Spamming - a ‘black-hat’ but effective SEO step

In general, spamming is described to be the act of sending unsolicited messages in bulk indiscriminately over electronic messaging systems. In context to SEO (search engine optimization), spamming is referred to as the act of employing disreputable tactics and strategies to gain better results i.e. high search engine rankings. Since search engines have an organic algorithm to assign rankings to the various web pages on the internet, various websites manipulate their codes and content to achieve higher rankings in search engines. While many of the manipulative strategies are within the ethical boundaries, many unethical SEO techniques are put in practice too by various search engine optimization services.

These unethical SEO strategies yield higher ROI in a very short span of time and thus, many search engine optimization companies employ these strategies. However, they are unethical or illegal practices that can be subjected to a ban to the website by the search engine and thus, may have grave consequences in the long run affecting the site's targeted traffic, reputation and income. Recently, Google had the rankings of several websites cut down by a good number. The reason for this act was that all of the websites were directly or indirectly involved in the buying and selling of backlinks.

SEO techniques used for spamming

• Non-relevant repetition of keywords in the content and Meta tag of the webpage.
  
• Usage of text-links and hidden links visible only to search engine crawlers. E.g. white links.
  
• Link farms i.e. a single web page redirecting to links of several other webpages.
  
• Creation of mirror website.
  
• Buying of backlinks or trading it for monetary benefits.

Spamdexing -It is the act of modifying HTML of web pages to increase the chances of getting higher rankings in search engines.

Spamming is one of the menaces that fall in the bracket of ‘black hat SEO techniques'. While it may benefit few, many are unduly affected by it. An SEO consultant can offer suitable advice on avoiding spamming and on the usage of white hat SEO techniques to boost up the rankings of a website.