SEO Consult Blog

This week I have reviewed two sites with really strong page rank and no search engine listings. The reason, they’re stuck in Google jail for using two similar well known black hat methods.I am going to review these two techniques so they don’t happen to you, and give you a bit of advice on how to break out of jail.

The first site used is a technique which I almost missed. What the SEO cowboy had done was write a load of keyword dense content in the source code, and positioned it 1000 pixels to the left of the view screen, out of visibility from users of the site. This method is OK if and only there is a way the user can bring this content into their view range, and is used by developers to include content without taking anything away from the design of the site. In this case it was easily detectable by the Google algorithm and has landed the site in Google jail.

The second site used an old favourite in the black hat industry, created by a less than intelligent SEO cowboy. I say this because the Google algorithm will and did pick this up straight away. The technique was based on having white keyword dense text on a white background, known in the industry as hidden text. Easily detected by pressing “control and A” (select all) on your keyboard.

So what if you’re already in Google jail? Well first off employ a white hat SEO to track down all the black hat methods and eliminate them, these can be both on page or off page. Then, wait 6 months and hope. Yes that’s right, there’s really not much you can do to get out of jail, there are no get out of jail cards in this industry! My best advice is to go with a reputable company which guarantees only to use white hat methods so you don’t get sent there in the first place.

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