What is gray hat SEO? Site SEO is classified into 3 categories: white hat SEO, black hat SEO and gray SEO.
SEOs who use white hat SEO strategies, that is, follow the path according to the specified rules. Therefore, they proceed safely and are sure of their rank and position.
On the other hand, there are SEOs who don’t want to follow the rules and look for ways to circumvent the standard guidelines. These people follow black hat SEO and always have the anxiety of losing their position.
But in the meantime, there are SEOs who both support white hat SEO and follow black hat SEO techniques. In fact, these people have chosen gray hat SEO for their site strategies.
If you are one of those people who are looking for different ways to increase site traffic, try the gray hat SEO techniques mentioned in this post. In this article, we at Persia Web intend to examine and analyze the following:
- What is gray hat SEO?
- Why is gray hat SEO important?
- Teaching the latest gray SEO techniques to increase site visits
Stay with us until the end of the article to learn more about the strategies of this category of SEO.
What is Gray Hat SEO?
Sometimes it may feel like when you get good results with white hat SEO, you want to try some black hat techniques to increase your SEO results fast. This is where the gray SEO training is found.
Gray hat SEO training mainly deals with dubious tactics, some of which could one day become black hat. You can consider it somewhat dangerous. But if you do their techniques correctly, great results will follow for your site.
So, there’s nothing wrong with trying them out, especially when you’re looking for worse ways to increase search engine traffic.
Before we go into the most important strategies of this SEO method, let’s first talk about the importance of using it.
Why is Gray Hat SEO Important?
A proper understanding of gray hat SEO performance is very important, because in addition to improving your site’s ranking without negative consequences, it can also cost you a lot by losing site users.
Remember this, be aware of Google’s algorithms when using gray hat SEO. Because according to the updates that Google provides for the algorithms and also the changes that it has periodically for them, it may consider some gray hat techniques in its new update other than black hat and lead to fines and downgrading of your site.
Newer Gray Hat SEO Techniques to Improve Page Rank
In this section, we are going to mention the techniques that you are looking for and with their help you can improve the rank and position of your pages. Note that these techniques are like a double-edged sword, so before implementing each technique, research them thoroughly and be fully aware of the consequences of each of them.
1. Buying and using an old and inactive domain
Buying expired domains is one of the most common strategies for gray hat SEO. In this technique, you help your site by buying expired domains and building backlinks.
But be sure to check that the expired domain is not penalized by search engines and does not have malicious links.
2. Using PBN networks
A blogging network or PBN is a group of sites that you control. In this technique, you use those sites to link to your site to help increase your ranking in Google.
PBNs are actually a black hat SEO strategy, but if you manage it smartly and leave no trace for Google to notice, this technique falls into the realm of gray hat SEO.
generally PBNs, both for backlinks and for content writing, are considered as part of Google’s red line, and if you are found out, heavy crimes like a penalty will be waiting for you.
This technique is not used in most projects, but if you intend to use link building networks to improve your site’s SEO, be sure to consult an SEO expert to operate completely safely so that Google does not notice your mistake.
3. Composition of competitor’s content
Another gray hat SEO technique is content rewriting, which can be helpful for ranking in Google. However, long-term and continuous use of it is a completely unethical practice.
In this method, you take the content from another site and then rewrite it sentence by sentence so that it cannot be recognized by the tools.
In simpler terms, when you intend to write an article for a topic, open the first 10 sites with that keyword and take a paragraph from each site and add it to your page.
In this case, the probability that Google will notice that the content is copied is very low. Of course, for this, you should not move only one verb and subject, and you should completely disrupt the structure of the sentence and create a new sentence. for example:
Copied content: Persia Web, the best website design company which can offer you quality along with affordable cost.
Rewritten content: If we want to mention one of the companies that offers the highest quality website design at a low cost, Persia Web is the best option that can be trusted.
You will notice that both sentences return the same concept, but there is no copy in the rewritten sentence.
4. Link building with the help of web 2.0 sites
Link building with the help of Web 2.0 blogs is one of the gray SEO methods. In this way, you can present your content to improve the quality. The pages of Comma, Medium, Blogger, etc., where you can change and edit the content, are examples of web 2.0.
In fact, in this method, you have the opportunity to communicate with users in a more specialized way in the field of your activity. As a result, user participation will have a positive effect on your site’s SEO.
In other words, websites that allow you and users to interact with each other and express your opinions are called Web 2.0 websites. Current social networks are a type of second generation websites or Web 2.0.
