What SEO agencies don’t want you to know?

The Secrets of the SEO underground from a recovering SEO Hacker. The story of a college kid who made $20,000 online, moved to Phoenix and changed his life!

My Name is Rick and I am a Google Addict

Why Now?

Welcome to the Dark Side

In this article I am going to give you the secrets of the Dark Side of BlackHat SEO. You are probably wondering why I am coming forward now? The truth is the game is changing, SEO is dying and I have learned my lesson the hard way. Google has been taken over by Spammers and are ruining the Internet. What started as fun and games has taken a deep dark twist. I am hoping both Business CEO’s and Digital Marketers will learn from my mistakes. So let’s get started and have some fun.

Hacking Google for Fun and Profit!

Blackhat SEO is not illegal, it is against some Terms of Services, but Gaming the Google system is a lot like cheating on a test. You aren’t going to jail but if you get caught you are going to get kicked out and fail.

In business it is always about the Risk Reward Ratio. For a college kid trying to make money online the risk was super low and super easy. Back in 2005, you could do some keyword stuffing, hide some white text on a white background, buy some links and you are pretty much set. I made roughly $20,000 on Commission Junction and got my account frozen, all in a month. They had never seen so much explosive growth and sales. Thanks Google,. I was hooked!

Once you get that first thrill you only want more. I started looking for who else knows this stuff? Welcome to the world of the SEO Gurus. I was all over it. Being from a small town in Ohio I was an easy target. The basic pitch is they have hidden knowledge of the internet and if only you would give them all your money, you could have it too. These people are so tricky, masters of sales and persuasion, NLP, Subliminal Messages and Weasel Phrases. If you don’t know what I am talking about and are in digital marketing, go Google those terms right now! Anytime someone promises you quick cash, look at their motives and what they are getting out of it. After investing in many courses and invite only Master Minds, I got an invite to the SEO Dark Web.

I started hanging out on these IRC underground channels, think back alley dark web before the dark web. It was an invite only group with everything from SEO, Facebook Hacks, to stolen credit cards and insider trading secrets. Of course I am not into anything illegal but it seems like SEO attracts the same crowd.

Before we jump into the SEO secrets I will give away the biggest secret from the Digital Marketing Gurus. They sell you crap for cheap, to get you on a list, to sell you more crap. They will then try to upsell you to the “Real Stuff” which they had to bring in another guy to get you it. He then puts you on his list too, to sell you even more crap. Finally if you are lucky enough to get a Master Mind invite you only have to pay $20,000 for an hour meeting in a backroom of a Las Vegas Night Club, to learn the really secret stuff that Google doesn’t want you to know. Seems totally legit right? Run away and don’t be a sucker like me.

Then things took a turn for the worse for the SEO world around 2012. Google started catching on and the Gold Rush was about over. The strong survived but most people got out of the Game. SEO Panda and Penguin are some nasty algorithms. Gone are the days of Rank and Bank.

The first rule of backlinks, never talk about the backlinks.

So Google wiped out spammer links with Google Panda and Penguin right? Well yes and no. These SEO IRC hackers aren’t going anywhere, they actually view it as a challenge. This is very similar to regular computer hackers and criminals. The Professionals do it for the fun and the thrill. They don’t do it for anyone else, only to say they can. Power is the most addictive drug and being able to manipulate the Internet is pretty powerful. So you are probably wondering if I got out of the game with the Google Bird Updates? Of course not, I am a hacker. It took me until recently to 100% jump ship and I will explain why later. I didn’t give up, I just found a new game to play. A game that is more fun and powerful than any Blackhat SEO tactic. However let’s look into what works today in Black Hat SEO and why you should stay away.

Top 10 Blackhat SEO Tricks that still work today.

Exact Match Domains

• We have all seen this one. You search for the Best Nike Shoes and the #1 site on Google is TheBestNikeShoes.com
• Google keeps promising that EMD is going to stop working, but if you start looking around the internet and try to buy something, you can’t not see a EMD site ranking. Blocking this is actually very difficult to do, so cut Google some slack here.

