4 blackhat SEO techniques you need to stop in 2018

The fact of the matter is simple: the Google ranking algorithm is getting increasingly intelligent. As such, it is able to pick up on people trying to trick the system into ranking them higher. It also punishes those sites who are trying to cheat the game by following shady practices. So, to help your site succeed in 2018 and beyond, you need to stop all of these black hat SEO techniques today.

1. Duplicate content

Duplicate content is one of the worst things you can publish anywhere on your site. Google can quickly pick up on it and will never rank you above the competitors from whom you stole it. In fact, if you run an eCommerce store, then one of the best ways to get ahead is to stop publishing copied bullet point specifications and start writing unique content for every product.

2. Spam comments

Going around to sites and publishing a comment with a link to your domain is an outdated practice and a great way to waste your time. The no-follow links you receive won’t provide you any link juice and won’t help your sites rank better. For your own site, you should be sure to have filters in place to pick up on and delete spam comments as they arise.

3. Buying links

Buying links is one of the worst things you can do for your site and is a quick way to get it punished. If within a few days or so your site generates hundreds or thousands of new links, then Google won’t like it. They may even blacklist your site for months or years to come as a result. Instead, focus on building a natural link profile slowly over time.

4. Keyword stuffing

Again, the days of keyword stuffing are over as the Google ranking algorithm can pick up on this simple trick. Instead, you need to focus on writing content that is keyword targeted and which provides a genuine and insightful answer to the user’s search query. Deploy a range of LSI keywords instead to generate higher levels of traffic.

Instead of following blackhat techniques, it may be time to work with an experienced digital marketing agency who knows how to succeed with SEO the right way. That’s where Excalibur Digital comes in. We offer a fully whitehat and professional SEO service to businesses all across the UK. We can create a tailored SEO campaign that will help your business do well and generate more targeted leads. Find out more by contacting our team today.