Fast results with minimal effort – this is the dream of black hat link building.
But, sometimes, a dream can turn into a nightmare. The same goes for black hat link building – as with any black hat technique.
So why do SEO professionals insist on some black-hat link-building techniques and how can a shortcut lead to a long-term setback?
What is Black Hat Link Building?
In a sentence, black hat link-building involves using link-building methods that don’t align with search engine guidelines.
In Google’s case, these methods are considered black hat when they violate Google Search Essentials (former Google’s Webmaster Guidelines).
The primary goal of black hat link building is to deceive search engines into believing that a site is more authoritative or relevant than it actually is. Black hat techniques are an SEO shortcut; they are usually much faster to implement, which is why they remain relevant to this day.
This contrasts sharply with white hat link building, which focuses on ethical practices like creating high-quality content and building authentic relationships.
Black hat vs white hat link-building
On the one hand, black hat link-building relies on manipulative techniques designed to deceive search engines. These methods blatantly violate search engine guidelines and come with severe risks, including ranking penalties for the pages that black hat techniques were used for or even ranking penalties for the whole domain.
On the other hand, white hat link building represents the most ethical approach to acquiring backlinks. It follows search engine guidelines completely, prioritizing user value and long-term results. Since these methods fully comply with search engine policies, they carry little to no risk of penalties and provide sustainable results. They are also the kind of methods that legitimate link-building agencies use.
Last but not least, grey hat link building lies somewhere in between those two.
4 Black Hat Link Building Techniques
Now that you know what black hat link building is, it’s a good time to learn how it’s done. So you know what to avoid.
1. Buying and Selling Links
How it works
Buying and selling links involves the exchange of money, goods, or services in return for backlinks, bypassing natural link-building practices. This often occurs through direct link purchases, where websites pay other site owners to include backlinks in their content.
Additionally, specialized link marketplaces exist where backlinks are openly traded, allowing buyers to select links based on metrics like domain authority or page relevance.
Why (they think) it works
Buying links does work. The question is how long it’s going to work until you receive a penalty.
The immediate results make buying links especially tempting, albeit dangerous. The short-term benefits rarely outweigh the long-term consequences.
Why you should avoid it
Websites caught engaging in buying (and selling) links face severe penalties, including significant ranking drops or deindexing from search results.
Furthermore, links obtained through paid transactions often come from low-quality or irrelevant sites, which can dilute your backlink profile and harm your site’s credibility.
What to do instead
Google requires that any link obtained in exchange for compensation (money, products, services, etc.) be marked with either the rel=”sponsored” attribute or be a nofollow link, which can be marked, with the rel=”nofollow” tag.
Paid links that don’t pass PageRank don’t result in penalties, as long as they come from legit domains. Therefore, if money is involved in acquiring backlinks, then marking them as sponsored is the way to go.
2. Reciprocal Linking
What it is
Reciprocal linking is the practice of two websites agreeing to exchange backlinks. “I’ll link to your site if you link to mine.”, in essence. Typically, these agreements are coordinated via email, forums, or link-building communities where participants seek mutual benefits.
Why (they think) it works
The logic behind reciprocal linking is rooted in search engines’ historical reliance on backlinks as indicators of trust and authority. By increasing the number of backlinks, even through exchanges, both exchangers can rank their sites higher.
Why you should avoid it
Reciprocal linking appears to be a win-win scenario until it becomes a lose-lose. Google specifically flags excessive reciprocal links as manipulative, leading to penalties that can severely impact rankings.
What to do instead
As a rule of thumb, the more white-hat link-building you do, the more grey-hat and black-hat techniques you can add to your link-building strategy. Therefore, in this case, you can engage in reciprocal linking as long as:
a. You do it between domains/ topics/ anchor texts that are relevant and make sense
b. You do it scarcely and for very specific targets with high-authority domains
As an alternative, instead of a reciprocal exchange, you can try a grey hat tactic called a triangular exchange. According to this, instead of two, three or more parties are involved in the exchange.
3. Private Blog Networks (PBNs)/ Link farms
What it is
Private Blog Networks (PBNs) and link farms are websites that are created solely to provide backlinks to other websites.
They usually resemble blogs or content-based websites. Most of them don’t have dedicated content so their blog posts can span anything from ‘Crypto’ to ‘Dog Food’.
Why (they think) it works
A quick way to earn links with high customization.
Why you should avoid it
PBNs and link farms are risky businesses. Google has become very effective at detecting PBN and link farm patterns- and keeps getting better with every update.
They are also not worth your time. Even if they didn’t cost anything they can hardly have an impact on your rankings anymore. Their content is of such low quality and spans so many different topics that a link from these domains doesn’t mean much to the algorithm. And neither it should.
What to do instead
Just stay away from PBNs and link farms.
4. Deceptive Technical Tactics
What are they
Technical gaming involves exploiting technical loopholes in search engine algorithms to manipulate rankings. Common tactics include:
- Cloaking: This involves showing different content to search engine bots than to users. It tricks search engines into indexing content optimized for ranking, while users see unrelated or promotional material.
- Doorway pages: These are low-quality, keyword-stuffed pages designed to rank highly in search engines. When users click on them, they are redirected to another, often irrelevant, page.
- Sneaky redirects: This tactic sends users to a different page than the one indexed by search engines. It misleads both bots and visitors, often for promotional or irrelevant purposes.
- Hidden text or links: Text or links are made invisible to users by matching their color to the background or using very small fonts. These elements exist solely for search engines to boost rankings artificially.
Why (they think) it works
Technical gaming aims to exploit search engine algorithms by creating an illusion of relevance and authority. By manipulating what bots see, practitioners hope to rank higher without offering genuine value to users or earning legitimate backlinks. These tactics promise quick wins by bypassing the need for ethical SEO efforts.
Why you should avoid it
Google has been targeting these black hat link-building techniques since the early 00s and has been relentless ever since.
Major Google updates like Panda, Fred, RankBrain, and SpamBrain AI have made these techniques far less effective and risky.
What to do instead
The only technical SEO strategies worth investing time in are those included in technical SEO: enhance your website’s performance, user experience, and indexability
How to Identify Black Hat Links
It should be clear by now that you should try to stay away from black-hat link-building tactics. A toxic link profile can lead to penalties, reduced rankings, or even removal from search engine results pages.
To spot black hat links, start by examining their sources. Links from irrelevant or unrelated websites are a clear red flag. For example, if your site focuses on health and wellness but has backlinks from gambling sites or generic directories with no niche alignment, this suggests manipulative link-building practices.
Anchor text provides another critical clue. Black hat links often feature over-optimized or repetitive exact-match anchor text. For instance, if many of your backlinks use the exact same keyword phrase, it signals an attempt to manipulate rankings, which search engines are quick to penalize.
Last but not least, use SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console to conduct a thorough backlink audit. Once you’ve identified harmful backlinks, take action. Use Google’s Disavow Tool to neutralize the impact of these links and keep your backlink profile as clean as possible.
Conclusion
Black hat link-building techniques become less and less relevant. And for good reason. rather than chasing loopholes that quickly close, the real long-term value lies in sustainable link-building strategies
So you better stay away from them and stick to white hat tactics or experiment with caution with some grey hat ones.
If you need any help building links the right way, or your domain has been penalized for using black hat tactics, contact us here and let us know!
