SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a term most relevant and frequently heard in digital marketing.
Online businesses and their hired SEO specialists form a strategy to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Yes, I said SEO strategy, this might comprise of right or wrong tactics to deceive search engines and their algorithms.
Here we are going to dig deeper into the matter of white hat SEO and black hat SEO, how they differ from each other.
What is White Hat SEO?
White hat SEO simply means the ethical ways of optimizing a website following the rules and regulations of the search engines. It takes no aid of deceitful tricks to tamper with search engine algorithms. It involves:
High-Quality Contents
White hat SEO strategy aims to create high-quality authentic contents written out specifically for the website, rather than copying contents seen in millions of other websites. They make efforts to write original contents that perfectly answers the queries raised in the minds of other valuable customers, relating to the products and services.
Optimal Keyword Usage
Keywords are the basis of all online marketing strategies, ranging from short keywords to long-tail keywords. White hat SEO experts conduct detailed keyword research and make optimum use of keywords rather than overstuffing them in website contents for better rankings.
Standard BackLink Strategy
White hat SEO strategy includes a standard backlink technique of linking back to the website from popular and famous websites. This creates a smart impression in the minds of the search engines about the authenticity and integrity of the website.
What is Black Hat SEO?
When the SEO strategies take a detour towards wrong tactics to win this search engine game, it becomes a black hat SEO. These kinds are used to fool search engine bots, not the customers, thus cannot be understood by the common users. Websites using black hat SEO run the risk of getting penalized by the search engines. It includes:
- Keyword Stuffing: Keywords are the backbones of all search engines results, but overstuffing keywords in website contents in order to rank high is the wrong way to go. Filling too many keywords would make the contents unintelligible with no sense of meaning. If your SEO firm is stuffing keywords in website contents, its time to change the strategy or the firm itself.
- Cloaking and Hidden Texts: Cloaking is basically the technique of displaying one thing before the visitors and something else before the search engines. For example, an image shown in front of the customers might contain keyword-stuffed hidden texts and links in the backend for the search engine crawlers.
- Malicious Link Schemes: Artificial link building strategies solely with the purpose of search engine ranking come under black hat SEO like:
- Buying and selling links for money
- Extreme cross-linking with other websites
- Automated link creation with the help of a software or an app
When you are in an attempt to rank the website higher, you may sway your decisions towards negative SEO for quicker results.
But always keep in mind, black hat SEO strategies only help you achieve short term goals because along the way your deceitful intentions will catch the eye of the search engines, and the website gets banned or penalized.
Why take such a risk? Stick with white hat SEO tactics from the best SEO agency in Kerala and rank high ethically.
