In this chapter, we learned about a range of black hat techniques and why the obvious course is to avoid them religiously. You must always remain vigilant in honoring Google Webmaster Guidelines. Stay right with Google, and you'll be rewarded with high rankings and steer clear of damaging ranking penalties.

In this chapter, we examined the full spectrum of forbidden black hat and gray hat techniques, such as hidden text, cloaking, sneaky redirects, doorway pages, and more. We dug into Google Webmaster Guidelines and learned how and when Google will act on a violation. We discovered the difference between penalties, filters, and bans, and how to distinguish them. We learned how to diagnose and repair specific Google penalties.

Finally, we learned how to avoid the black hat techniques by steering clear of purveyors of these forbidden techniques. By following the guidelines set forth in this chapter, you will keep your rankings and traffic shielded from penalty. In the next chapter, we...