The showdown between whitehat SEO and blackhat SEO is heating up and search engines are backing the whitehats.
Whitehat and blackhat SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are two different (and normally opposing) views of how to do search engine optimization. Whitehats are those website designers that "play nice" and try to follow all of the search engine guidelines to optimize their site. Blackhats are where website designers use backdoors, cloaking, and other tricks to optimize sites. This description was found in the Dec. 19, 2005 Newsweek article entitled "Hotwiring your Search Engine.":
[Search engines] deplore the so-called black-hat SEOs who use unsavory techniques, like spamming the Web with dummy pages full of links, in an effort to make their sites appear popular. But they are increasingly tolerant of ethical or “white hat” [SEOs], who primarily help their clients knock down the virtual walls that prevent search engines from fully indexing their site.
In further explanation of what search engine optimizers really are they say:
If search-engine rankings are supposed to represent a kind of democracy—a reflection of what Internet users collectively think is most useful—then [search-engine optimizers] are the Web's lobbyists.
Matt Cutts, a key player in the SEO battles at Google, has this to say about what happens to blackhat sites that are caught.
The article mentions that the blackhat site doesn’t rank on Google and implies that it may be because Google can take longer to rank sites. I’m happy to say that’s not the reason; this domain was already caught for spamming (both algorithmically and manually) before the Newsweek article came out. I don’t know what else to say about this other than “woohoo!” back to the team at Google that works on quality.
It is nice to note that SEO isn't considered spam by search engines like Google. Matt goes on to say:
Google does not consider SEO to be spam. To Google, SEO only becomes spam when it goes against our quality guidelines and moves into things like hidden text, hidden links, cloaking, or sneaky redirects...Truthfully, much of the best SEO is common-sense: making sure that a site’s architecture is crawlable, coming up with useful content or services that has the words that people search for, and looking for smart marketing angles so that people find out about your site (without trying to take shortcuts).
Personally, I agree. In a presentation I gave a few weeks ago on Search Engine Optimization I made the statement that SEO = Good Website Design. That's it. Period. End of Discussion. Unfortunately, many people (including so called web designers) do not know what good website design is.
Using whitehat methods will help you move up on the search engines without the fear of looking over your shoulder the whole time wondering when Google is going to ban your site for unethical practices.
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"Whitehat SEO versus Blackhat SEO"
Comments
2
Vikram Kumar
Hi,
Above article is good. I want to learn bout
SEO
1. What is white hat SEO
2. What is Black hat SEO
3. what i will do to SEO
like Directories submisssion , article writing and submissint in article directories. link building etc.
3
Marvin
I would like to know if there is a quota for adding back links to a site? Is adding too many back links at once considered a black hat seo tactic?
4
uGuX SEO Blog
Why do you use nofollow links throughout all of your posts? Don´t pull a wikipedia on us. ;)
5
AHFX Web Design
uGux, good comment. We´ll probably start dropping the nofollows from our blog posts. The comments will keep the nofollow until I build in some functionality to define "good" posters and remove their nofollows. We just didn´t want the comment spam that many run into from people trying to bleed off some pagerank throught commenting.
6
Xstamper
Good info. White hat is definitely the way to go.
7
Ramzan Rajablog.info
Play safe with white hat seo but this new year i think i want to try "light" blackhat method :D
8
communication
Fine text but with blackhat seo it´s good to put some examples of sites witch are practising blackhat SEO.
9
shane: content Writer
SEO isn´t about taking short cuts or screwing over the search engines (or, at least, it shouldn´t be) SEO is about turning out quality websites, basically thats what Google wants, quality websites Websites that benefit users White Hat SEO is about educating clients on what a good website is From the content to the design.
10
Tina
Thank you for such a wonder post. I agree to shane. SEO is a patience. Search engine optimization is bringing major technologies pieces together. Building user and search engines friendly websites, and then developing and writing the unique content appropriate to your business. Then comes the SERPS. And the engines are no doubt quite very much generous while they generate the results.
Anyway, When it comes to WHITE HAT SEO, It is time taking, but if you are looking for permanent solutions. The white hat seo is where you should start from and finish.
Thanks again for such a lovely post, very helpful.
