So, what are the worst Black Hat practices of SEO

[citypublife]

Much has been written about what website owners should do when optimising, but, what about some specifics on what we definitely shouldn't do. The stuff which will definitely get us banned and what will probably get us banned.

E.g. I was told today that when putting a space between my graphics I should use a transparent .gif 1px x 1px, this will allow me to add text to an Alt Tag. This seems like something Google would hit me for if I did it.

In another thread, it was pointed out to me that I was probably overusing the "h1 tag" on a particular page, and that this may get me a red flag from Google. If that's the case, it was invaluable information

Would it be of benefit to the board for the experienced webmasters to list all the "black hat practices" they know so as the enthusiastic but relatively uneducated, like me, do not fall into the trap of getting banned unknowingly as I do rely 100% on my living from my website.

What would be very helpful is if you rated the "black hat practices" 1 - 10 with 10 being a definite ban.

Just a thought

Perry Mayer
www.citypublife.co.uk

[flood6]

This is the "(un)official Black Hat SEO directory".

It is a humorous, but honest and informative look at some of the techniques you are asking about.

You'll actually learn a lot SEO in general by browsing around in there. It's worth a few minutes.

[happygolucky]

"black hat practices"

I think the black hat and white hat tag are overused. As long as you are not misleading people to your website or using things like hidden text (bad for disabled people) IMO almost any seo is recommended. Search engines don't like any seo but if they penalised those that did seo then there wouldn't be much of an index left to search.

There are lots of things that can get you banned though but many of them would probably not be considered good seo in that case. And yes if you add text to your spacer gifs then it can be easily seen and probably wouldn't help your ranking or PR anyway.

In the end you must weigh up the chances of a ban or penalisation against your seo. Some ways may be worth the risk if it is hard for the search engines to detect but don't mislead your customers. Your choice.

[citypublife]

I take your point. However, if 100% of your income is based on your website and a good chunk of that is from search engines, I don't think anything is worth the risk.

I'm still reading and learning "what not to do" through the link that flood6 posted, most of which I would never have thought of anyway.

It's the little things I'm looking for. Silly mistakes made by amateurs like me, e.g. too many <h1 tags> who think their giving information that people want and balancing that with look, feel, usability, optimisation etc. Maximising what "Google" gives us but minimising the risk of crossing their line.

www.citypublife.co.uk

[greeneagle]

flood6,

One of the best examples of "black hat" SEO I have seen in a while!

LOL - Haven't read all your posts yet, but it makes me want to!

Hope you added in the "Mousover Pages" trick somewhere!

Ken

[Will.Spencer]

The worst practices are the ones that don't work.

Depending upon your goals, not working may mean:

1. Not generating traffic.
2. Not generating PR.
3. Not generating sales.

There is an old saying that goes like this "If it's stupid and it works, then it's not stupid."

[flood6]

flood6,

One of the best examples of "black hat" SEO I have seen in a while!

LOL - Haven't read all your posts yet, but it makes me want to!

Hope you added in the "Mousover Pages" trick somewhere!

Ken

DOH!

If I gave the impression that that was my site, I'm sorry. I have nothing to do with that site other than I like to visit it.

Can we still be friends?

[greeneagle]

flood6 - Don't know what put a burr up your a__, I was complementing you for posting what I thought was a real relevant post! In fact I saved the reference URL as a favorite!

I don't really think there is much impetus for thinking that I am not straight forward and express just what I really think in these forums!

Ken

[flood6]

flood6 - Don't know what put a burr up your a__, I was complementing you for posting what I though was a real relevant post! In fact I saved the reference URL as a favorite!

Ken

Sorry, Ken...too much coffee and crack this morning, I guess...

[greeneagle]

This is a "HUGE" issue right now, having everyone on edge!

What makes me cringe most though is the fact that everyone that paid $3000-$10,000 to get banned, could have just as easily paid less most likely to be "White Hatted" instead, and if they had... look how far ahead of the game they would be right now!

That one makes stomach turn, and I am not even involved in the hash. You know many are probably going to have to start over with a new URL, the othars are having to find someone to repair the damage and beg forgiveness. This is truly one of the ugliest yet. But, hold-on, there's more to come just around the corner!

LOL
Ken