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White Hat vs Black Hat SEO

Each year Google is forced to update the search engine algorithm multiple times in order to direct users to the sites that will be most relevant and useful to the users’ needs. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is part of the algorithmic process used for this direction.

 

SEO provides users with the sites that have the most “hits” relevant to their searches. The more “hits” a site gets, the higher it is ranked. Higher rankings help distribute the owner’s information out to the public. There are two ways for owners to push their information to the “top of the pile”: White Hat SEO or Black Hat SEO.

 

White Hat SEO

White Hat SEO is the “good” path for owners. It is the path that is approved by the specific search engine guidelines, so it is simply the ethical path. White Hat SEO uses the techniques that have been encouraged by these guidelines. Owners should be focused on the site architecture, using original, quality content, securing inbound links, and using keywords.

Site Architecture

The layout of a site impacts the way search bots, “spider crawlers,” sift through information. Important keywords should be found in titles, headings, and tags on the site

Original, Quality Content

The content of a site should belong to the owner and be useful to anyone who is wishing to view the site.

Secure Inbound Links

Relevant sites that contain the owner’s link will gain “hits” for the site.

Keywords

Keywords should be used in titles, headings, tags, and summaries of the site, so the site is easily found when users search for related information.

 

Black Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO is anything that is in violation of the search engine guidelines. It focuses on appealing to the “spider crawlers’ that scan sites for any keywords that will relate to what the user has searched. Black Hat SEO involves the owner of the site “cheating the system” by cloaking, spam-dexing, using invisible text, doorway pages, and deceptive redirects.

Cloaking

Cloaking is when the site confuses the algorithm. The machine will “see” a site relevant to the search, but the user will see something different.

Spam-dexing

Spam-dexing, also known as keyword stuffing, is when a site unnecessarily repeats words or phrases to receive “hits”.

Invisible Text

Exactly how it sounds, invisible (hidden) text,  will show up when the search engine scans the site, but the user will not be able to see it because it is hidden in the background. Many times it will be white text on a white background.

Doorway Pages

Doorway pages, sometimes called gateway pages, are URLs filled with keywords that match the search but will direct the user to a different site.

 

Search engines, such as Google, have their guidelines easily accessible, often providing blog posts and videos to demonstrate them and encourage White Hat SEO techniques. Violations in these guidelines may lead to penalty or being banned from the search engine.