THE DIFFERENT COLORS OF SEO HAT

Anyone who's created a website will undoubtedly have heard about black, white and grey hat SEO. Far from being a choice in fashion, these labels actually refer to the methods in which an SEO expert helps improve a website's rank.

The basic definitions are as follows:

• White hat: Tactics that follow the search engine's terms and conditions

• Black hat: Strategies that specifically break the search engine's regulations

• Grey hat: Methods which follow and bend the rules of the search engines

In the SEO industry, there are professionals who fall under all of these categories so it's important to know the risks involved with each. When done correctly, any sort of "hat" can get the job done as long as both you and your SEO advisor are careful.

1.    White Hat: Following the Rules

Starting with the simplest, most positively seen label, white hat SEO means basically following the rules that the search engine, i.e. Google, lays down. In general, it means gradually building a natural link profile using a few, select methods which are promoted and rewarded by the search engine

In Google's case, they want sites to conduct SEO using the following strategies: 

    1. Creating quality content. This is creating content that users are going to read and share

without being forced or paid to.

    2. Optimizing your website. Updating the titles, headers, meta descriptions, etc. to become more natural and informative.

    3. Guest blogging. Creating content on third party blogs which is relevant to the site.

Using these strategies, you won't be penalized by Google if they ever scrutinize your SEO techniques. Since these techniques rely on the natural SEO tactics developed by the user, they may be too slow for the most businesses who wants to achieve quick results.

2.    Black Hat: Search Engine Law Breaker

In this category, the SEO specialist specifically uses tactics that search engines like Google don't permit. As for why someone would break the rules, there are two reasons. First, these kinds of strategies can promote a website's rank quite well making it hard to find out by the search providers. Second, the site owner may not know they're applying black hat tactics such as the following:

    • Commenting on external blogs with links back to your website

    • Link exchange directories that redirect to the company site

    • Domain name cloaking to force users to your webpages

    • Paid anchor text links on reputable blog networks

    • Hidden text and keyphrase stuffing on corporate sites

There are other methods which are too complicated to go over in a basic guide such as this. In general though, black hat strategies don't care about site's visitors and are more designed to trick the search engines into promoting the website's ranking.

While they can be effective, there is a risk your site will be blocked if black hat techniques discovered.

3.    Gray Hat: Walking the Middle Path

The third category is gray hat SEO which walks that fine line between white and black. Here, the consultant will try and follow the search engine's rules while making small changes that bend these conditions. Examples of gray hat tactics include:

    • Article spinning, Creating articles optimized to certain keywords and then using software       top reduce multiple different versions.

    • Buying old domain names with decent rankings and then using these webpages to boost

     the primary commercial website.

    • Paying someone to create linked content or editorials on their webpages which        promotes.

These tactics aren't approved by Google yet fall within their terms and conditions. While they are less likely to be noticed than black hat strategies, be aware that those using grey hat SEO can be penalized if the search engine discovers your methods. Still, this is a better balance if you're looking for something between the legitimacy of white hat and the efficiency of black hat.

4.    A Quick Look at Online Ethics

One final note to mention is whether these strategies are ethically sound. In reality, no SEO method is really immoral even if it doesn't follow Google's rules. The only instance in which you would be ethically wrong is if you're working for a client using black or grey hat techniques and didn't inform them of the risk. If they're unaware of the dangers, you're knowingly leading them into an area where their site may be blocked.

On the other hand, if you discuss this with your client and they agree to use these types of strategies, there's no reason why you shouldn't continue. After all, you both know very well what you're doing and what the results can be.

This guide should help clear up the differences between these different SEO labels and how each can be used to boost your own website. Before implementing any SEO methods, make sure to review benefits and risks involved, especially when it comes to the ethics of choosing certain types of strategies over the others.