Black Hat Social Media and how does it affects SEO

The term ‘black hat’ exclusively refers to a hacker who penetrates and exploits a computer network for malevolent reasons which has its version for everything on the internet. The black hat social media can be defined in different ways by different people; however, the phrase is commonly used for any social media techniques that are used to drive relevant traffic to the website but which fall outside the stipulated search engine guidelines or terms of service.

This unethical practise is spawning a new era of web spam, affecting the social media sites, the users and the businesses those who are utilising the site for marketing. To understand the hitch better, let’s start with the examples.

Examples of Black Hat Social Media Practices

• Buying fake likes, comments, subscriptions, etc., by recruiting real people
• Creating fake profiles in the social media platform to engage people to like your page, comment and collect information
• Playing the dirty game by writing negative reviews on your competitor’s website
• Ranking profiles with competitor’s names and posting negative comments

These above mentioned points are only a fraction of the examples of black hat social media. You can actually use the social media in a number of ways for both positive and negative impact.

How these black Hat Strategies Affect SEO?

Black hat social media is used to draw pertinent traffic to the website and boost its traffic. This work is usually outsourced and is mainly done for the promotional purposes. However, this technique has a much profound effect on SEO. Here’s how these immoral techniques affect your website ranking.

• Buying fake likes, comments, subscriptions, etc., by recruiting real people

It is true that majority of the pertinent traffic is secured from the social media management. The securing of traffic does affect SEO, regardless of the technique used for securing. Therefore, it has become a common practise today, to buy real people and get false likes and comments.

According to Search Engine Land, “Social signals are emerging as ranking factors as search engines determine how to leverage our social interaction and behaviour.” These signals actually have impacts on search engine optimisation.

• Optimising fake accounts to like your page and comment

Have you ever imagined the number of accounts a person can create on social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.? It’s millions! Yes, a person can create millions of accounts and drive immense traffic to the website.  This will affect website’s authority and ranking, thereby affecting its SEO.

However, the outranking of your competitor’s real web properties can hurt them and also can hurt the overall brand image, if the displayed listings deter the user.

• Fake reviews and automating your followers, likes, etc.

If someone leaves a negative review about your business which ranks well and the potential customer finds it on web search, then it can really hurt your business. Also, reviews with an appropriate structured data mark-up can take away your present customer as these reviews can display as a rich snippet in search results. The users seeing this which is considered as a low star count for the business may decide to take their business else where

Again, automating your followers i.e., using machines or boost may have great impact on SEO as you can get 1000 likes, shares and comments with it.

What you can do to save your business?

• Mark things as spam

The thing that may set your heart beat to normal is that almost all social media sites have the ability to mark things as spam. You can easily mark things as spam that may hurt your SEO.

• Contact the legal department

If you’ve a legitimate claim, you can contact the company’s legal department, as most social media sites have an area to contact them.

• Report spam on Google

You can also use the old web spam reporting form on Google to get something ranked in Google.

With increasing importance of more visibility in the social media for SEO, more businesses will try and beat this system of unethical behaviours. So, every reputable company such as Unitel Direct should ensure that their brand image is maintained.

An overview about Google Pigeon Update

Google Pigeon update Direct aims at providing more relevant and accurate local search results, tied to the web search ranking signals. This means that the results emphasised more on the searcher’s location in the traditional search results and Google Maps.

 Moreover, there have been updates to the knowledge graph and also the way synonyms and misspellings will be used to determine the search results.

 Why the update?

It may be a result of Google lending an ear to Yelp’s problem as it accused Google of manipulating and favouring its own content. However, the update is  tailored to provide better and enhancing experience to the mobile users, as more and more people today are using mobile for searching appropriate products and services.

How will it Affect Local Businesses?

Due to more relevant search and prioritizing of directories, some local businesses might be pushed out of heavier traffic. However, due to increased emphasis on local search, some other small businesses will benefit considerably.

Your business might witness a change in the ranking, either positively or negatively. You might see some pages fall out of rankings, while others rank better.

What You Need to do now?

Find out how your business is affected by the update. In case it has a negative effect, you can recover it by:

• Make sure that your business appears in the directories and if not, register with them and try to collect positive views about your business such as Unitel Direct reviews.
• If your keywords are appearing in the local search, get them optimised and if not, ensure that you appear in the organic results.
• Try to focus more on on-page optimisation, backlinks, etc., if your ranking has dropped due to the update.
• Check for broken links, spellings, appropriate contact number, etc. in your Google listing and try to add it in the footer of your site for better visibility.
• Build a mobile responsive and optimised website.

 Conclusion

It might take some time to completely understand the impact of the update on businesses. However, it is more likely to benefit small businesses laid on the local search results.

Know why you should select Unitel direct

There are many companies in this day and age that can help you have a wonderful presence on the web. In case, you are looking for one such service provider that offers high class web solutions, then Unitel Direct can prove to be the right choice.

Being a leading name in the industry, this company knows it all when it comes to giving its clients the solutions that they are looking for. As a matter of fact, it has become a preferred choice of many for reliable internet services, telecom, broadband as well as mobile phones.

If you are thinking why you should rely on this company for your varied needs related to the internet, then we will help you understand the reasons. Read on to know more!

Experience – It goes without saying that experience plays a very crucial role when it comes to selecting a service provider. The more experience a company holds, the more confident you can be of obtaining nothing but superior quality services. This company has been a renowned and reputable part of the industry for the past many years. Thus, you can be sure of obtaining the right services from this company.

Feedback – Customers’ feedback can help you ascertain the level of customer service that a company offers. You can surely take a look at the various Unitel Direct reviews that are available on the World Wide Web and observe the excellence of the company. When true and genuine feedback of the customers is available, you can definitely make the right choice.

Comprehensive Solutions – If you are looking for ‘one stop shop’ for your diverse internet related needs, then this company can prove to be the right choice. From website design, eCommerce solutions, to internet marketing, broadband packages, and much more – Unitel Direct offers it all! Thus, you can easily depend on one company for all your requirements, and do not have to wander here and there to find different companies for different services.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact the experts from this company today and get the solutions you are in need of!