Search engine optimisation (SEO) can come under various guises and you’ve probably heard of white hat SEO and black hat SEO. This article discusses both techniques and steers you towards using ethical SEO that will bring the right results. Unethical SEO should be avoided at all costs as the very short-term potential gains are soon eroded when search engines become wise – and they will.
White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO – the origins
SEO is a very black and white environment and so are the terms and processes. The term white hat originates in the computing world to describe someone who does something positive while black hat is the inverse – someone or their techniques aiming to carry out unethical or illegal tactics.
In the SEO context, white hat refers to someone or their processes that work within the accepted guidelines of search engines. Black hat SEO uses underhand techniques to try and fool search engines and is also commonly referred to as spamdexing. Search engines need to satisfy their users and in the ever competitive search market, search engines will actively penalise black hat as misleading or inaccurate search results will be a direct reflection of their ability to present the correct search results.
White Hat SEO – the right and only way to build traffic
Search engines have made it clear that the only approach to gaining high traffic and prominent search engine ranking is through white hat SEO. Search engines go to great lengths to document what practices are acceptable and provide webmaster tools and forums to clearly illustrate what unethical techniques to avoid. Lack of information is no longer an excuse – white hat SEO is the only approach to improve your website visibility.
White Hat SEO in a nutshell
Steer away from the dark side and implement the correct SEO processes through:-
- Content writing – use the best copywriters who stick to the ethical use of keywords and avoid spamming with keyword stuffing. The best copywriters in the business can get just the right balance to write excellent copy that search engines reward.
- Link Building – slow and targeted building of quality links. Quality always beats quantity and there is a direct relationship between relevant link building and white hat SEO. Inversely an unnatural and rapid growth is often a key trait of black hat SEO. Link building is not an overnight miracle, anyone offering rapid growth or automated processes will have strayed into black hat SEO.
- Long Tail SEO LTaS – the best approach to capturing more of the search engine results. Long tail complies with all white hat SEO tactics and capitalises on the fact that internet users are now using longer search queries. LTaS also competes for less competitive “vanity” keywords and combined with best copywriting practices can drive traffic up.
Black Hat SEO – what to avoid
Do not be tempted to use any unethical black hat SEO that will most definitely result in being penalised by search engines.
SEO really is a black and white industry – the only colour variants are red and green, black hat SEO definitely leads to a red card.
- Link Building – black hat SEO will look to build a large number of links over a short period of time. Steer away from SEO that offers link farms, link building programs or is offered through automated processes or software. White hat SEO link building is an art based on quality, relevance and reputation in contrast to black hat which looks for any link, anywhere and has no relevance. Search engines do not like to deliver irrelevant results and are excellent at sniffing out these practices. Exponential link growth, as delivered by black hat SEO, is easy for search engines to track and penalise.
- Spamming – unethical SEO looks to write content that is stuffed with keywords that have little if any bearing on the content of the page. Historically black hat SEO used to “stuff” a huge amount keywords into a page’s content. Other techniques include hiding keywords within a page in a text colour that matches the background. Search engines are again very wise to this and will immediately punish websites that try to cheat.
- Redirects – black hat uses “legitimate” landing pages that then redirect to the page the SEO’er wants to promote. This is again misleading visitors and heavily penalised.
White Hat SEO – do the right thing
When considering SEO step back at times and look at things from the visitors’ perspective. You are highly unlikely to engage with a site that does not deliver the results you were seeking. Search engines try to please visitors and black hat SEO will not only alienate search engines but also do little to enamour visitors.
White hat SEO not only fulfils all search engine regulations but also funnels the correct visitors who are following links and landing on your pages because they are seeking relevant information.
White Hat SEO – not an overnight miracle
Gauging how long a website will rank highly or predicting traffic increases is hard. Black hat SEO will often be promoted by unrealistic (and certainly unsustainable) promises, there os no such thing as overnight success unless your brand is incredibly well known.
White hat SEO makes no promise but an ethical SEO company will be able to forecast anticipated results and map clear, balanced and accepted plans to increase traffic.
Here at the WebMarketing Group we only wear white SEO hats, we work to deliver realistic goals and increasing your website’s visibility is our goal.
Contact us now or call 0845 555 5040 to discuss your white hat SEO needs.
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