Regards,
Tina
11
Tiny
woot, thanks for the blog.
I´m pretty new to this whole SEO activity and was starting to wonder.in my search to build backlinks to my business site whether I´m doing the right method or not.am I black hatting my way to the big link. I´ve found the jargon a bit daunting on the web.this site explains it in laymans terms.
Cheers for the blog, it´s set my mind at ease.
12
Lonet
White hat suggest creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to trick the algorithm from its intended purpose. White hat SEO is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility, although the two are not identical. White hat SEO is not just about following guidelines, but is about ensuring that the content a search engine indexes and subsequently ranks is the same content a user will see.
13
byajero
This nice knowing that white-hat seo really matters. So for a beginner like me, I want to practice more techniques to better know what really lies ahead.
14
seo
Welcome and keep up the great work! Just found this site, and I´ve been enjoying the tips and discussions here.
Im kind of new to site building but Im learning a lot from reading through the forums. Great Site
seo
15
franklin
Hi i am new comer to this site. I am very happy to join this site. I gathered lot of information from this site.
seo
16
Marsha
It´s funny how an article this old is still relevant in the SEO today. I own enough sites to try both Whitehat and Blackhat SEO methods.
Google rewarded my whitehat or very little efforts at all except content with PR.
They rewarded my blackhat methods with PR reductions, SERP penalties.
(Of course they also banned a site that I hadn´t done anything to at all, but that´s Google.)
Play honest with Google and 20 of the time they will reward you.eventually!
17
Seo Company India
it was really a nice article i found on net. Before reading this i was not aware of gray hat. Can anybody explain something on blue hat also as it is very popular now a days.
18
Online Marketing Consultant
Nice article and very helpful. I appreciate the info and hopefully white hat will win out.
19
Graham
I´m going to have to side with White Hat. If anyone wants a little more info on the subject i found this article the other day.
http://www.expertsem.com/2009/06/22/affiliate-conference-black-hat-white-hat-seo/
20
Shaoun
Another effective technique is to use email marketing campaign to make your customers visit your website frequently. Just let them know about new features, add ons and other service provided through opt in email marketing. That will help you quickly reach to targeted visitor in White Hat SEO way.
21
Seo Firm
Good written article. Well you can see black hat SEO may work for you but if you are running serious business you will probably want to succeed in the long run. People who are using black hat tactics usually don´t have quality product or service and for this reason they don´t care about possible penalization in the feature. They know there is no future for them so they try to sell as quickly as possible. For this reason customers tend go away from such marketers. It is upto you now if you are interested to run serious business or not.
22
matrix
Nice blog.Could you please tell me one things, if i promote my site by some attractive way, is it blackhat seo?
23
Email Marketing Tools
Useful information for SEO beginners. This is really a great topic, improving my PR. Thanks for sharing
24
Sam
its good article
25
Boston
Really very good blog and this information is very essential for all search engine optimiser.
Thanks for sharing it.
26
Seo Service
White Hat SEO can actually be more time-consuming, however the results in the long-term have a much better positive impact. People prefer to use web sites they haven’t been deceived into visiting, andsearch engines don’t like to list sites which have manipulated their way to a high ranking. Sites using white hatted techniques usually don’t have to worry about being removed from search engine results.
27
logo design
Thank you for sharing this information about seo practices. It is much better to be a gray hat seo
28
ramaninder
White hat seo techniques are quite helpful to increase traffic and to rank your website in serach engines
29
Chris nicich
Bravo on this articles content and message! Well put. Working on getting my own site still too busy optimizing clients with white hat.
30
bhsource
Nice article, although I would like to see you write a little more about it. I have a feeling you don´t have such a strong background of black hat as you do white hat. I like the fact that you said that SEO is common sense; many people think it´s hard and are paying big bucks for SEO optimization when in fact there are just a few simple steps that you need to follow to optimize your site. Anyhow good article and keep up a good work.
31
Cody Snider
There is no such thing as being blackhat and successful
32
SHAHID ANWAR SAFI
I am very happy to join this site but i have some problem in the SEO that how i can optimize my site in all of the search engine.
33
Indian
Atleast I got an idea of white hat and black hat seo.
