Should your business use White Hat SEO or Black Hat SEO?

If you are not an advertising pro or tech guru, you may not know what white hat SEO and black hat SEO means or contains. You may not even know what SEO means. However, SEO determines a lot about how well your advertising does and is a critical component in creating marketing plans. Here’s a guide to the basics of SEO and the difference between black hat SEO and white hat SEO to help you succeed in using it for your advertising campaigns. 

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. How search engines, like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing all recognize and rank your posts when a user searches for a similar topic. These engines typically use an algorithm that searches for a platform’s relevance and specific keywords depending on what the consumer is looking for. SEO is critical in determining your online marketing plan because it is one of the essential factors in setting up your online traffic. A healthy SEO plan, combined with active social media platforms, can set up your business for marketing success.

What is Black Hat SEO?

Black Hat SEO is also called the “bad SEO.” Black hat SEO only focuses on search rankings and keywords, without taking into account the user experience. Many times, this type of SEO is known as deceitful and unprofessional. Without a successful user experience, online traffic will not matter because the users will exit if the page seems suspicious. Tactics that black hat SEO users use include:

• Hidden Texts
• Forced Keywords
• Hidden Links
• Comment Spam
• Purchased Links
• Redirected Links

A majority of the time, websites that use black hat SEO scare users away in fear that it may damage their computer. Additionally, black hat SEO may not satisfy the user’s needs. Because the focus is just on piling on keywords for search engine recognition, many times, the message gets lost in translation because of the extra phrases. If a search engine notices you are using black hat SEO tactics, some search engines will ban your posts from their platform. If you are planning out a website or trying to write a post, this form of SEO is not the way you should go. 

What is White Hat SEO?

White Hat SEO is the preferred method used by professional and credible marketing and advertising agencies. Unlike black hat SEO, this method focuses on user experience before thinking about its search engine recognition. After all, a well-done website or blog post will speak for itself and draw a more massive crowd of consumers. This form of SEO is known to be professional, honest, and trustworthy. Tactics that white hat SEO users use includes: 

• Creative content 
• Optimized page titles
• Fixed errors
• An easy to navigate website
• Fast loading times
• A mobile-friendly site

Using white hat SEO will still get your website and posts ranked and noticed by search engines while also catering to the needs of your audience. When planning out blog posts or your website, this is the type of SEO to look for and use to draw positive attention from your audience and search engines. 

Now that you know about SEO and what makes for a successful SEO plan, it is time to implement these techniques. If you don’t have time to design posts for your website or need a helping hand getting started, a professional may be in your best interest. At Grova Creative, we pride ourselves in always being transparent throughout our creative process by using white hat SEO in our marketing plans and allowing our clients to get involved. We know how to lift brands behind the noise with our advertising, branding, design, strategy services, and more! Contact us today to learn more at (850) 296-8363 or visit us at grova.com.

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