The world of search engine optimization (SEO) is ever-changing and full of risks. To stay ahead of the competition, marketers must remain in the know and be willing to take risks in order to prove their strategies effective. While some of these risks might pay off and give your site the increased visibility and greater authority they need, others could end up doing serious harm.
Here are 12 risky SEO strategies to consider:
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Private Blog Networks – Private blog networks involve setting up a series of interlinked and low-quality sites to supposedly rank higher in search engines. While it might seem like an easy way to get more visibility, it won’t last if Google catches on.
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Cloaking – This technique involves showing different content to search engine bots than what the user sees. It’s against Google’s terms of service and could lead to your website being penalized or banned from the search engine’s index.
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SEO Spamming – A sure-fire way to get your website penalized is by engaging in SEO spamming. This involves creating content with the sole purpose of manipulating search engines. Google can tell when this is happening and it won’t end well for your website.
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Keyword Stuffing – While there are many keyword strategies that work, stuffing your content with keywords is a sure-fire way to get your website penalized. Not only that, but it detracts from the user experience as well.
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Duplicate Content – Duplicate content is a big no-no. This can cause problems not only with search engines, but also with user experience as well. Make sure to have unique and compelling content that offers something new to readers.
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Link Farming – Link farming involves buying and linking to a large number of websites in an attempt to increase page rank. Not only is this strategy risky, it won’t have the desired effect either as Google will likely penalize you for your efforts.
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Hijacking – Another risky tactic is hijacking another website’s content. Not only is this a violation of copyright laws, it could also land you in hot water with Google as well.
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Buying Links – Search engines are wise to the fact that some sites attempt to get around their algorithms by buying links. Needless to say, buying links is a risky business, and you could easily find yourself in some serious trouble with search engines for parting with your hard-earned cash.
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Doorway Pages – Doorway pages are pages designed solely for search engine spiders. These pages are usually full of junk or keyword-stuffed content that offer no real value to the user and could get your website penalized if Google catches wind of it.
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Buying Social Signals – SEO isn’t just about algorithms, it’s also about social recognition. Buying social signals may get you some quick likes and followers, but it’s not a sustainable approach and could get you in trouble with Google.
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Scraping – Scraping content from other websites can get you in trouble with Google if they catch you in the act. Not only that, but it’s plagiarism and can lead to other legal and moral issues.
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Content Automation – Automatically creating and posting content may seem like a good way to save time, but it can also lead to search engines penalizing your website for low-quality content and lack of engagement.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which of these risky SEO tactics, if any, to pursue in your search engine effort. While some of these may work in the short-term, they are unlikely to be reliable in the long-term – and some could even be disastrous. Proceed with caution!