34
Ranjan
Wow, it very impressive knowledge you providing.
35
Ruchi
Thanks, In previous i don´t have much knowledge about White-Hat and Black-Hat SEO. You provide grate knowledge.
36
marck_don
Great information. Thanks for sharing
37
White Label SEO Reseller
The funny thing is, black hat SEOs practice keyword stuffing. Here´s the punchline, Google doesn´t look into keyword density for their rankings. Description on the other hand is a bit more reasonable to be a factor. Anything that would appeal to users is much preferred by Google when then rank sites.
38
seo expert
thanks for sharing this information.
39
Mark
Firstly, if you try to gain a backlink by spamming a blog post with the anchor text SEO Expert - you may want to rethink your name. I´m looking at you post no.38
Okay, onto my views. Blackhat and Whitehat have merged over the years - lets call it Greyhat. Everything you do online can be seen as spam from blog comments to forum signatures. Do what works for you.
Test and re-test.
40
Faxless Loans
Very Interesting post,It´s true to say, then, that both black hat techniques and white hat techniques can generate both short term and long term results for clients. thanks for sharing these interesting article.keep sharing more information
41
Idaho Web Design
yes, white hat and black hat can provide long term results. One will always be caught and banned eventually. The other will continue to provide returns on the investment for years.
42
shany paul
It´s such nice blog and also useful information
43
Breindal
No wonder people get confused, with all those colored hats :-P
44
Sameday Loans fast
Very informative and useful post for seo beginners.SEO is the technique to improving the rank of a web site in the search engine page result.so both Black hat and white hat seo are also the technique of improve the page rank of the websites.Thanks!
45
SEO Services
An informative article thanks. Although I´m not sure about your comment SEO = Good Web Design. Off page factors and good quality content are very important.
46
payday
Hello,
Absolutely very knowledgeable and useful article,thank you so much for sharing with us.white hat seo is an another excellent way for get the huge back link to your website.please keep sharing more new update regarding this. thanks again!
47
pay day loan money
Well, This is very informative and useful post, Thank you so much for sharing with us this great article.actually,white hat seo is a natural method of increasing the traffic to your website.Thanks!
48
Outsourcing SEO Services
Black hat SEO can work but not for a long period of time. It would not last.
49
Vikky A
Search Engine Optimisation is polarised, both as an industry and a practice. There are those that stick rigidly to the rules and look for new ways to develop sites without incurring the wrath of angry search engines – white hats. Then there are those who do the exact opposite – black hats.
In recent weeks this debate has stepped up a little. In fact just about everybody is having their say on which is right and which is wrong. The basic truth is that both work, however one is entirely safe whilst the other certainly is not.
Black hat largely relies on underhanded techniques designed to slip under the radar. These tactics are far from accidental and are in fact incredibly clever – and effective. Despite the huge risks, black hat SEO survives thanks to the huge potential rewards.
So what if your site gets blacklisted? Take the money, run to another domain and start again. Black hats are all about getting results at any cost, and strive to be innovative in how they hoodwink search engines. The more original they can be, the more likely they are to get away with it. Whilst it is wrong and may be damaging, the results often speak for themselves.
This kind of technique cannot be yielded on every site though. If I were to start buying up hundreds of links for a client, or sneaking them into places they shouldn’t be (think banner ads) then that would be entirely unethical – at least if they weren’t aware of the actions or potential consequences. I also wouldn’t do it on my own site, as it isn’t worth risking a rankings drop.
In essence, whether you choose to be a black hat or a white hat, you’ve made the right choice. If you enjoy the riskier side of SEO, by all means see what you can do. There are rewards to be had, but as with white hat optimisation, you have to be able to put your efforts into the right areas. Some techniques will always be more effective than others, whether you’re working within the parameters of the rules or not.
For a white hat SEO it’s all about finding ways to bend the rules without breaking them, as well as following standard protocol. Essentially the more ethical work you do on a site (contacting people for links, writing on site copy etc.), the more benefit you should see. But you do have to deliver results, whoever it is that you’re working for. It’s no use claiming it’s a long-term solution if you can’t begin to show some form of improvement.
