As someone that consults with businesses about issues with their websites and online marketing there are some things that I see often (and I just don’t understand). There are guidelines and best practices that need to be followed. Hidden text and keyword stuffing has been something the search engines have frowned on for many, many years. However, many of us in the SEO field still see brand new websites popping up with unethical issues such as these, consistently.

I would like to say that you should be able to trust your web designer to create something wonderful (and ethical) for you, but the truth is that many “web designers” know very little to nothing about SEO and they cannot afford to have an SEO on staff. I know all businesses want to save money on advertising costs, but when it comes to a website you get what you pay for.

Business Owners, It is Now Your Responsibility

It is now up to the business owner to learn and understand what things the search engines frown upon and what things they will penalize. If you are going to be hiring vendors for web development, PPC and online marketing you need to be able to determine if they are qualified or not. You need to know what questions to ask and you need to be responsible for ensuring that nothing goes on your website, or the web, that can hurt your rankings with the search engines.

Where to Start

You can start learning by reading through the Google Webmaster Guidelines and even learning from the Webmaster Academy. You can also check out the Google Webmaster Help YouTube channel, where they answer questions and discuss common problems. The only way for business owners to avoid penalties and ranking problems it to learn what the search engines want and don’t want or to hire a very qualified SEO consultant.

Back to the Question: What Google Wants You to Know About Hidden Text and Keyword Stuffing

The following video is from Google Webmaster Help and in the video they discuss what hidden text and keyword stuffing are and how these things are commonly done. I suggest all business owners watch it and learn so they know how to avoid getting penalized for these issues. Enjoy…