Search Engine Optimization or SEO companies in Toronto are aware of the right way to use keywords and content to present your company in the best light while attracting visitors. Over the years since the implementation of SEO, the practice has involved a variety of different strategies. They are currently split into two categories: White Hat and Black Hat. The former is considered the better method for an SEO company to utilize; the latter is the route taken by those SEO companies who either are unaware of the line they are crossing or do not care that the methods and strategies they will employ are questionable.
What is Black Hat SEO?
At one time, Black Hat strategies for SEO were considered legitimate. This was back in the early days when SEO companies were cottage industries. In the 1990s, the terms companies employed for SEO were different. In fact, some were doing manual input to increase site traffic. Spiders did not actually exist across the net until after the work by Brian Pinkerton began to establish a presence. This was in 1994.
SEO is now clearly defined. Black Hat SEO is usually defined as the employment of specific techniques that are morally or ethically questionable in their ability to raise the rank within the search order. Although higher rankings are equated with increased traffic, this is not valid on any long-term basis with Black Hat SEO. This is the result of the methods that draw in traffic to a website. In its most simplistic terms, Black Hat SEO fails to provide any long term benefits because it tricks individuals to the site. They arrive there under a certain impression and are faced with what is often a very different reality. Overall, Black Hat techniques are characterized as being unethical and deceptive – to both the consumer and the spider.
Black Hat SEO Techniques
The techniques used by Black Hat SEO companies in Toronto and elsewhere are often referred to as spam or spam-like. They tend to ignore or bypass the rules of the search engine. Among the most common techniques or strategies a Black Hat SEO company will employ are the following:
* Keyword Stuffing: On such a site, the stress is on the keywords and not the content. The quality suffers and, eventually, you will be caught out
* Invisible Text: If you opt for white text keywords on a white background, you will attract more spiders.
* Doorway Pages: A doorway page does not exist. It is a fake entryway. Only spiders will “see” it. The entire purpose of this method is to ensure the spiders place you higher in the indexing.
* Page Jacking: This is a means through which traffic is attracted to another site by illegitimately copying the contents of a valid site and misdirecting individuals to the illicit site.
The dark side – the Black Hat, of SEO can be tempting. There will always be SEO companies in Toronto and elsewhere who believe this is the way to operate. The trouble is that all these tricks do work. The reality, however, is that they only act as a temporary means of increasing traffic to your site. In the long run, if you rely on black hat strategy, you and your company or business will lose. The higher ranked searches arising from these methods turn quickly into gossamer wings. There is no long term profit or sales when consumers are tricked to visit a site. They may go there once, but voluntarily, they will not darken the gateway – fake or real, of your site again.
