Anyone who’s spent time in the world of SEO knows how demanding it can be. From creating genuinely useful content to earning quality backlinks and everything in between, real results take time, effort, and consistency.
Because of that, black hat SEO techniques have existed almost as long as search engines themselves. Tactics like keyword stuffing, buying links, cloaking, article spinning, and similar shortcuts are designed to manipulate search engines into ranking low-quality sites higher than they deserve.
The real problem with black hat SEO is that it cuts corners at the expense of everyone else playing by the rules. It ignores user experience entirely and focuses purely on gaming the system.
These days, Google is far better at spotting this behaviour. If you’re caught using black hat tactics, your site can be penalised or even removed from search results altogether.
In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly what not to do. We’ll cover what black hat SEO is, how it has evolved over time, how it differs from grey hat SEO, and most importantly, the practices you should avoid entirely.
Let’s get into it.
What is Black Hat SEO?
At the risk of sounding a little dramatic, black hat SEO is basically the dark side of search engine marketing. Think Star Wars, but swap out space wars for search results.
Black hat tactics include things like content automation, buying links, cloaking, and web spam. All of these approaches break search engine guidelines and are designed to manipulate rankings rather than earn them.
On the flip side is white hat SEO. These are the strategies that play by the rules and focus on creating real value for users. If you want long-term rankings that actually stick, white hat SEO is the path you should be on.
How did Black Hat SEO tactics develop?
Back in the early days, black hat SEO was just… SEO.
Buying backlinks, churning out spammy content, and gaming the system was how websites climbed the rankings.
Then Google caught on.
As search results became easier to manipulate, Google began rolling out algorithm updates designed to shut these tactics down. One of the most impactful was the Penguin update in 2012, which specifically targeted sites that were buying links, participating in link schemes, or spamming search results.
Almost overnight, many websites saw their rankings disappear. Since then, algorithm updates like this have become a regular part of SEO, constantly raising the bar for what Google considers acceptable.
Some of the most well-known Google updates include:
- Florida – targeted keyword stuffing
- Panda – penalised thin content and content farms
- Penguin – cracked down on manipulative link practices
The takeaway is pretty simple. If your strategy relies on black hat tactics, it is only a matter of time before search engines catch up. When they do, the consequences can be severe, including losing rankings altogether or being removed from Google’s search results entirely.
In general, a tactic is considered black hat SEO if it includes any of the following:
Violating search engine guidelines
Not only do black hat SEO techniques go against best practice, but they often include strategies that Google’s Guidelines reference as techniques that web pages shouldn’t use.
Using manipulative techniques
White hat SEO focuses on creating a better experience for users. Black hat SEO does the opposite, relying on shortcuts and manipulative tactics to game Google’s algorithm and inflate rankings.
If a strategy is designed to mislead Google into believing content is more valuable than it really is, it crosses the line into black hat SEO.
Focuses on ‘loopholes’
Black hat SEO techniques are all about finding loopholes in search engine algorithms and exploiting them. While these tactics can boost rankings quickly and with minimal effort, they are short-term wins, not sustainable strategies.
Google’s algorithms are constantly evolving, and sites that prioritise genuine value and a strong user experience are the ones that continue to perform well over the long term.
What are some black hat SEO techniques I should avoid?
You should definitely avoid any and all black hat SEO techniques! Black hat SEO techniques tend to focus on the search engines, not the users accessing their site.Here are some of the most widely recognised black hat SEO techniques that are a big no-no, and alternative white hat techniques to use instead.
Keyword stuffing
Keyword stuffing is the practice of cramming content full of keywords that don’t genuinely add value or make sense in context. The goal is usually to manipulate Google into ranking a page higher than it deserves.
The problem is that keyword stuffing often causes pages to appear in search results for terms that aren’t actually relevant, which can hurt both user experience and overall SEO performance.
Common examples of keyword stuffing include:
- Lists of phone numbers added purely for ranking purposes
- Long strings of city or suburb names with no real context
- Repeating the same keyword or variation unnaturally throughout the page
Google’s Webmaster Guidelines are very clear on this. They recommend creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords naturally and in context.
When you focus on writing genuinely helpful content, keywords tend to fit in organically. This not only improves readability for users but also leads to stronger, more sustainable rankings over time.
Automatically generated / duplicate content
One of the most damaging black hat SEO tactics is producing poor quality content. Google has consistently made it clear that content quality is one of its top ranking factors, which means content needs to genuinely help the reader if you want to rank well.
Pages filled with irrelevant text fall into this category, as does plagiarised or duplicated content. Reusing text that already exists across the internet is a fast way to lose visibility in search results. This became especially clear when Google rolled out the Panda update, which heavily targeted thin, low quality, and duplicate content.
