Why grayhat techniques don't work anymore

Most web site owners know that white hat SEO techniques are the ethical approach and that black hat techniques are unethical and will get your site banned by the search engines.

Many are searching and asking their SEO experts to utilize gray hat techniques. What most do not realize is that these gray hat techniques are really black hat techniques that sometimes slip by the search engines bots, but only for a short period of time before your site will be banned from the SERP’s.

A few of the leading gray hat techniques that some SEO companies have been trying might get you and your site in trouble. Here are a few of the more common ones. The first one is to have an unnaturally high keyword density on your page and in the content of the page. A few years ago 2% was the upper limit for not being seen as keyword stuffing. Most articles today have a key word density of less than 1%. If your site or content on your site has a keyword density above 2% you are dipping into the gray/black hat realm.

Publishing duplicate content on multiple sites is another gray/black hat technique. At first your rise in the SERP’s will be rapid, but once the duplicate content is notices, your site will be reduced or delisted.

Non-relevant link building is also frowned upon. They serve no purpose other than generating a rating increase. The search engine bots know this and it will cost your site in its rankings.

Three way linking is one of the newest gray hat techniques that is set up on purpose to fool the search engine bots. If your experts suggest this consider how this technique is defined. It is a deceptive technique used to artificially boast your rankings. That is the definition of a black hat technique. At the moment most think this technique is not detectable by the bots, but is may soon be. The technique is simple. By connecting site X with a link to site Y and site Y to site Z then site Z back to site X, all the links are seen as one way links. This is all beneficial till it gets noticed and you get delisted.

The purchasing of links is not illegal and will boast your site rankings. But if this is part of your SEO package, then it is only a matter of time until you will be penalized. This is a gray hat technique that is deceptive which in reality it is a black hat technique.

As it should have become apparent, gray hat techniques that are employed by your  experts can land you in trouble in the future. It like trying to fly under the radar or it’s not illegal or unethical if you don’t get caught.

The choice to use gray hat techniques is yours and your expert. Just consider that the algorithms of the search engines go under changes a minimum of 4 times a year. What helped your ratings today could get you delisted tomorrow.