What Type of SEO Specialist Are You?

Are you a white hat or a black hat? Do you perform white hat SEO or black hat SEO? These are common questions that those of us who work in the Internet Marketing often have to ask ourselves and questions you should be asking if you’re looking to hire an SEO consultant or specialist. The search engine marketing field is divided into two groups the black hats, who use manipulative techniques and the white hats, who hope to have their website rank higher in Google by using positive means that Google enforces. Being a black hat SEO, means that you are manipulating the search results of Google and other search engines in unethical ways. This probably means you’re buying links and using spammy tactics to get your links on the internet, including using directories and article sites such as Ezines. It’s important to know that these black hat techniques will hurt your website in the long term and might even cause Google to penalize you and cause you to lose tons views that you were once getting.

If these tactics are black hat, what exactly is white hat SEO?

White hat SEOs tend to produce long term results while as black hat SEO tactics usually are short term quick benefits that don’t have any lasting long affects. Most white hat strategies are catered towards creating good content that internet users will find useful and want to share with their friends and family.

What is good content then?

Good, white hat SEO often falls under the theory that content rules or that content is king.  By creating content that your users will enjoy or thoroughly use, you are creating a lasting relationship with your audience and creating content that your users will want to share and use.  Good examples of this include how-to’s, top 10 lists, and interviews. Knowing what kind of SEO expert you’re investing in can create long term effects not just for your search results but for your company as well.

Tags: Our Favorites • Search Engine Optimization