5. Creating and using multiple accounts in social networks
Having a social media account is a white hat SEO technique. However, if you create multiple accounts on different social media, you are actually following a gray hat SEO method. These accounts can help you increase followers, sharing and more traffic.
Some may say that this is completely unnatural. In fact, this method provides a platform for several social networks such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to work for you.
By registering dynamic backlinks for you, you can also invite your users to visit your site, which will increase your site traffic.
6. Commenting on pages
Google gives higher ranking websites that have reviews. This is especially true for local SEO. So one way to trick Google’s algorithm in your favor is to pay people to leave a positive review for your brand.
You can use sites to review positive reviews or encourage your existing customers to use your site for a discount or giveaway you’ve announced. The very important point here is that basically Google has nothing to do with positive or negative comments and the score is actually due to the interaction between users and the site.
On the other hand, adding a comment can help update the pages, which the Freshness algorithm is very sensitive to and can satisfy this algorithm.
7. Submit your site to the web directory
One of the most overused gray hat SEO techniques is web directory submission. You can get relevant and valuable backlinks by submitting your site to the web directory.
Of course, you should note that in this space, list your website in a specific category so as not to get involved in malicious backlinks, because not all web directories are the same.
8. Using the right keyword density
Stuffing content with keywords is a mistake in SEO and will have bad consequences for the site. But if you can maintain good keyword density, you can get the best results from your keyword SEO. For example, try to put your keyword in the following sections for a 1000-word content:
- The title of the article
- Content description
- The alt tag of the images
- h2 and h3 heading tags
- Internet address or URL
- The first and last paragraph of content
You should be careful that the keyword density is always controlled. Not so much that the user feels bad, and not so much that we use keywords only 2 or 3 times in a 3000-word content.
On the other hand, you can take advantage of keyword synonyms and use them in the content so that Google does not find high sensitivity towards your content. For example, in this article, we have used gray hat SEO, gray hat SEO, techniques used in gray hat SEO, and the rest.
9. Proper use of social bookmarking sites
Definitely, excessive use of bookmarking sites to post website links (links to new posts, old posts, other blog pages, etc.) can affect your site’s SEO. Therefore, it is best to share your links only 1 or 2 times on these sites.
10. Link exchange
Basically, most people think that link exchange is one of the black hat SEO techniques, while this method is one of the gray hat SEO strategies. In fact, if link exchange is done automatically, it is classified as black hat, and if it happens manually, it is classified as gray hat tactics.
Note that before the link exchange, make sure that the link of your site will not be deleted from the target site, because if this signal is deleted, it will be sent to the search engines that you have paid a fee by buying a backlink, and there may be light and heavy crimes, considered for you.
Another important point is that the link exchange of your site with another site should not be done at the same time, because it directly reflects the fact that you have given backlinks to each other, and this is against Google’s rules and regulations.
11. Updating Old Content
By updating old content on your site, you are doing one of the gray hat techniques for your site’s SEO. Updating the content is not just lengthening them, you should add additional and required information such as adding a video or podcast, etc., and at the same time pay attention to the length of the words.
12. Buy Social Signal
In this technique of gray hat SEO, you can attract Google’s attention by buying signals from social networks such as likes, comments and sharing posts. It is enough after several months of activity on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. And…, go to social signal seller sites and buy social network signals from them.
Finally, a lot of signals are sent to your posts on these social networks, and Google gets a better view of your brand because of these comments and likes. Of course, you should be careful that excessive use of this technique can cause serious damage to your site.
13. Redesign of website pages
In general, all the above techniques have been tested and have been fruitful, but according to external references, it has been concluded that redesigning web pages causes Google robots to perceive that the content has been updated and to include a special score for it.
Of course, according to the experiences gained, if you change the format, you will find some rank drop, but after that, you will surely get a better rank and position in the target keywords due to the update of the content of the page.
14. Buying reports and backlinks
One of the methods of gray hat SEO is the use of reporting for website pages. Articles that are published from your site on reputable sites make Google think that a reputable site has mentioned you on its site, and for this reason, your credibility with search engines increases.
But some people believe that why should we pay for reporting? When you publish an article on a reputable site, you can refer between 3 to 5 links to different pages of your site as a follow or unfollow.
The stronger this report is and the more traffic it attracts, the higher the credibility of that report with Google, and because there is a link to your pages on that page, high credibility will be transferred to your page and the position of the pages in the search results will increase.
