Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

In order to aide in SEO, a potential client said he wrote a string of keywords in white to hide in the background of his web site. It isn`t visible unless you read the code (or highlight the area). I told him that he could get black listed for that. I heard that about 3 years ago, is that still the case today?

Thanks in advance

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Make it count! My Passion: www.jdawgdesign.com - My Rush: www.wyliephotos.com

I heard that too and I don`t know how true it is.  Is the blacklist thing some sort of urban legend of the internet?

I did the same trick too for a while but then got all nervous because people told me it was "cheating" and "unethical" and I could get blacklisted and so forth.  I`ll agree that it`s not a very respectable way to do things.  So what did I do?  I made the text very slightly visible as if "I`m not hiding anything.  Really I am not."  I even admit to the shamefulness of it at the end of it.  I`ve got a nearly all Flash website.  I gotta get those words in there somehow without destroying the user experience I designed.  See at the bottom of the page.

I`m not suggesting the "barely visible" cheat is any better of a cheat.  It`s still a cheat.  Anybody else got some thoughts on this?

Steve, I think you have to, because the site is all in Flash.

Really blacklisting is about repetitive keyword loading, lists that have nothing to do with the page, or serving up content to bots (using scripting) that has nothing to do with your site - not putting a paragraph or 2 at the bottom of a Flash page. Really ... if you just play it clean in the SEO game, you don`t have an issue.

I think you can still check out a site`s blacklisting status here.

This is a violation of the Google TOS.  Yes you will get blacklisted.

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answe r=35769

What your client is doing is called "cloaking" and is specifically prohibited.

Scott



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That Software Guy - helping you increase sales and profits in your Zen Cart store!

It`s a bad idea - you can check with the source, Matt Cutts from Google has written about this several times on his blog, here`s one example:

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-mistakes-not-checking-your -site/




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chuck fuller

Absolutely, that hiding words trick is a "black hat" SEO practice that can get a site banned or penalized.

You may "get away with it" for a while, but anyone can "report" your site... bring it to the attention of the search engine.

Steve - true, for your flash site it is important to incorporate "searchable" text and keywords. Eventhough you may argue the text is not totally hidden... is it worth the risk? 

The words you have are not links or H1 tagged or bold....which would give them greater weight in SEO.

My suggestion is to change that text to "real" SEO text and links that will add value for your search results. Also, add a meta description - which is still read by some search engines.

~Roland

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

Indeed, adding actual original content that the site`s viewers will benefit from is the real secret to success.  Over time, investing in adding content to the site will improve your search engine ranking.

Good luck,
Scott



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That Software Guy - helping you increase sales and profits in your Zen Cart store!

Good stuff, guys!! I am very appreciative of this information and will forward the links to my clients!

vwebworld: when creating links in your conent, is it`s purpose to transfer the user to another page on your web site (like a glossary page?) or to another site like a dictionary or supporting agency of the industry?

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Make it count! My Passion: www.jdawgdesign.com - My Rush: www.wyliephotos.com

Having links to other pages of your site is important... using text based keywords is helpful...... for SEO. It is always a good idea to have a "site map" which is a list of all the pages (with links to those pages) of your site. This not only helps the viewer navigate your site, but also helps search engine bots find and index all the pages of your site.

Having links to other sites/resources (not part of your site) can be useful as a "customer service"... and can bring people back to your site as a resource for information. Such links do not necessarily help your site`s SEO.

~Roland

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

Thank you, vwebworld. I have the keywords in my content, so my line of thinking is to create a page of glossary terms to link the keywords to. This is very common pratcie in our industry to have a glossary.

And yes, I need to amke my site map AND add my alt tags. I updated my site a few weeks ago, then was out of town, and well, client`s come first too, right?!

Thanks for your input. I`ll let you guys know if my client says anything on those Google guidelines, especially since he PPC with them! Oops!

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Make it count! My Passion: www.jdawgdesign.com - My Rush: www.wyliephotos.com