Purchasing Domains

• Well you have a brand new site and you want to get ranked next month. Well Google has a waiting period for new sites with 0 authority. “Ain’t nobody got time for that”. Enter GoDaddy Auctions. For the small entrance fee of $197 you too can own a website that has been around for 10 years, you only need $500-$1000 in your PayPal. Well that is a no brainer, imagine that ROI. I am passing go and collecting my $200 dollars ASAP. While I am in GoDaddy, I better pick up some more domains to use for my Blackhat SEO Network later.

Private Blog Networks

• Private Blog Networks are the Link Wheels of the future. Instead of buying links from other site owners, why don’t I make a network of my own sites and just link them up. Buy a few High Pagerank, DA, PA, TF, CF sites and you got a machine made to dominate Google.

Scraped Content

• But wait, I have a bunch of sites but nothing to put on them. No problem, let’s hit up the wayback machine. If you don’t know what the Wayback Machine is. It is pretty much a historical archive of the Internet. Go check out what Aol.com looked like back in 97. So with this tool you just check out what your old domain use to be and rip/scrape the code. Change all the links to point to yours and BAM instant credibility.

Ripping Off The competition and make your “Money Site”

• But Rick, I don’t have a website and nothing to sell. No problem, you have two options. 1.) Start an SEO agency and find some clients. 2.) Go to cj.com or shareasale.com and get a product to sell. Then track down who is #1 in Google for those products and write down those URLs. Then head over to UpWork.com or Fiverr.com and send some links overseas and say “I want this exact site but don’t copy it, just use for inspiration”. By the end of the day you now own TheBestNikeShoes.com, globalization and outsourcing at it’s best.

Keeping the Blog Fresh

• Everyone knows you need a Blog on a website, right? Why do all that work to build one when you can grab content from 10 different industry leaders, and spin them together to the point it isn’t plagiarism but also isn’t readable. Who cares, blogs aren’t for people it is for Google. On Site Optimization Check.

Links

• Now I need some more links. I wonder where I can get those? Black Hat Forums, cough cough. Better yet let’s do some automated link building and some comment spam. With the press of a button and routing your connection all over the globe you spread the word with ScrapeBox and SENuke. Instant Links

Guest Blog Posting

• Well we have a great site that ranks in Google but we aren’t #1 yet. What should we do? Well who better to help me get ranked than the Gurus. They love selling people stuff and by now I know more than they do. Mr. X do you want to let me post some content on your website that makes it look like you know what your talking about. Just add a link to my site and we will call it even. Heck I will even do a Podcast and sound super important. Invite Only Master Mind coming up.

If that doesn’t do it, there is only one place left to go. “The fake news”!

• I am not talking left wing media or fox news. No I am talking about Top Tier Magazines, Newspapers, and getting quoted in every business journal imaginable. Mr. Editor can I post an article on your website, I have no credibility. Sure that will be $10,000.

Well by the end of this you own a massively successful Shopify site, you own your own SEO agency and you are a thought leader in the industry. How could it get any better? I am the SEO King and no one can stop me!

Watch out for the growth hackers

The only problem is there is a new kid on the block, the Growth Hacker. This new breed of hacker is not limited to Google and stretches to every corner of the Internet. They use Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, iPhone Apps, Forums, Private Slack Communities to create HUGE real value to their startups and companies. They are literally hacking the process of creating a profitable, sustainable business. “The Lean Startup” has just recruited the best hackers on the planet and the SEO community is on notice. When is the last time you heard of TheBestNikeShoes.com IPO for $225 million. Time to step up into the big league boys. The game hasn’t changed, just the name.

Fast forward to my life in 2017. I am providing real value at Coplex for our startups and being the best in the world as a Startup Accelerator Growth Hacker. I own 3 Joint Ventures and have an amazing marketing automation software in beta testing. I couldn’t be more happy in my transition. The Wolf of SEO is now working to become The King of IPOs. It is all the same game but it was just time to level up.

Look out for my upcoming posts on Growth Hacking, White Hat SEO, and adding value to businesses! I also love brainstorming and talking about startups. Connect with me on LinkedIn and I would love to chat.