Black Hat SEO gets you penalized
When it comes to improving your website’s ranking within the search engine results, you must be careful. The wrong move and your website can face a penalty at the hands of Google. If Google has discovered that you are not adhering to the strict webmaster guidelines, their wrath can potentially cost you business. Instead of showing up high in the results, your website will be buried within the listings (you’ll have to scroll many pages to find yourself) for a period of at least 60-90 days.
SEO tactics that do not adhere to webmaster guidelines are referred to as Black Hat SEO. Those who engage in Black Hat SEO often see the search engine as the enemy and are trying ways to manipulate the system for their own personal gain. For whatever reason, they believe since they are “getting one by” on the search engine, they are in full control. However, these sites that use black hat SEO are almost always caught. Therefore you have to ask yourself if it is worth it to be at the top for some time, just to face a penalty at a later date.
The webmaster guidelines are public information and you should familiarize yourself with them before beginning any optimization endeavors for your site. If you are hiring a professional SEO service to handle an internet marketing campaign, you should still read them thoroughly. This way when deciding which firm to retain, you will be able to tell what is legal or not when discussing the specific tactics they will utilize on your behalf.