Black Hat/White Hat Search Engine Optimization
But are these labels helping anyone, and do they really mean anything?
Certainly, the SEO methods I use would put me into the White Hat
category. Lucky me. Does this make me better than those in the Black
Hat category? I guess the question would be, better at what? It
doesn’t make me a better person, nor does it necessarily make me a
better SEO. It might make me better at not getting a site banned from
the search engines, but then again, most Black Hats know that their
sites will eventually get banned and have figured that into their
business model. So it’s not really a question of good or bad, like the
hats seem to imply.
I’ve had the unique opportunity of meeting SEOs of every hat color in
forums and in person. For the most part SEOs are all just regular
people trying to run their businesses, hoping to make some money, and
trying to do what’s best for their clients. What I’ve noticed,
however, is that even though we may all call ourselves SEOs, our
clients and our business models are truly like night and day. So
instead of having a different word for what we do, it has been easier
for many to use the hat thing to differentiate ourselves.
I have the luxury of picking and choosing my clients, and I simply
won’t take a client that will have to compete with tons of sites that
use Black Hat SEO techniques to survive. You know the types I mean,
they’re the kind you see in your email trash folder every morning.
Basically, if they spam you by email, you can pretty much bet they’re
spamming the search engines as well. The reality is that there is a
TON of money to be made if you can figure out how to get high rankings
for those types of sites. Some can make hundreds of thousands of
dollars a month using their Black Hat techniques for their sites.
That’s pretty impressive, and it’s also big business. Some of the
brightest minds in the industry are Black Hat spammers and proud of
it! They don’t even mind being called Black Hats or spammers.
What those guys do as SEOs, however, really has nothing to do with
what I do as an SEO. Sure, we’re all trying to bring targeted search
engine visitors to our sites, but that’s where the similarities end.
I don’t have to keep up with every tiny algorithm shift, or the latest
technique that the engines haven’t caught onto yet. It’s completely
irrelevant to what I do. In my biz, I simply have to be aware that
search engines exist, understand how and why people use them, and fix
my clients’ sites so that there’s a good fit between the site, the
user, and the search engine. White Hat SEO is about 1/3 science and
2/3 art, whereas Black Hat SEO is probably the other way around. The
art for White Hatters comes into play by finding the perfect balance
between user and search engine. The art in Black Hat SEO comes into
play when dreaming up new techniques to use in the engines, when the
current one stops working.
Both White Hat and Black Hat SEOs have their place. Lots of people
are indeed looking for the types of products and services that Black
Hatters specialize in. There is a huge demand for their black magic.
As much as I hate lousy search results, as long as the Black Hats are
doing their thing to the types of sites that I wouldn’t be seeking out
anyway, then it really doesn’t bother me; it’s the search engines’
problem to get rid of it.
The important thing to note, however, is that most sites don’t need to
resort to Black Hat SEO.
It all depends on what the Website owner’s goal is. Do they want quick
fixes and throwaway domains for the chance of a temporary big payoff,
or do they want a stable business that takes a lot of time and energy,
but which pays off handsomely over time? Neither one is necessarily
right or wrong — just different. It’s just like the stock market or
gambling in many ways. If you’re willing to be extremely aggressive,
there’s a chance you’ll make a ton of money. However, there’s usually
even more of a chance that you’ll lose a ton also. It really comes
down to how much of a gambler you are.
For a company looking for long-term success, there is absolutely no
reason to gamble with their site. I cannot stress this enough. When
I’ve written in the past on how spamming the search engines is bad and
unnecessary, this is what I’m talking about. Most people don’t have
Websites in industries that need to go the Black Hat route. Those
that go to the “dark side” anyway often regret it later. (They like
it while it’s working, of course!) But seriously, even though it may
take more lead-time, the White Hat method is a lot less stressful, and
quite frankly a whole lot easier. I can take a look at almost any
site and know exactly what needs to be done to it to help it achieve
long-term success.
I think even most of the really good Black Hatters wouldn’t even
recommend their techniques for most brand-name companies and the like.
It’s simply not worth it, and in nearly every case it’s unnecessary.
There’s a whole lot more I could say on this subject, and I may do so
in another article in the future. But even if I don’t, you can watch
my colleague Alan Perkins and me duke it out with a couple of Black
and/or Gray Hatters on a new panel at the upcoming Chicago SES
appropriately called “Black Hat, White Hat and Lots of Gray.
Jill
CEO and founder of High Rankings®, Jill Whalen has been performing search engine optimization since 1995 and is the host of the free High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter, author of “The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines” and founder/administrator of the popular High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum. In 2006, Jill co-founded SEMNE,
a local search engine marketing networking organization for people and companies in New England.
High Rankings is an internationally recognized search engine optimization firm located in Framingham, MA specializing in search engine optimization, SEO consultations, in-house training, site audit reports, search marketing seminars and workshops. High Rankings has a 100% success rate for substantially improving client rankings and targeted traffic.
Jill speaks at national and international conferences and has been writing
about SEO and search marketing since 2000. She’s been quoted in such
publications as The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report and The
Washington Post. Her articles have appeared in numerous print magazines and
online websites including CIO Magazine, CMS Focus, The Internet Marketing
Report, ClickZ, WorkZ, Inc.com, Entrepreneur, Lycos Small Business,
WebProNews, SiteProNews and others. Jill has also appeared on many online
and offline radio programs such as Entrepreneur Magazine’s E-Biz Radio Show,
SearchEngineRadio and the eMarketing Talkshow.
Read by small business people, our newsletter delivers a digest of articles from the top search engine marketing experts. You will learn about:
Our newsletter is the perfect way to stay up to date with all of the latest trends, events and techniques in using search engines to grow your business and make more sales. Subscribe here. Your email address will NOT be given to third parties.
FreeFind Site Search Engine – FreeFind adds a “search this site” feature to your website, making your site easier to use. FreeFind also gives you reports showing what your visitors are searching for, enabling you to improve your site. FreeFind’s advanced site search engine and automatic site map technology can be added to your website for free.
Buy UPC Codes
Get your products listed online!
Search marketing information for small business owners.
Fetching the best small business news.
A friendly place to share small business ideas and knowledge.
Small business support through education, resources and community
The directory of the best small business sites and tools.
Copyright © 1998 – 2018 Search Engine Guide All Rights Reserved. Privacy
Research & References of Black Hat/White Hat Search Engine Optimization|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks