Books like this one are of little use to black hat webmasters, who rely on shortcuts to web rankings and traffic, so we suspect our audience is predisposed to our warning about black hat techniques. You are more likely to be lured into a black hat scheme than concoct one yourself. If you honor the Google Webmaster Guidelines and produce valuable original content, you are extremely unlikely to be penalized.

But black hat providers prowl the Internet for business constantly. You may already have received e-mails about link exchanges and automated content services. Nearly 100 percent of all mass marketed traffic, link, and content services are black hat services, and should be avoided. As you promote your site and become more visible online, the number of inbound inquiries you receive will increase.