What is White Hat SEO?

White Hat SEO

If you are asking the question “What is White Hat SEO” then you are obviously aware of Black Hat SEO.

White Hat SEO is the process of optimising a website with the end user in mind rather than trying to trick search enginges which is really what Black Hat SEO is all about.

White Hat SEO is also known as Ethical SEO and all SEO techniques employed within White Hat SEO conform to the guidelines and rules as outlined by Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Ethical SEO companies only employ White Hat SEO in order to optimise your website so that it performs well within the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

There are many different SEO techniques that are considered White Hat SEO and I have listed a few of these below.

Useful and Original Content

One of the most important factors in getting your website to rank high within the organic SERPs is the content that is on your website.  The aim of Google is to provide internet users with useful information and that’s where good content writing comes in.

Google’s mission statement is provided below.

Content on your website needs to be original, useful and relevant to visitors to your website.  It should most definitely not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of other.  Material on your website sourced from elsewhere should provided references as to where the information came from.

There should be no duplication of content either on or off your website.

 Site Architecture

This is effectively the design and it needs to be designed to be user friendly.    There are design and technical guidelines contained within the Google Webtmaster Guidelines.  Whilst these need to be adhered to, the most important thing is is that your website design makes it easy for visitors to your website to find the information that they are seeking.

Natural Link Building

Backlinks to your website should be relevant to your business.  Backlinks from Industry Associations etc for your specific industry are an excellent example of a quality backlink and these will assist in your website moving through the search engine ranks.

Spammy backlinks purchased purely for the purpose of getting a website to rank is a Black Hat Technique and if used, this will result in Google penalising your website.

White Hat vs Black Hat SEO

Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia outlining the difference between White Hat and Black Hat SEO Techniques.

Through The Ranks

For more examples of White Hat SEO techniques that I would employ, follow this link to the SEO Tasks and Techniques page on Through The Ranks website.