Blog: The secrets to White Hat SEO

There are two basic schools of thought regarding search engine optimization (SEO):  White hat and Black hat.  White hat optimization strategists listen to the search engines’ guidelines for optimization and follow their rules.  Following this strategy ensures that your website will eventually get ranked for terms you’ve targeted.  I say eventually, because the downside of white hat optimization is that it can take a long time…especially if you’re going after highly competitive search terms.

Black hat optimization techniques seek to subvert the search engines by exploiting vulnerabilities in ways in which they rank websites.  While these tactics can result in getting your site ranked higher, they also put you at significant risk.  If the search engines discover that you’ve been cheating, they can penalize you by blacklisting you from their results.

Needless to say, we only recommend white hat optimization strategies for our clients.  I’m frequently asked what we do to learn the rules of SEO from the search engines.  One online resource we find particularly useful is the Google Central Webmaster Blog.