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April 30th, 2010 by Nick
If you are looking to employ a search engine optimization company then you may see some companies promoting the fact that they only use ethical search engine optimization methods. This may seem like an irrelevant thing to promote, however a lot of SEO companies promise you the world in terms of getting you number one ranking in SERPs or increasing your clickthrough rate by a certain percentage. Whilst it is possible to improve on these things, anybody guaranteeing you the earth could be using unethical methods to get you at the top of the rankings.
Search engine optimization techniques are often described as white hat and black hat. The white obviously being the good, the black being the bad. Now, you may be wondering who decides what is a white hat and what is a black hat technique, well the answer is, the search engines.
Black hat techniques indirectly dupe search engines into ranking them higher through false or misleading links. White hat techniques use strong and relevant keywords and clear and concise content to make your website a true reflection on what it actually contains and offers.
Search engines are designed to provide a service to consumers. They want the web pages which they recommend through links to be as relevant and helpful to the user as is possible. This ensures that consumers trust the search engine and use it regularly to conduct their searches. The last thing a search engine wants, is to be constantly suggesting links to unauthorized websites, spam pages or controversial items which could be deemed as negative. Search engines have strict privacy rules and spam filters, which obviously results in some pages not ranking as high as they could. This is where unethical, or black hat methods, could damage you.
Employing ethical SEO techniques not only gives you peace of mind, but it ensures that any rankings or clickthrough rates are genuine. Consider what is more important, a high clickthrough rate or a long standing presence and a trusted website which has a consistent level of users. With so much advice, information and expertise surrounding search rankings nowadays, there is no excuse not to adopt ethical techniques. Search engines such as Google itself offer free advice on how to get the best of your search rankings, whilst there are hundreds of legitimate companies out there who are so skilled at creating content and links, that there really is no need to be unethical.
Like in every situation, the bad will come out and it is no different in the world of search ranking. White hat techniques may take a little longer to get the results you desire, however Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a successful website for your business. Building up your usability and keeping things fresh and relevant is the best way to increase your ranking and website effectiveness, and although it may take a little bit longer for you to get to where you want to be, you are more likely to stay at the top for longer.
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I concour with your thoughts on white hat seo, but i think you are missing a big point here. Client website results are more important then rankings.
Rankings are just one factor in hundreds of factors that lead a visitor to take a action on your site.
Once you have exhausted your on-page SEO factors including SEO copywriting you have to face up to the fact that link building is going to have to happen. A blendid campaign of PPC and SEO with social media marketing can be very effective.
I agree that if your site is below a top 20 position for a specific keyword that it does not have much of a chance.
I believe that there can be a few shades of grey hat work done in SEO. I think Black Hat techniques lead you knowhere but google’s banned list .
I think this article is what i see on tonnes of seo sites. Who in their right mind is going to say i due unethical black hat crap and i guarantee you rankings.