The white hat alternative is straightforward. Create original, well written content that is designed to provide real value. Your content should answer a question, solve a problem, or clearly explain how to do something.
Long form, useful content also gives you far more opportunity to earn engagement. This includes comments, social shares, and most importantly, backlinks. These signals all help reinforce trust and authority in Google’s eyes.
If you are unsure where to start, following Google’s content guidelines is a good baseline. Alternatively, working with an experienced digital marketing agency can help ensure your content is strategic, high quality, and built to perform.
Hidden text
This is one of the sneakier black hat SEO tactics and involves hiding text from users while still making it visible to search engines. Common methods include matching the text colour to the background, positioning text off-screen, or placing it behind images.
The goal is usually to stuff keywords into a page without users noticing. The problem is that search engine crawlers are far more sophisticated than they used to be. Tactics like this are easy for Google to detect and are flagged very quickly.
Rather than helping your rankings, hidden text almost always results in penalties and lost visibility.
Paid links
If there’s one area that can move the needle the most when it comes to rankings, it’s backlinks.
The catch is that building quality backlinks takes time. That’s exactly why so many SEO practitioners started buying them in the first place, trying to shortcut the process.
At their core, backlinks are meant to act as a vote of confidence from one website to another. They are supposed to be earned, not purchased.
Link schemes like link farms and private blog networks abuse this concept and fall squarely into black hat SEO territory.
Link farms are websites created for one purpose only: to generate links and artificially influence search rankings. They usually contain low-quality, thin content and exist solely to pass link equity.
Private blog networks, or PBNs, are another common tactic. These involve buying expired domains that already have some authority, publishing content on them, and inserting self-serving backlinks to other sites. Site owners can pay to be included in these networks. While it might feel like a quick win, it often leads to serious penalties and rapid loss of rankings.
Participating in any kind of link scheme may deliver short-term gains, but it also signals spam to Google, which ultimately reduces your site’s visibility.
If you suspect backlinks were purchased in the past, intentionally or not, you should disavow them. This tells Google to ignore those unnatural links when assessing your site’s authority.
Instead, focus on white hat link building strategies such as:
- Building genuine relationships with relevant industry websites
- Running outreach campaigns to earn mentions and editorial links
- Creating high-quality, original content that people naturally want to reference and link to
These approaches take more effort, but they build long-term authority and protect your site from penalties.
Cloaking
This black hat SEO technique involves showing one thing to users and something entirely different to search engines.
For example, visitors might see an image or simple page layout, while the underlying HTML contains hidden text or links that only search engine crawlers can read.
Google is very clear on this. Do not do it. Always put users first.
When your focus is on genuinely answering searchers’ questions and delivering a strong user experience, organic SEO tends to follow naturally.
A simple way to sense-check your approach is to ask yourself who the content is really for. If you are creating pages purely to manipulate Google rather than help users, you are likely drifting into black hat territory.
Adding structured data/schema
Okay, doing this on its own is definitely not bad. But abusing this to manipulate rich search snippets and results is. Some SEO practitioners, for example, might give themselves a fake review to stand out on result pages. Don’t do this. Play by the rules with structured data. If you’re confused, Google’s search engine guidelines will clarify any discrepancies.
Doorway / gateway pages
Pages such as doorway pages or gateway pages target specific search queries with content that is intended to funnel to one specific page.Instead of doing this, you should work to make sure that every single page on your website has a purpose for their users - rather than merely existing to tempt higher search engine rankings.
How can I report Black Hat SEO to search engines?
Google encourages users to report black hat SEO when it’s encountered.If you find that you’re encountering web spam, whether it be in paid links, content stuffing, or other black hat exploits - file a spam report with Google. It can feel demotivating to see other SEO practitioners exploiting search engines and their algorithms, but focus on your white hat SEO techniques. In the long run, this will ultimately win out - both in building higher search rankings and in building loyal page visitors.
So, what did we learn?
You could even argue this post is a little keyword-heavy, but in the good, educational white hat way, not the black hat kind.
Google uses hundreds of ranking signals in its algorithms, all designed to ensure search results are relevant and genuinely useful. On top of that, those algorithms are constantly evolving.
If you want to stay on the right side of SEO, it’s worth familiarising yourself with the full list of black hat tactics outlined in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. It will give you a much clearer picture of what to avoid.
It’s also smart to be cautious of grey hat tactics. They might not directly violate Google’s rules, but they often sit uncomfortably close to the line, and that line can move without warning.
The bottom line is simple. If you want to protect your rankings, you need to stay across changes and avoid shortcuts that could cause your visibility to disappear overnight.
And if you’d rather not keep up with all of this yourself, we’ve got you covered. Get a free proposal with Local Digital today and let our team make sure your SEO stays clean, compliant, and built to last.
