Which Hat Is Your Site Wearing? Optimizing Your Website

black or white hat seo techniquesIf you are like most entrepreneurs, you would already have milked different social networking sites for all their worth. And why not? It sure would drive more traffic to your site. The higher traffic percentage your site gets, the higher chances of getting more sales.

There are many search engine optimization strategies which can help increase rankings. A successful internet marketing campaign needs to be well-thought of and well-planned. You should never lose sight of your goal instead; you need to be guided by it.

The article SEO- Are You Missing The Point? suggests that the more optimized your site is, the higher ranking it gets, therefore increasing site traffic and a possible increase in sales. Might is the operative word here because there are some who just insert keywords to optimize the site but it has little to no relevance at all for internet users. The impact is increase in traffic but no sales generated.

There are two techniques in SEO: black and white hat.

Black hat techniques are those deemed unethical because it breaks search engine rules and regulations and irks the internet user to no end because their search just led them nowhere. These include putting in a lot of keywords which does not have relevancy to your site. You may be tagged as a spammer because let’s face it, if you put in too many keywords which are not relevant to what you are talking about, then your site would not make sense at all.

Another one which we are all familiar with is doorway pages. These are pages which have paragraphs upon paragraphs of the same words over and over again. Traffic can be generated but then it is just to mislead internet users.

Strategies for search engine optimization should be compliant to search engine rules and regulations. It would not do well for your site to be penalized just because you are using black hat techniques, not counting the fact that it would be unhelpful to your target market as well.

White hat techniques on the other hand would improve your rankings within the confines of what is deemed by search engines as good and fair. Some of these techniques include submitting your site url to directories with high page rank, keyword researching, being active in relevant forums, among others. Sure, it would take time and effort but it would be well worth it.

Building credibility cannot be done overnight. It takes patience, consistency, passion and a good sense to follow business ethics. Sometimes, it just takes one wrong move to discredit your reputation online so you have to be extra careful. You might be swayed by quick plans to promote your site but in time, you’ll be at the losing end.

Like any business dealings, you have to be prudent in choosing which strategy to use. Using black hat techniques may be likened to get-rich-quick schemes. It’s tempting but it would not last long plus the consequences are far-reaching and sometimes irreversible.

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4 Comments Which Hat Is Your Site Wearing? Optimizing Your Website

  1. Edward Medel

    Great Article! It made me think whether my business web site had a subliminal element to it. I offer SEO services and while the background is black, the embossed text is primarily white. SEO will always be about the triumph of white hat marketing.

    Reply
  2. Karen Swim

    This was a great overview of white hat and black hat SEO techniques. It also reinforces that SEO is not a “one and done” activity but like all components of your operation require ongoing maintenance, testing, measuring and improving. Shortcuts are seductive but choosing the right way and committing to it will deliver long term results.

    Reply
  3. Jim Goodwin

    Thanks Amanda!

    Although we have had a website for about a dozen years, our SEO efforts used to be sporadic and keyword centered. Investing more time and effort into this function has showed positive results recently and I am confident that this trend will continue.

    Like many other aspects of our lives, patience and hard work make a big difference.

    Reply
  4. Ben

    I think right now the lines are so blurred between white and black hat, anything offsite other than out right paying for permanent links and massive amounts of blog comment/forum spam backlinks could be considered fair game for whitehats.

    Reply

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