We usually publish reports on popular sites to get closer to our goal, which was mentioned in the upper paragraph. Note that when you buy a report, the purchased link should be permanent and it is also possible to add a follow link to your page.
15. Help from guest post
One of the techniques that indirectly helps the site’s SEO is the use of guest posts. This technique is such that by placing your content on other people’s websites for free, you have the opportunity to get a link back to your page.
But be careful that it is not always like this and usually not all websites allow you to put the link.
You should contact the administrators and support of the target site in advance and make sure that you have the permission to place the link and that this link is permanent. Of course, a good content can also attract traffic to the target site, and this point is returned to your site with the help of a link. And this means a two-way benefit for you and the site in question.
So, with these interpretations and a good content, you can convince the site manager to put at least one link even as a reference at the end of the article.
Among the sites where you can publish content for free and put your link in it is the Virgol site, we suggest you use this opportunity and give a good free backlink to your site.
16. Register the location on the Google map
One of the most attractive gray hat SEO techniques is exactly this. Register your business location in different cities with different names.
With this, you can appear in higher positions in search results with the help of local SEO. For example, a user who searches for buying a table in Dubai will come across results that exist in Dubai.
Of course, you should be careful to get the help of an experienced SEO consultant to provide you with the necessary measures.
17. Mentioning site pages without linking
One of the techniques that make your brand and pages seen by Google is commenting and leaving impressions on other sites. But in order for this action to appear completely natural, sometimes it is better to name our pages without links and not refer any links to our pages.
On the other hand, we can work on social networks and ask questions about our website from other channels and groups.
By doing this, we can send this signal to Google and other search engines that our name and brand are mentioned in social networks, which can greatly help our site’s SEO.
18. Hidden ads to improve site SEO
You may ask how advertising helps the site’s SEO and it is considered gray hat SEO. Yes, it is true that advertising does not directly help SEO and site growth in results, but it will indirectly affect our branding and increase clicks.
Advertisements on reliable and high-traffic sites make your name and brand seen by a large group of people. Maybe a few people will click on it and enter your site, but the continuation of this will make them remember your brand name and when they see your name and brand in the results, they will click on your result due to their previous mentality.
There is a principle in SEO that for a period of time SEO helps the brand, but after that it is the brand that increases the clicks and helps the SEO.
19. Using nested linking
In the upper parts of gray hat SEO training to common techniques to improve site SEO We pointed out through various methods. One of the best methods that helps to improve the position of pages through gray SEO is to buy reports and build external links.
But in this method, so that Google and other search engines do not suspect that you used black hat SEO, it is better not to enter all links directly to the pages.
It is suggested that the links be purchased in a nested form and finally enter the desired page. One of the advantages of this method is that the credibility of several pages is entered into the target page at once, which improves the score of that page, and the possibility that Google and other search engines will find out that we have improved the site’s SEO by using unethical methods will decrease.
What Is The Difference Between Gray Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO?
Many people who work in the field of SEO, ask what is the difference between black and gray hat SEO? In short, it can be said that gray hat SEO is exactly black hat itself, but robots and search engines have not noticed them yet.
Using gray hat SEO always brings its own risks, there may be dangerous techniques that are not important to Google at the moment but may be considered a violation by robots and the sites that used this technique may be fined.
Final word
There are no defined rules on how to rank sites in Google. You can try to get higher rankings in Google by using gray hat, white hat or black hat SEO techniques.
But it’s always better to focus on strategies and tactics that won’t get you penalized by Google’s algorithms. This is the only way you can get a better rank in the long run.
Do you use any other techniques, tips or tricks to get around Google’s rules? Please share your comments with us.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is gray hat SEO?
Gray hat SEO is exactly black hat itself, but robots and search engines have not noticed them yet.
- What are the most important gray hat SEO techniques?
- Buying and using an old and inactive domain
- Using PBN networks
- Competitor content mix
- Link building with the help of web 2.0 sites
- Creating and using multiple accounts in social networks
- Commenting on pages
- Submit your site to a web directory
- Use the right keyword density
- Appropriate use of social bookmarking sites
- Link Exchange
- Updating old content
- Buy Social Signal
- Redesign of website pages
- Buying reports and backlinks
- Contributed by guest post
- Register the location on the Google map
- Mentioning site pages without linking
- Hidden ads to improve site SEO
- Use nested linking
