Black Hat versus White Hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

posted by ADMIN // August 28, 2009 // Market Your Website

Across the WWW, practitioners of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can choose to either be conventional or unconventional with their methods. To take the lead in the ever-changing race for page ranks means to play by the rules, or to join the dark side. Such is the dichotomy now known as White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO. Judging from the colors, it’s fairly easy to determine which side is which.

Why White Hat versus Black Hat?

Besides being two extreme ends of the color spectrum, black and white have been common examples to illustrate the difference between good and evil. The use of the word “hat” was derived from classic western TV shows and movies, where good and bad cowboys were set apart by the color of their headgear. Back then, TV sets didn’t have RGB colors, so viewers were used to identifying the heroes and villains by these attributes.

In the same light, there are search engine optimizers and web experts who differ in the methods they employ. Because winning the top most spot in Google takes a lot of time and effort, there are those who choose to find unethical means of deceiving search engine bots and web users.

Black Hat Search Engine Optimization Techniques

Initially, a good page rank might be achieved when one goes by Black Hat SEO, but chances are it will not be sustained for long. Mentioned here are some common naughty tricks that Black Hat optimizers use on their websites:

Keyword stuffing – Major search engines like Yahoo and Google usually allow a keyword density of less than 5%. Content writers who go Black Hat create text that is chock full of keywords, with little or no relevance to the reader at all. This is only a way of tricking spiders by providing food like keywords so they can immediately index the page or site.

Hidden text – If they don’t want the highly dense keywords to be seen by readers, then they can hide them behind images, or blend the font color with the background. Only spiders or bots can detect these hidden texts.

Link farming – Because bots and spiders use links on pages to go to the next one to be indexed, it is understood that more links means a better chance of getting noticed by search engines. However, the quality of links is also vital. Link farms are sites that contain nothing but links, often with no relation to each other, only as a means of directing spiders to pages where Black Hat tricksters want them to go.

Gateway pages – There are certain sites among the top 10 in Google, but when the link is clicked, the browser points to a different page. Some sites show a “redirecting” message, but the reality is that the traffic is purposely driven to a site that is not of interest or use to the web surfer.

Why You Should Say “No” to Black Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO practitioners often walk on thin ice. It is only a matter of time until Google, Yahoo, and other major search engines discover ways to beat them. At present, there are programs and tools on such sites that can detect Black Hat techniques. As more and more web users are becoming vigilant, even regular surfers can report suspicious SEO activity to Google, and therefore have that site banned and wiped off the listings.

If you want to keep your website productive and in good standing with your search engine, then forget about short cuts and Black Hat tricks. You’ll be glad you stuck with the guidelines.

Having known the basics of White Hat against Black Hat SEO, one can debunk that age-old saying “nice guys finish last.” This simply doesn’t apply to the SEO game. It’s better to play by the rules and stay ahead longer, than to cheat your way to the top only to fall even harder.

Author
Anna Brillon

Article Source: Constant Content

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