Black Hat Link Building in SEO?

Digital Marketing
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Black hat link building strategies are often aimed to manipulate search engine rankings and, as we outlined above, often focus on unethical tactics that directly violate Google’s guidelines and utilize those methods defined as being part of a link scheme.

  • There is little, or no, focus on the user, rather, looking to game the algorithm.
  • These tactics usually result in a manual action or algorithmic filter being applied, and, as algorithms continue to develop, they can also see links that don’t trigger such an adjustment and are simply being ignored.
  • Black hat strategies aren’t sustainable and shouldn’t be considered a viable option to pursue in 2021.

We won’t be sharing or exploring black hat tactics in-depth. We wouldn’t want to give them any exposure as they are not tactics that we believe should be used, especially unless the risks are very well understood.
Common Black Hat Link Building Tactics to Be Aware Of

However, it is important that you are aware of the type of tactics that fall under [black hat strategiesto ensure you can avoid them if they are recommended by anyone you are working with, or you come across while learning more yourself.

  • Paid links that pass PageRank
  • Private Blog Networks (PBNs)
  • Large-scale article marketing and guest-posting campaigns that use keyword-rich anchor text
  • Low-quality directories that exist solely to build links from
  • Keyword-rich links that are embedded within widgets on other people’s websites
  • Links obtained from hacked sites
  • Links built using automated programs or services
  • Requiring links as part of a Terms of Service or contract
  • Comment spam
  • Widely distributed footer or sidebar links