period of time before being penalized. Google is 100% on to black hat techniques, so I say use what’s allowed. White hat SEO companies manually write and submit articles to directories and web2.0s, they also strategically link them together creating a flow of link juice to your website. So there’s no reason not to use a few tools to legitimately, automate the process of GOOD SEO and building QUALITY backlinks.
You were never meant to do this alone
Reading this changes nothing. Doing it with people who show up changes everything. That is the whole difference between the people who transform and the people who keep starting over.
Start free →I’m generally a white hatter, I do everything according to the rules as it would be stupid not to. BUT, search engines say you’re allowed to build links to your own sites. So why not speed up the process by leveraging a little something called technology?
In Prosperity,
David Wood
P.S. Leave me your thoughts, comments, and questions below.
Comments
SEO Cyber Psychopath, August 3, 2011, 15:24
Google – Black Hat SEO Cyber Psychopath. You’ll find an Orange County, CA Insurance Broker lady is main suspect behind blasting ‘anchor-tagging’ her enemies names to 1000’s of PORNOGRAPHY videos around the world. The Black Hat SEO Cyber Psychopath is also sending their full names out in blasting to other sites. This has caused hosting companies and web site owners tremendous amount of time to clean up. The Black Hat SEO Cyber Psychopath is going to have ALL internet rights to communication of speech taken away! Keep this up and all global cultures will lose internet freedom.
Scott Manesis, August 3, 2011, 16:45
Dave, This is a pretty damned interesting topic and one of much debate for sure, but you have never been afraid to take a little heat. I suppose that is part of what makes you an effective leader, so keep on rocking brother. I want to point out that many of the popular internet marketing tools were once considered “black hat” tools. In truth, it is not the tool or what it does that makes it black hat, but it’s use…
Dan Cristo, August 3, 2011, 17:12
Jamie, You say, “Natural SEO is BS in today’s times.” That’s just not true. You are speaking from your experiencing trying whitehat SEO in your niche and failing. I’m sorry, but your lack of success doesn’t mean that whitehat SEO doesn’t work. It just means that you couldn’t get it to work…
Jamie, August 3, 2011, 17:25
I’m not talking about the Network Marketing/work from home niche. Also, I’m talking about professionals who run SEO businesses. Sure, Alexa isn’t everything. I’m sure the site you got to 6000 globally wasn’t in a niche as tough as this one. (which is in fact over crowded with spammy marketers)…
Isabella Ramirez, August 3, 2011, 17:45
This post is quite enlightening! I’ve always been wary of Black Hat SEO, but your perspective sheds new light on its potential benefits when used correctly. Automation seems to be the key here, and as long as it’s not abused, it could indeed save a lot of time. I’m curious about the tools you mentioned. Could you provide some examples or recommendations?
Liam Chen, August 3, 2011, 18:05
I appreciate the detailed explanation, David. It’s true that the line between Black Hat and White Hat SEO can sometimes be blurry. Your point about using technology to automate GOOD SEO practices is well taken. I’ve been hesitant to use some of these tools, but I think I’ll give it a try now, being careful to avoid spamming. Do you have any suggestions for a newbie in this area?
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Owning that he’s ‘generally a white hatter’ near the end undercuts half this post. Worth saying since most of these pieces don’t admit that anywhere.
Pete — even the honest bit needs numbers. ’50+ websites on page 1′ for how many keywords each, over what timeframe? Without that it’s a claim, not a result.
The best case against this whole post: if ‘good’ black hat is just automation of legitimate work, why does the piece spend three paragraphs distinguishing it from the ‘bad’ kind that gets people sandboxed? That line is doing a lot of unacknowledged work.
Walt’s right to press that line. My read from watching small operators for years: the ones who get the automation ‘right’ are rare, the ones who get sandboxed chasing it are the median case. Both exist, they’re just not equally likely.
The ‘good’ version here still means submitting content to directories, web2.0s and press release sites ‘over a period that looks natural’ — slowly, one at a time, so it never reads as spam. That’s not automation saving me time, that’s a second job stretched thin enough to disguise itself as patience. I work nights. I don’t have hours spare to disguise as anything.
Nia’s point actually surfaces a gap in the post: no time-per-link figure anywhere, and no count of how many links per site went into that ’50+ websites on page one’ claim. Ten each, or two hundred each? Without a number attached, ‘over a period that looks natural’ could mean three weeks or three years, and the whole schedule stays unfalsifiable either way.
I think what’s being missed in the reactions here is the distinction actually drawn in the post — between automating your own outreach to directories and blogs, called ‘good SEO’ sped up, and the mass-spam version that gets people de-indexed. The line about billion-dollar companies using automated link building before marketers even had a name for black hat stuck with me — if true, the ethical line was never really about the tool, only about the volume and quality of what gets pushed through it. Even the post’s own example of the bad version — thousands of accounts spamming duplicate content in one go — reads like a volume problem wearing an ethics costume. Worth separating those two arguments before dismissing the whole piece.