Dirty SEO tricks you should avoid-Part I

There's no shortage of ways to optimize your website for search engine visibility and work your way to the top of the search results. Some practices are good, some are bad, and there are countless myths thrown in.

Luckily, Google has pretty much drawn the line as to what is a good SEO practice and what isn't. By now, webmasters and SEOs alike know to stay away from Google-be-damned Black Hat techniques like keyword stuffing and hidden text

However, there are still a few gray areas.

What follows are two SEO tactics that could give your website an immediate boost in search results, but there's a fine line between what the search engines allow and what they frown upon. If you fall on the wrong side, these tactics will prove very costly. The good news, though, is that we'll also explain how to get back on track if you accidentally cross the line.

Link buyingSEOs have long known that one of Google's factors for determining ranking in search results comes from inbound links. Of course, this has led to Black Hat SEOs trying to deliberately manipulate search rankings, and it has also revealed something of a loophole -- link buying.

In an ideal world, Google's PageRank algorithm rewards websites when other websites link to them. If a blogger or website links to you because you're relevant to their content, some of that publisher's PageRank is passed along, and you are rewarded with a rise in search standings. Putting in the time and building both a quality site and solid relationships with bloggers, publishers, and websites will generate more inbound links, and you'll continue to climb the search results. Google's algorithms are not supposed to reward purchased or advertising links, but that's where link buying -- the practice of paying another website to link to you -- comes into play.

For starters, the search giant can't blatantly outlaw link buying. If it did, then any company could buy massive amounts of links for competition, and watch as that competition tumbles down the search rankings. There is also the fact that Google can't possibly know the origin of every link on the internet.

"The problem is that it is very difficult for a search engine to determine if somebody is linking to you because you bought it or because you earned it," says Bruce Clay, president of Bruce Clay, Inc. "If you have one page, or very few pages, linking to me with links that are built within the context of a topic appropriate to my site, then [the search engine] can assume that's a testimonial-grade link."

Google's stance is that it doesn't want to reward purchased links because they give priority to whomever has the most to spend, but if the engine never picks up on your purchased link, you'll get a boost in the search rankings.That's not to say that there's no PageRank at all passed along via advertising.

"In our eyes, I think there's a good understanding that link buying and advertising are different," says Adam Lasnik, Google search evangelist. "When you buy an ad, it's because you think people on another site have an interest in your company or product. If you own a website that sells picture frames, you might go to the website for a fine art museum or photography buffs, and that would be a great place to say, 'Hey photography buffs, check out these frames.' We know that's a reasonable ad because there's a correlation of interest -- people on this site might like that product."

But then there's the dark side. Casinos, pill companies, and pornographic websites are desperately trying to beat the competition, and they'll buy advertising across the board, from gardening websites to education sites. "That's not serving the user because it's not a real editorial vote," Lasnik says. "It's clear to us they are buying this just for PageRank, and if you're doing that, we see it as trying to deceive the search engine and deceive the user."

The downsideBuilding a lot of links through good PR and relationships takes time, but while link buying appears to be a quick remedy, it's actually a rather poisonous pill. For starters, Google reserves the right to remove pages, sections of pages, or even your entire website from the search results if you violate one of their webmaster guidelines, such as buying links. As such, you could drop from the first page of search results all the way into the fifth, sixth, or seventh.

"It's not so much punishment, but maintaining the integrity of the search results," Lasnik says. "It's protecting the user experience and elevating great results. The only reason we take action against websites who want to manipulate Google results is so that users have access to the most relevant information."

Google also frowns upon the practice of link selling. If the search engine identifies a link seller, the purchased links will maintain their PageRank, but it will not be passed along to the pages it links to. There's then no way to tell if these pages are actually passing along their PageRank.
"In a buyer-beware environment, we need to be concerned whether the people selling these one-off contextual ads have already been caught, and therefore, I'm paying for smoke and mirrors," Clay says. "It's snake oil."

Every SEO expert interviewed for this story agreed that the best practice for rising in the search rankings is through building quality content, and each strongly recommends that practice to their clients. However, there is another side to the link-buying argument.