The 3 SEO "Hats"
The SEO catch phrase for how safe various tactics
are is defined by classing them as Black Hat or
White Hat. Since some tactics are disputed or on the
edge, they are classed as Gray Hat. I'll give you
some idea of what those terms mean.
White Hat
These tactics are considered totally safe. Many
of them are directly recommended by the search
engine companies themselves. They are based on sound
website building strategies, and not on the
changeable features of any given search engine.
Such tactics will include:
Solid, regularly updated content.
Accurate metatags. “Friendly” page design.
Honest linking strategies.
These all take time, and are worth doing, one at
a time.
Black Hat
These are the tactics that are forbidden or
deeply frowned on by search engine companies. They
are all bad enough that they can get your site
banned if you are found to be doing any of them. The
philosophy behind them is that you can manipulate
the search engine computers to give you traffic you
do not really deserve (in their definition of
deserving it), or that you can trick the search
engine into rating your site to get traffic that is
not related to your actual content.
Black Hat tactics are used all the time by people
who sell illegal or immoral content, which is one
reason that search engines have come down so hard on
them. This is an excellent reason to steer clear of
them, because your reputation WILL be harmed if you
group yourself with such unethical people.
They include such tactics as:
Buying links in huge numbers for fast
inbound links.
Invisible text on your pages (sometimes
called “hidden text” - text that is the same
color as the background).
Metatags or page titles that have nothing to
do with your content.
Building a ton of “doorway” pages that all
lead back to your site.
Invisible links that cross link a bunch of
sites together to make them all seem like they
have more links than they do.
And more. Don't touch any of these! It is not
worth having it all go up into nothing when your
site gets banned. We will give you clear warning as
we go through, so you will know how to avoid them.
Gray Hat
Gray Hat strategies are somewhere in the middle.
They may be highly controversial, and they may be
only classed this way by one expert, not by another.
There are no clear guidelines about gray hat
strategies, because there is no clear information
about whether they do or do not hurt you or help
you. You must study the sources, and decide which
side you think is telling the truth. They might
include:
Owning a large number of sites and cross
linking them on every page.
Purchasing links on every page of a smaller
site (under 100 pages).
Getting links on a site that is a high
quality site, but not relevant to your business
topic.
Some people consider any purchased links to
be in this category.
There are a lot of these, and you'll find that
usually they are hotly debated. Or they are a
watered down version of a Black Hat strategy which
is diluted enough so that it falls below the trigger
point of the search engine police. BUT, the problem
is that search engine algorithms (the code that
helps the search engine interpret what is legit and
what is not), are not completely known or
predictable, and they are being updated all the
time, so something may come back to bite you if you
make the wrong assumption.
The only real answer is, research more than one
source, and then make a choice based on how much
risk you are willing to assume.
It is important that you understand the
difference in function between Black Hat and White
Hat strategies especially, and that you know which
things are classed unmistakably as No-Nos by the
search engines. In between, there is some gray area,
but on each end, the distinction is very clear.
The SEO catch phrase for how safe various tactics are is defined by classing them as Black Hat or White Hat. Since some tactics are disputed or on the edge, they are classed as Gray Hat. I'll give you some idea of what those terms mean.
White Hat
These tactics are considered totally safe. Many of them are directly recommended by the search engine companies themselves. They are based on sound website building strategies, and not on the changeable features of any given search engine.
Such tactics will include:
Solid, regularly updated content. Accurate metatags. “Friendly” page design. Honest linking strategies.
These all take time, and are worth doing, one at a time.
Black Hat
These are the tactics that are forbidden or deeply frowned on by search engine companies. They are all bad enough that they can get your site banned if you are found to be doing any of them. The philosophy behind them is that you can manipulate the search engine computers to give you traffic you do not really deserve (in their definition of deserving it), or that you can trick the search engine into rating your site to get traffic that is not related to your actual content.
Black Hat tactics are used all the time by people who sell illegal or immoral content, which is one reason that search engines have come down so hard on them. This is an excellent reason to steer clear of them, because your reputation WILL be harmed if you group yourself with such unethical people.
They include such tactics as:
Buying links in huge numbers for fast inbound links. Invisible text on your pages (sometimes called “hidden text” - text that is the same color as the background). Metatags or page titles that have nothing to do with your content. Building a ton of “doorway” pages that all lead back to your site. Invisible links that cross link a bunch of sites together to make them all seem like they have more links than they do.And more. Don't touch any of these! It is not worth having it all go up into nothing when your site gets banned. We will give you clear warning as we go through, so you will know how to avoid them.
Gray Hat
Gray Hat strategies are somewhere in the middle. They may be highly controversial, and they may be only classed this way by one expert, not by another. There are no clear guidelines about gray hat strategies, because there is no clear information about whether they do or do not hurt you or help you. You must study the sources, and decide which side you think is telling the truth. They might include:
Owning a large number of sites and cross linking them on every page. Purchasing links on every page of a smaller site (under 100 pages). Getting links on a site that is a high quality site, but not relevant to your business topic. Some people consider any purchased links to be in this category.
There are a lot of these, and you'll find that usually they are hotly debated. Or they are a watered down version of a Black Hat strategy which is diluted enough so that it falls below the trigger point of the search engine police. BUT, the problem is that search engine algorithms (the code that helps the search engine interpret what is legit and what is not), are not completely known or predictable, and they are being updated all the time, so something may come back to bite you if you make the wrong assumption.
The only real answer is, research more than one source, and then make a choice based on how much risk you are willing to assume.
It is important that you understand the difference in function between Black Hat and White Hat strategies especially, and that you know which things are classed unmistakably as No-Nos by the search engines. In between, there is some gray area, but on each end, the distinction is very clear.
