SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it refers to a combination of strategies and techniques used to increase traffic on a certain website by getting the website a good ranking in search engine results. White hat SEO is also called Ethical SEO and it includes all the strategies and techniques used that focus on human audience rather than on search engines, and they entirely follow the rules and policies of search engines. Also, they are focused mainly on the relevancy of the content and on organic search. This means that white hat SEO techniques maintain the integrity of the website and some of them include:
- Backlinking
- Link building. This is still quite important. The main thing to remember is to use the right kind of links, which means the ones that are truly relevant to your website.
- Keyword research. There are a lot of new keyword tools that can help you and try to avoid using every possible variation of a phrase found in a keyword batch.
- Offering high-quality, relevant, and interesting content
- Making an intuitive and easy-to-use website and focusing on User Experience. Search engines use algorithms to determine how relevant and useful your content is. They will also reward effort and hard work that goes into creating a website that isn’t only interesting, but offers a great user experience.
- Making the website responsive and offering fast loading times
Img source: searchengineland.com
On the other hand, there is black hat SEO which relies on purchasing links or even using deceptive cloaking techniques. They basically include every technique that is harmful to consumers or is deceiving them in some way. Search engines’ algorithms constantly evolve and change in order to be able to spot such practices and stop them. Black hat SEO techniques are very risky as they could get your website banned from search engines. Not only can this hurt you, but it could stop your business entirely. Google is a giant that, in all likelihood, drives the majority of traffic to your website. In case you lose that, you’re going to be facing enormous consequences. Of course, if you ever need help you can ask for it here.
White hat SEO comes with numerous advantages, other than preventing your website to be banned from search engines. In the long run, it is cheaper than black hat SEO as it’s just a matter of time when you’ll be forced to repair the damage that has been done by the usage of deceitful techniques which were penalized by Google. The process can be expensive and time-consuming. Furthermore, the rank that you’ve achieved using white hat SEO techniques are longer-lasting and more stable.
Img source: seo-hacker.com
However, there is a reason that many turn to black hat SEO techniques even though it’s such a risky business. White hat SEO techniques have a rather limited scope. When it comes to off-page optimization, possibilities are quite limited. Also, the competition can drive you into using black, or maybe gray hat SEO. If your competitors are using certain techniques, you are kind of forced to do the same thing in order to stay relevant and not fall behind.