White Hat vs Black Hat SEO Tactics

by | Nov 22, 2013 | Magento, Social Media Marketing, Web Development, Wordpress

Tim Mossholder Wzepc Pvkkg Unsplash

Yes, we will admit to wearing many hats, but one hat we will never don is the SEO Black Hat. There are many different tactics employed by Search Engine Optimization companies. At Comit Developers we wear our White Hats proudly. The difference between White and Black Hat tactics lies in their strategies, techniques, intentions and outcomes. White Hat SEO focuses on speaking to a human audience, whereas Black Hat SEO frequently disobeys and disregards search engine rules and policies in order to manipulate search results. Black Hat tactics yield quick and unreliable financial results. On the other end of the spectrum, White Hat tactics produce long-term, reliable financial outcomes.

It has been said, mainly by spammers, that White Hat SEO is impractical and doesn’t produce the same results as the unethical tactics of Black Hats. One grain of truth in this is that Black Hat tactics are fundamentally lazy and White Hat practices take some ingenuity, creativity and elbow grease. Now, here is the whole truth, legitimate SEO marketing can work well for any site, in any field.

Here are a few defining tactics used by White Hat and Black Hat SEO companies.

White Hat

Link Baiting

  • Link Baiting is the creation of content that is enticing to a brand’s target audience. This creates an intrigued audience who trusts you as an authority and will link your information to other websites. The “bait” often includes informative articles and news stories.

Quality Content

  • A content-rich website is viewed as increasingly valuable to your human readers, search engines and other webmasters. Quality content makes you a reliable resource in your field, which will make you a viable candidate for links to other websites.

Guest blogging

  • Guest blogging allows you to share the wealth. You brand yourself as an authority on other’s blogs, which then link back to you. It works the same way vice versa. When a respected member from within your industry is featured as a guest blogger on your blog, they return home promoting themselves and their earned link, which is on your territory.

Site Optimization

  • Site optimization is like having a tune up performed on your car. SEOs will routinely make modifications to your existing website. These changes include reliable title tags, meta tags, content tweaking and much more. The purpose of site optimization is to increase search engine results. Site optimization is a key component to successful SEO results and has been called “the backbone of the industry.”

Black Hat

Link Farms

  • Most link farms are created by automated programs and consist of any group of websites that are all hyperlinked to one another. Link farming is a common form of spamming the search engine.

Hidden Text and Keyword Stuffing

  • Hidden text is just that. It is hidden text that can’t be seen by viewers, but is read by search engines. Keyword stuffing is the unethical and nonsensical adding of keywords. Keyword stuffing is often very obvious because it renders the content incomprehensible.

Blog Spam

  • Blog spam is automated posting to blog, guestbook, online forums or wikis. These comments are unauthentic and only serve commercial services.

At Comit Developers we believe in White Hat SEO, because we believe that our clients deserve long-term, reliable results. Don’t trust your Internet marketing to the cheap and dirty tactics of Black Hat SEOs. Entrust your business to the creative and diligent methods of White Hat SEOs.

Have you ever had an experience with White Hat or Black Hat tactics? Do tell; we’d love to hear!

Comit

Comit Developers has been developing WordPress sites for over 20 years. As a result of several mergers and acquisitions, Comit has emerged as an expert in website design and development for an array of industries. Follow our company blog to learn about our team, our process, and the latest industry news.

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