For anyone who manages websites and web pages, ranking high on search engine results is one of the biggest goals. However, the internet is oversaturated, making ranking certain keywords or topics difficult. That’s why some resort to other methods, like cloaking, which can be an easier but more deceptive way to manipulate search engine rankings.
What is cloaking?
Cloaking is a strategy that some websites practice to improve search engine optimization (SEO). Some consider it controversial and unethical because it aims to manipulate search engine rankings in a deceptive way. Website owners and developers resort to this practice to appear higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) without providing valuable content or adhering to search engine guidelines.
How does cloaking work?
There are several ways to do cloaking, but here is a simplified breakdown of how this black hat SEO technique works:
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Creating a search engine-optimized website
A website can easily rank if it is optimized for search engine ranking. This is done by using relevant keywords that rank on search engine results pages, building reliable backlinks, formatting the website content to fit an optimized website best, and many other standard practices for ranking high on search engine results. However, in cloaking, these practices are done with deception by presenting different content to search engines and human visitors.
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Presenting different content
The next step is where cloaking comes into play because it involves deceiving human visitors to the website and search engine crawlers:
Hiding content from human visitors
- JavaScript-based loading. Some websites may load content after loading a webpage through JavaScript. This enables website crawlers to see the content, making it potentially visible to search engines. However, human visitors to the website may not see the content immediately, presenting different content to search engines and humans.
- Off-screen placements. Cloaking may also involve placing deceptive content outside a visible area of the webpage. Website crawlers can still see that content, but because of off-screen placements, it can be hidden from human visitors.
- CSS tricks. Websites that practice cloaking may employ Cascading Style Sheets tricks, which use CSS to hide some website elements from human visitors, like hidden or collapsible components. These components are still accessible by website crawlers but can be completely hidden from human visitors.
Displaying optimized content for website crawlers to see
- Keyword stuffing. This is the practice of excessively using ranking keywords throughout a webpage’s content. In context, this may help a webpage rank higher on search engines. However, webpages that use this technique may also suffer from unreadable content and non-contextual keyword usage.
- Hidden text technique. Strategies in this category include using very small fonts, white font on a white background, or placing texts off-screen. These techniques may hide texts from human visitors but can still be visible to website crawlers.
- Landing pages. Some web developers create landing pages to attract website crawlers and search engine traffic. However, these landing pages are just doorway passages that redirect human visitors to another irrelevant page.
Advantages and disadvantages of cloaking
Websites created using cloaking techniques may benefit from the strategies, especially in search engine optimization. However, cloaking may also have disadvantages like any other deceptive SEO practice. Here are some pros and cons of cloaking:
Advantages
- Improved search engine rankings. At its core, cloaking is done to enhance a web page’s search engine optimization. This may improve a web page’s ranking on search engine results, giving the website an edge over competitors.
- Tailored content. If cloaking is used to deliver highly relevant and personalized content to individual users, it could theoretically enhance the user experience. But of course, this is hypothetical and may still warrant disadvantages in the long run.
Disadvantages
- Search engine penalties. Search engines don’t tolerate practices that aim to manipulate the system to get higher rankings on search engine results. This may cause search engines to penalize websites that employ cloaking practices, hurting traffic generation.
- Damaged reputation. Websites involved in cloaking practices may be caught by search engines and penalized. This can result in human visitors losing trust in the website, damaging its reputation.
- Legal consequences: Cloaking can have legal implications in some cases, especially if it violates copyright or other laws.
Conclusion
Web developers aim to get their web pages to rank high in search engines. This can be done through proper search engine optimization techniques. However, some wanted it the easiest way, so they resorted to a black hat SEO technique called cloaking.
Cloaking may have advantages, especially in bringing traffic to a website. However, like many other deceptive search engine optimization practices, it may have destructive consequences. That’s why if you want to get your website’s ranking higher, doing it organically is the preferred way.
