Search engine optimisation (SEO)
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of optimising a website's performance in the search engine ranking positions (SERPs) and can be achieved in two ways, black hat SEO and white hat SEO. These two types of optimisation techniques share a common goal but the methods that they use are very different.
The main difference between black hat SEO and white hat SEO is ethics; black hat SEO is considered less ethical and consequently more risky.
Black hat search engine optimisation (SEO)
Black hat SEO is a method used to attempt to achieve an artificially high ranking in the search engine results. This can be done by analysing the principles of the algorithms used by search engines and manipulating them into seeing something that isn’t there. This is done by trying to artificially recreate the factors that are considered by the algorithms in their computations to achieve accurate evaluations of websites.
A successful black hat optimised website usually has a very short shelf life as the algorithms are changed frequently to counter these loopholes once they are identified. If a website is found to be exploiting these loopholes, it will almost definitely be banned from the search results altogether.
Black hat SEO does have a place on the internet and can be lucrative for those who understand the risks. Often running a cycle of well positioned short-lived websites that can be easily replaced once the previous one has been banned.
Whilst an interesting subject, this type of black hat SEO is highly complex and is not something that should be encouraged as a legitimate optimisation strategy. That said there are some techniques that whilst considered ‘unethical’, can improve your SERPs without the real threat of getting penalised by the search engines.
[Click here to view our top tips for SEO.]
White hat search engine optimisation (SEO)
White hat SEO is deemed to be more ethical because it aims to maximise the ranking position of a website by making it conform to the code of ethics laid out by the search engines. These codes allow a search engine to evaluate a website on its actual merit, based on the fact that everything has been done to make the website tick all of the boxes without any form of manipulation.
One problem often faced with website owners is that maximising a website to its natural best is often not enough to make a big splash in the market, and as a consequence they are tempted by offers from SEO companies that almost exclusively implement some form of black hat SEO technique to gain better positioning.
Whilst this may be contested by legitimate white hat organisations, it’s fair to say that any element of manipulation is deemed unethical by the search engines and is therefore black hat SEO. Often the difference between white and black hat SEO can be as trivial as an organisation's motivation for performing an act.
Consider a paid advert on a website with relevant content. If the motive for placing the advert on another website is to purely attract visitors from that website, or add brand awareness regardless of any positive reaction in the search engines then it’s effectively advertising and ethical. However if the primary motive is to place a relevant link on a website for the purpose of improving the optimisation of your website or if the advert would not have been placed if it didn’t go towards the improvement of optimising your website then it is technically unethical in the eyes of the search engine.
To this end, despite search engines' statements to the contrary, generic search engine ranking positions can be bought and paid for. This said, don’t be tempted by amazing offers of SEO. A solid, safe and effective white hat SEO campaign for a website in even a moderately competitive market can set you back tens of thousands of pounds and beyond.
The truth is that any website owner should be realistic about the internet. Everyone wants to be number one in the search engine rankings but clearly this is not possible. Therefore, if you want to do well in the search results, your first priority should be to make your website as good as it can be.
Mistore web solutions have been designed to help optimise your website, but how you choose to populate your website has a great bearing on whether it remains optimised. SEO relies on two factors, firstly the website itself and secondly external factors throughout the internet. Whilst there are reasons to consider using a little black hat SEO on the external factors, we strongly recommend that your website uses white hat SEO methods.
[See our top ten do’s and don’ts of writing website content.]
Common SEO techniques
True white hat SEO is either a labour of love or an expensive investment; there are no short cuts or budget options. It’s worth considering that white hat SEO is based on creating a website with numerous pages of interesting, original content designed to attract visitors and encouraging them to link to you either by linking to the website or subscribing to news articles and other resources. Like this, the website will genuinely be a great resource and deserving of a high search engine ranking position.
We would not suggest that black hat SEO methods are deployed internally to your website, but, as unethical as it may be, there are some advantages in implementing certain external black hat SEO methods as legitimate marketing tools.
There is no name for “almost white hat SEO”, but in reality very few small websites have the time, resources or finance to implement a successful white hat SEO campaign, therefore it is common practice for website owners to implement some affordable black hat SEO methods. These methods usually fall far short of getting a website banned and generally help the performance of a website.
The reason search engine optimisation is so popular is because recreating some of the genuine benchmarks that control the search engine algorithms is not particularly difficult; moreover it is harder to punish a website for external factors when these external factors could have been placed there by somebody else.
