{"id":5587,"date":"2022-03-17T08:05:12","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T08:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joshuageorge.co.uk\/?p=5587"},"modified":"2022-05-21T13:43:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T13:43:51","slug":"what-is-cloaking-in-seo-the-truth-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joshuageorge.co.uk\/what-is-cloaking-in-seo-the-truth-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Cloaking In SEO | The Truth Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Search engine optimization is a gradual process. You need to tick numerous boxes before expecting your website to rank high on the search engine results page (SERP). This process can take months<\/a>. This article is going to focus on what is cloaking in SEO.<\/p>\n

However, there is an alternative to this, that can fast-track your SEO goals.<\/p>\n

Wondering what this is?<\/p>\n

We are talking about the concept of cloaking in SEO, a black hat technique that web designers use for better indexing.<\/p>\n

To understand this better, let’s dive into the details of this process.<\/p>\n

Definition<\/h2>\n

Cloaking in SEO refers to a technique based on feeding different versions of the information to search engine users and crawlers than to its users. This, in turn, results in manipulating the search engine rankings by providing it with cloak content.<\/p>\n

The primary objective of this technique, therefore, is to get a higher ranking for your web page on the SERP.<\/p>\n

You need to understand that this is an illegal practice and is considered a black hat SEO practice. It comes with repercussions and penalties but more on that later.<\/p>\n

How does cloaking work?<\/h2>\n

With the assistance of cloaking in SEO, you can get better results for your website and increase your prospects of getting more results. But, you must be wondering how does this gets implemented?<\/p>\n

This section will answer your question.<\/p>\n

Every device is assigned different IP addresses in the digital world. Cloaking in SEO uses these IP addresses and user agent HTTP header to deliver content to different users.<\/p>\n

This is done by tampering with a file called .htaccess. You can use an apache server module called “mod_rewrite” <\/a>on the .htaccess file to initiate cloaking on your web pages.<\/p>\n

Now, the google webmaster gathers these IP addresses or search engine crawlers. The ‘mod_rewrite’ module detects whether the IP address belongs to search engine bots or not and delivers a different version of content based on the results. It provides an altered version (Cloak URL) of the web page to bots and an unaltered version to ordinary users.<\/p>\n

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Source<\/a><\/p>\n

Some common cloaking practices<\/h2>\n

Now that you know the basic functioning of the cloaking process. It is time to look at some of the common ways to implement this technique.<\/p>\n

1. Flash pages and websites<\/h3>\n

Flash-based websites are not recommended as per the SEO guidelines. However, numerous websites require a lot of unavoidable flashes. Instead of rebuilding the entire website with plain HTML codes, individuals create content-rich web pages and provide them to bots on search engines and feed flash pages to human users.<\/p>\n

2. E-mail cloaking<\/h3>\n

This is a practice of hiding the name and other credentials of the sender so that the recipient doesn’t get to know who sent the e-mail.<\/p>\n

This is a common practice in companies that send bulk emails as it serves many purposes. One such reason is to prevent an individual from swamping the sender’s e-mail server with retribution spam.<\/p>\n

3. Image gallery websites<\/h3>\n

Search engine crawlers do not scan images on a web page. Therefore, web designers seek to cloak using pictures as they help them get better rankings for relevant keywords.<\/p>\n

4. HTML rich websites<\/h3>\n

SEO guidelines recommend having a good ‘text to HTML ratio.’ The higher the ratio, the better your chances of ranking well on the SERP. This means that your web page should have more text than HTML tags.<\/p>\n

But, if you are putting out short articles, your text to HTML ratio is bound to be poor. Therefore, to avoid redesigning the entire website, web admins optimize it by using cloaking to meet SEO guidelines.<\/p>\n

5. Invisible text<\/h3>\n

This method is used to add additional elements like keyword stuffing and overwritten content in a way that is invisible to users. A common way of doing this is adding the text in the same color as the web page’s background color, which is invisible to human eyes.<\/p>\n

You’ve to admit, quite clever right?<\/p>\n

Google’s webmaster guidelines and cloaking<\/h2>\n

Despite the specific benefits that cloaking in SEO brings, it goes against the Google webmaster’s guidelines. Therefore, it might not be the most viable technique for SEO optimization.<\/p>\n

If you are using cloaking, you run the risk of getting your site re-indexed or removed from SERP’s index for a temporary boost in rankings. If Google detects such practices, it will penalize your website with bans and other repercussions.<\/p>\n

About 10 years ago, cloaking in SEO would have been an excellent option for ranking higher in the SERP. But currently, due to advancements in search engines algorithm, it is challenging to get away with such practices without being traced.<\/p>\n

According to Google, some examples of cloaking include;<\/p>\n