Being the first result on Google search is the ultimate dream for any website owner / designer. SEO ratings are the surest way to get there. But you should always stick to Google’s guidelines or you soon might find yourself at rock bottom or worse, banned from Google all together. Black Hat SEO techniques might seem tempting to get instant gratification, but they are never worth it. Here is a list of the surest ways to get banned from the search engine.
Cloaking
This is the worst possible offence you can commit in Google’s eyes. Presenting your website differently to search engines and users will definitely land you on the receiving end of Google’s wrath. It will irritate users as well, because they will enter your website expecting something while you end up showing something completely unrelated.
Irrelevant Keywords
Do not misuse keywords to get the extra hits on your website. Meta keywords are not that important to Google anymore. Only list keywords relevant to your content. Google has of late been weeding out websites which chunk keywords meaninglessly and use completely irrelevant but popular phrases. You might be tempted to set the words into a really tiny font or to the color of the background, but you will not get away with it. Google uses sophisticated tools to ensure such misuse does not take place.
Misusing Links
While you are allowed to use a reasonable amount of links leading away from your page be careful about the kind of sites you are taking your users to. Google is constantly on the look out for link exchanging programs and paid links.
Title Stacking
SEO ideas are steadily changing. Earlier you were encouraged to stuff your title with keywords relevant to your content to boost your rating. However, of late such practices are being discouraged. Give your articles quirky and innovative titles that will entice your user and promote its popularity on social media.
SEO is not enough if you want to make your presence felt on Google. Yes, being the first link on the results page will bring a lot more traffic your way, but only good, relevant and useful content will let you stay on top. Work on your website. Make both its design and content appealing. It will eventually pay off.
