SEO Shadow

And so begins another blog in the saturated market of SEO tips and tricks!

Before we begin, let me explain a little about myself and what I stand for when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. I’m going to assume that most people who read these pages have a fairly strong overview of Google, and how the search engines are manipulated. I’m also going to suggest that those of high moral responsibility on the web steer well clear of the techniques we’re going to practice.

As you can probably work out by the Shadow brand, I am a strong advocate of Grey and Black Hat SEO. But I’m also realistic and if there’s one thing that I’ve learnt, it’s not to put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to making money online.

Some of you may be following pure White Hat SEO techniques, in which case, good luck.

I believe that a great White Hat pro must have a good understanding of Black Hat techniques in order to reap success. And vice versa, anybody who wants to get anywhere in the Black Hat world must have a tight grip of the optimization techniques that play by the rule-book. 

If you’re from a White Hat background and wish not to practice what I’m about to preach, you’re within your right to move on in disgust and shake your head at the dubious moral standards. Let’s leave it at that.

Some people have perfectly valid reasons for staying White Hat. It could be a requirement to stay in Google’s good books or simply a project spec from a contractor. Either way, it’s high time we stopped playing in to Google’s hands and understood who really benefits from such strict guidelines. Because it certainly isn’t you, me or Webmaster X.

Google cares about Google. This is an organization that profits from your expertly crafted website - whether you want it to or not. When you appear in Google’s search results, you’re adding value to its brand. Such has been the growth of this web monster that exclusion from the rankings can often sound the death toll of a business. Is that fair? No, it’s not, but business is business.

For many people, Google is the scale tipping margin between success and failure. For those of us who are open to this reality, Black Hat techniques suddenly sound all the more reasonable. Is it wrong to exploit Google’s search engine algorithm when so-called White Hatters are striving to do the very same thing?

What are you doing when you optimize your Title tags? When you set your keyword density? When you swap your links? You’re manually trying to improve your search engine ranking by exploiting the Google algorithm.

Black Hat SEO follows the same principles, except we bend the rules along the way. Let’s not pitch for a Noble prize here. Most Black Hat techniques succeed at the expense of other White Hat webmasters. I’m sure they’re equally hard workers with admirable passion, admirable determination and varying success. But there’s no time for standing and admiring if you’re hyper-focused on making money.

The arguments put forward by Google, and chief relations pup Matt Cutts, are nice and sentimental on the surface. Advocates of usability, favorers of relevant content - yes, it’s easy to see where they’re coming from. But Google also preaches a massive contradiction in its guidelines when it banishes a turnkey website from the rankings - let’s say for cloaking - while an authority site like Amazon rampages on without so much as a slap on the wrist for its identical tactics. 

It all comes down to deception. We could build a White Hat website from the ground up and dedicate a lifetime to user-friendly standards. Chances are, it will still flop.

Alternatively, we can survey the web landscape and pinpoint loopholes where there’s a profit to be made. This is the key difference between a webmaster and a web entrepreneur. One sees Google’s guidelines. The other sees Google’s riches.

So enough of the background. What can you expect to find on these pages?

I will be addressing some of the shadow SEO techniques that divide opinion amongst White Hat and Black Hat peers. I will also be revealing some personal practices which cut under the radar to dramatically improve search engine performance.

Much of the time, you’ll discover that the best SEO campaigns are incredibly personalized and ideally shaped towards a particular project. I won’t be taking you on step by step guides, rather leveraging the mindset and creativity that’s necessary for success.

First up, we’ll be taking a look at how to recycle web content - or even whole websites - which have become derelict over time. All this while staying under the cover of Google’s duplicate content radar.