By: Gabriel Gervelis
Do the search engines approve of search engine optimization? Will the search engines penalize you for using SEO Techniques? These are both good questions, and are questions you should ask yourself before hiring a SEO company. Each question has two answers, Yes and NO.
To understand both answers to the questions you must first understand SEO Practices.
There are three ways to practice SEO:
- White Hat SEO
- Black Hat SEO
- Gray Hat SEO.
White Hat SEO
White Hat SEO is the practice of search engine optimization using “search engine approved” methods. Search engines have not released any type of list of approved methods, so when we talk about “search engine approved” methods, it means methods that won’t lead to the blacklisting of your website.
A few examples of White Hat SEO are:
- Meta tag optimization
- Title tag optimization
- Header tag optimization
- Link building
Black Hat SEO
Black hat SEO is the practice of search engine optimization using unapproved practices that “trick” or “deceive” the search engines. A few examples of black hat SEO are:
- Keyword stuffing
- Over submissions to the search engines
- Use of duplicate content.
Gray Hay SEO
Some say there is a fine line between love and hate. In our case, there is a gray line between white hat and black hat SEO. When new SEO practices are discovered they are considered gray hat until proven otherwise.
So the question remains, do the search engines approve of search engine optimization?
YES
Search engines approve of White Hat SEO practices. These practices make the search engine’s job easier, and thus increase your visibility. Remeber, there are billions of web pages on the internet, so anything you can do to legitimately rank higher on search engines is a good thing!
No
Search engines do not approve of Black Hat SEO practices. These practices can lead to the blacklisting or penalization of your website.
Home Work
When researching search engine optimization companies, make sure you have identified common White Hat and Black Hat SEO methods. When speaking with an SEO Company, the odds are you will speak with a sales representative that does not know the difference between these methods. It is your job to know and identify the differences.
Supporting info:
Google Help Center: What does Google think about SEO? Top pointers from the search giant.
Good luck with your SEO ventures!