Q and A: Is it considered black hat SEO to hide H1 tags within CSS?
Dear Kalena...
If you make H1 tags hidden by using the CSS method, do search engines like Google and Yahoo consider this black hat SEO? I've heard that using the colour method is definitely considered bad SEO but that wouldn't be used along with the CSS method. It was suggested to use the CSS method for our H1 tags we're creating for clients but I wasn't sure if it was something that would be safe to implement as part of our SEO set up for clients.
Demi
Kalena's Answer:
Dear Demi
It depends on the intent. If you are deliberately hiding tags in your CSS because you don't want search engines to find them, that's black hat, in my opinion. If there is a legitimate usability or design reason to put these tags in your CSS, then my feeling is it's ok.
However, Google's own staff recommend against using CSS to hide text so I would probably avoid it if you can.
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If you make H1 tags hidden by using the CSS method, do search engines like Google and Yahoo consider this black hat SEO? I've heard that using the colour method is definitely considered bad SEO but that wouldn't be used along with the CSS method. It was suggested to use the CSS method for our H1 tags we're creating for clients but I wasn't sure if it was something that would be safe to implement as part of our SEO set up for clients.
Demi
Kalena's Answer:
Dear Demi
It depends on the intent. If you are deliberately hiding tags in your CSS because you don't want search engines to find them, that's black hat, in my opinion. If there is a legitimate usability or design reason to put these tags in your CSS, then my feeling is it's ok.
However, Google's own staff recommend against using CSS to hide text so I would probably avoid it if you can.
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[If you found this post helpful, you might benefit from downloading our free Search Engine Optimization lesson]
Labels: cloaking, search engine spam