White hat SEO, like black hat, is all about results. So in all but delivery, the two are identical. Whilst some might argue that black hats tarnish the name of SEO, they do also keep search engines on their toes – helping to improve results.
50
Vince Thomas
What if Google is practicing Black Hat by preventing people from accessing information that they are searching for? By changing the rules over and over again so that they can make more money on Pay per Cick? What if Google is just the bigest bully on the block censoring the People from information that they not only desire but information that can save their very lives? It´s Google then not only Black Hat but Evil?
51
joint pains
i reckon that both whitehat and blackhat both play a part to a total success of IM.
52
Card Counting
Very Useful information , this is both good reading for, have quite a few good key points, and I learn some new stuff from it too, thanks for sharing your information.I was unknown about white hat and black hat techniques
53
nerd humor
I guess the most important message is "content is king" since I´m already using wordpress (which i take is well designed).
54
Joyce
Thanks for the insight between black hat and white hat web design. Was interested in also though the difference in link building. The spinning articles,etc. I have not done so, because by the time they get spun so many times they really are not relevant or making for good reading. Thanks again.
55
Pinoy Neophyte
I´d still choose to use the White Hat SEO technique
56
White Label SEO
Converting the ideas of abusive black hat techniques to working ethical white hat methods is a nice concept. The people behind the black fedoras aren´t madly wicked, they just usually don´t squeeze enough creative juice to make methods that wouldn´t harm search engines and its users.
57
Well
Is commenting on do-follow blogs black or white technique?
58
Local SEO
Very informative blog! In this blog, you have explained very well about the concept of whitehat SEO and blackhat SEO, which is very beneficial for me.
59
Samuel Symes
All link building is Blackhat unless its natural.
Dont believe me?
According to Google’s TOS, natural links are those links other sites point back to your site without the need to pay for it, ask for it, comment for it or insert a link in your hundreds of purposely written articles to gain it.
So, if all link building techniques are actually manipulating search engine results, does it not stand to logic that all link building is Blackhat and off-page SEO practiced by most SEO firms is in effect, Blackhat?
Think about it!
60
Idaho Web Design
Samuel,
Actually that isn´t what Google´s Webmaster Guidelines says. You are implying that Google only allows "natural links" Here is a quote:
"However, some webmasters engage in link exchange schemes and build partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites.
The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page´s visitors?"
If the content is beneficial to users there is no problem in gathering links to pages that have great content.
61
Gargoyle Consulting White Hat
Samuel Symes is on the money. SEO is about manipulating search engines. Some do it more ethically than others, but at the end of the day it´s still manipulation
62
Kelvin
Nice article. I have learn a lot about the black hat and white hat seo.
63
Michael Harrington
Hello,
Excellent post on SEO Techniques.
Backlinking is one of my favourites, and also submitting to directories seems to work very well.
Thankyou for allowing me to comment here.
Michael Harrington
64
Hazel
Hello. Thanks for the article I find it interesting. I´m learning about SEO. I´m a student at Binghamton University (NY). I´m writing an article for one of my classes, its about white hat seo. I stumble upon your blog and it looks like you are very interested in the subject matter and was wondering if I may ask you a couple of questions One, what is the biggest challenge in white hat SEO? and what do you mean by SEO = good website design? As in following all the rules of html? I hope you´ll respond to my comment =) Thanks in advance!
65
seo expert Nov 10, 2011
Great info thanks alot. Ive been an SEO for a while now and I´ve always went with white hat techniques. Its very effective and its does not risk the credibility of your website.
66
mooloolaba holiday apartments Nov 15, 2011
thanks to share this more important thing to all this is really very good topic I thinks that will help to those persons which are trying to improving their own page rank.
67
Jass Huston Dec 10, 2011
Take your logo for instance, it’s easily recognisable, but not over elaborate. People need to be educated in this.
68
Essay writing Jan 4, 2012
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
69
download counter strike 1.6 Jan 5, 2012
I really like this infomartion; it´s truly first-class to read this. I wait for you will share news like this repeatedly
70
Napoleon Jan 14, 2012
My question is: What Does Google Consider "Good Web Design"?
1
seopractices
White hat, black hat? It´s all about gaming the SE to get better placements. Seo practices are in constant change as the Internet evolves