| Link building is the process of adding back links to a | | | | Using automated software to make directory |
| website that link back to the target site in order to | | | | submissions or sniff out security weaknesses on a |
| eventually improve page rank or position in the | | | | website, send out mass emails make requests or |
| Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). These | | | | otherwise game the system for personal gain. |
| practices can be deadly for websites because they | | | | according to the Google webmasters' guidelines this |
| may incur serious penalties or cause the offending | | | | practice is not favoured by search engines and can |
| website to be banned. | | | | be penalised if spotted. |
| 1. Bad neighbourhoods | | | | 4. Keyword stuffing |
| A bad neighbourhood is an area of the web where | | | | Putting too many keywords of the same word on |
| there is a proliferation of malware or there are | | | | meta tags or in the body text to emphasis its |
| arbitrary lists of unrelated web pages which offers | | | | significance to search engines. Search engine use |
| no value to the viewer, sometimes called FFA's. | | | | keyword density analysis. If your keyword density is |
| Relevancy features highly in googles algorithm, at | | | | above a certain point it might be percieved as |
| best the link will have no value and at worst a | | | | spamming and you will incur a penalty. |
| penalty will be incurred. | | | | 5. Doorway Pages |
| 2. Cloaking | | | | Pages set up just to redirect traffic to the target |
| This used black hat techniques to misrepresent your | | | | site. They are penalised because they offer little |
| website to search engines. Human viewers see one | | | | value to the viewer. |
| thing and the search engine spider is directed to see | | | | 6. Employing Spambots |
| something else. A site can be cloaked to optimise for | | | | Are specialised types of user agents that traverse |
| popular keywords not related to the site or cloaked | | | | the web collecting data to later make into spam. |
| to resolve some technical issue for example using | | | | They use up webmasters bandwith and clog up the |
| Flash can be good for human viewers but gets in the | | | | net. |
| way of search engine spiders. This practice is very | | | | 7. Webring Participation |
| much frowned on by search engines, however if you | | | | Can give your site a quick hike up in the SERPs but |
| have enough influence, money and power the search | | | | incur can incur penalties. It can damage the integrity |
| engine might be prepared to bend the rules eg. New | | | | of your website and ultimately only benefit the |
| York Times. | | | | webring. |
| 3. Using Autosubmitters | | | | |