White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO: The Difference Between the Two
These days, you Search Engine Optimisation, otherwise known as SEO, is an integral part of online content. There are several different ways of effectively using SEO techniques to achieve the best possible results, however one thing that isn’t up for debate is the importance of using white hat SEO and steering clear of black hat SEO.
What’s the Difference Between White Hat and Black Hat SEO?
As the names indicate, the one refers to best practice while the other pertains to a shadier side of online content creation. The purpose of following SEO techniques is to attempt to achieve the best possible results when it comes to Google searches and general online visibility. Google has rules and methods you can follow in order to ensure a website is properly optimised, however, it requires lots of hard work. As is common in many spheres of life, this leads to people veering towards taking shortcuts.
With this in mind, white hat SEO follows all the rules and operates above board. Conversely, black hat SEO violates Google’s guidelines and attempts to manipulate the rules in order to achieve favourable results quickly and easily.
White Hat SEO:
- Follows Google’s Guidelines
Google provides a clear set of guidelines pertaining to what is and isn’t permitted, and showing how content creators can ethically achieve high rankings with their work. If your content adheres to Google’s guidelines, and you’re not intentionally trying to bend the rules, you should be in the clear.
- Caters to a Human Audience
Something that frustrates many people who work within the copywriting industry is how so much content is seemingly geared towards simply ticking boxes from a software perspective rather than providing interesting, readable content for real people. Authentic white hat SEO follows Google’s guidelines while simultaneously providing high-quality content. Like a live casino online it creates a real human connection – for humans by humans.
- Adopts a Long-Term Approach
While a lot of the world these days is about instant gratification and getting things done quickly, the most successful SEO is that which adopts a long-term approach. Create content that is relevant in the long term, and it’s more likely to be successful. On the other hand, white hat SEO generally works out to be more successful in the long run.
Black Hat SEO:
- Directly Violates Google’s Guidelines
In the hopes of finding ways to get things done more quickly and easily, black hat SEO violates Google’s guidelines. This is a silly thing to do, because essentially, Google will penalise you and your rankings will be directly influenced.
- Manipulation of the Rules
By manipulating Google’s algorithms, black hat SEO attempts to improve webpage rankings unfairly. Unethical and deceptive, this tactic basically tries to trick Google into thinking that content is of higher quality than it really is.
- It’s All About Getting Things Done Quickly
Black hat SEO focuses on short-term gratification and producing poor content quickly just for the sake of it. It’s a means of avoiding putting in real effort to create high-quality content, essentially placing more value on achieving good rankings rather than producing good copy.