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The unthinkable has finally happened. Google has lowered the boom on thousands of "black hat" SEO's. "Black hats" are, of course, the webmasters who for years have been playing the system by breaking the rules and regulations Google and other major search engines have established. Essentially, Google's recent crackdown came via a major algorithm change, which left thousands of spam ridden "black hat" SEO sites in the dust. Many such sites fell from high prominence in the search rankings down to page 100 in a single stroke. Is there any technique that can restore some of these former black hat sites to credibility and a decent page ranking? Many individuals are posting on this topic, suggesting strategies which are as implausible as they are simply impractical.
The consensus seems to be that, instead of searching for a secret short cut, simply cut out the spam, establish good link building, and supply weighty content. It's harder than it looks. Many black hats and novice web page builders have relied on short cuts and spam to quickly supply content to a site and get it up in the rankings. Many such webmasters are operating not so much out of personal greed, but from impatience and inexperience. Regardless, Google's algorithm change was adopted in order to clean up the web and give users a far more friendly website browsing experience, one that will not involve them clicking on clicker ads and being misdirected to spammy or potentially harmful sites. So, in many cases, webmasters with good intentions have inadvertently felt the sting of Google's whip, right along with the black hats.
However, most SEO experts maintain that this can be remedied by adopting the method of clearing the spam off your site, and writing good content that will stand the test of Google's next great house cleaning attempt (which is bound to come sooner or later). But, in the meantime, you have to do what you have to do to survive. So get involved in link building! Get cracking on sharing and exchanging links, and link building trading agreements with other webmasters and their pages. Start marketing and promoting your site by leaving blog comments on others' pages, and getting in contact with other webmasters to work out page, link, and even content sharing agreements. Networking experts agree that keeping things face to face (or at least by email) is the key to success. You've got to prove to Google that you are an active webmaster, and that you have built up a network of contacts, in order to keep your site fresh and relevant on a weekly or daily basis. If you can accomplish all of this, then you can survive the next major shakeup that Google brings down in order to enforce its house rules. This is the opinion of most reputable sources.
In the end, according to these experts, it all comes down to content. Make sure that the content you provide for your site topic or the goods that you sell is informative, well written, and full of relevance. Don't leave ads and descriptions for goods that have sold out. Don't leave your "latest news" section full of old news items that have been out of date for several months or a year. Get rid of old content, or simply archive it, and bring in plenty of new content as well. Even if you currently have no new goods to promote, or any latest news to share regarding your niche topic, post a site update with a tidbit or two of information. Do this a few times per week, and it ought to be enough to prove to Google that you are in possession of a page that shows constant supervision, revision, and maintenance. If you can commit to all of these recommendations and apply them religiously to your site, then you should have no trouble avoiding the next big Google crackdown when it arrives. This is the considered opinion of most leading online journals and independent SEO experts.