The Real Reason Black-Hat SEO Techniques Are not Right for You

March 26, 2006

There is much banter in the Search Marketing Industry as to whether techniques deemed as “black-hat” Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques are morally wrong.

While I have my morals and opinions on the matter, I can not expect you to understand mine. If we were talking about crimes herewhere people are hurt, we could expect legislation. When we see the business model of the major search engines being threatened we will see a stronger push to defeat these techniques.

However we are not to that stage yet. The best I can do is give you a few reasons why Black-Hat techniques are not even worth persuing as a method to add to your Marketing toolbox.

But first, a little background information for those not familiar with Black-Hat SEO techniques:

What are Black Hat SEO techniques

They are attempt by some Internet Marketers to manipulate the ranking algorithms of major search engines. They circumvent common marketing techniques to move their sites up in the rankings by exploiting these loopholes in current ranking methods.

Why are Black Hat techniques considered “Wrong” by some?

Search engines do not like people circumventing their methods, since they believe their algorithms provide users with the most relevant content. Internet Marketers have developed a loose set of socially-accepted behavior and do not like other members of their industry utilizing techniques that they view as “shortcuts”.

Why you Shouldn’t Bother with Black Hat

Very Few Black-Hat SEOs Make “The Big Money”

If you are a genious understanding search algorithms and databases, you can make serious money with Black Hat techniques. There are some making seven figures per year. These guys do not share their cutting-edge technology. Otherwise they would have competition.

Everyone else in Black-Hat SEO uses the cast-off technology. Though it works if used correctly, it will not provide you with the revenue you are most likely expecting.

Black-Hat – the Work Never Ends

Have you ever dreamed of having your company bought out by a larger company, and you retire to your own private island? That won’t happen utilizing Black-Hat SEO techniques. Companies won’t purchase a company whose business model is so fragile.

Black Hat is more work than Marketing

Most Black-Hat SEOs work long days trying to stay ahead of search engines like Google. It is a never-ending job to create sites after they have been banned. These guys end up working more than regular marketers of the same intellect and skill.

Black Hat is Boring

Have you ever sat down and tried cloaking. This is some seriously monotonous work! I would much rather spend my time trying marketing methods that will bring thousands of real visitors that meant to find my site and will come back again.

Google is Smarter than You – and they will be smarter tomorrow

Black hat techniqes seek to exploit weaknesses in current search engine algorithms. Search engines like Google have teams of hundreds of PhDs in search and other mathematical areas working to plug these holes and make search results more relevant.

Some people relish the challenge of “beating the system”. I was that guy when I was younger. Now, I realize that it was a total waste of time. Marketing a product or service that people need and use provides much greater benefits over the long-haul.

I might be able to trick Google today and tomorrow, but they simply have more resources at their disposal. I would rather think of ways to use my intellect and marketing savvy to sell products that practically sell themselves.

Hope this Helped

I hope this saves you a great deal of time. Don’t even waste your time looking at Black-Hat techniques. Learn great marketing principles – there are many great places on the Internet for this.

Take the money you would have spent on some cloaking software and use it on a few good Internet Marketing books – the best ones are pretty short. Most Internet Marketers have so many projects working that they only have time for concise books. This means that you will not have to put up with 50 pages of the “History of the Internet”.

Good luck – maybe I’ll see you at an industry convention sometime.