Before we dive into which is better, white hat or black hat, let us first get a cursory understanding of the two. White hat SEO is SEO methods that are in line with terms of search engines. Doing whatever the search engine advises you to do comes under the umbrella of white hat SEO. On the other hand, black hat SEO includes all the tactics not advised by search engines. Every good digital marketing agency employs just white hat SEO and never thinks about the black hat.
Components of White hat SEO
Value-added content – Include content on your website that adds value to readers. Write meaningful content without stuffing in lots of keywords and links.
Keywords – use keywords properly and do not tuff them in your content. Do good keyword research and include it seamlessly.
Links – You can include a link every 200 -250 words and on keywords that make sense and should look natural.
On-Page – On-page SEO holds a lot of weight in SEO and you should stick to the word characters and not stuff it with keywords. Consider it to be an actionable pitch that will make users click once they see your page on the search engine.
Components of Black Hat SEO
Bad Content – Pages with duplicate content of any kind, article spinning, hidden texts, and more come under this category. If your content does not add value to the user because of the above reasons, it comes under black hat SEO.
Keyword Stuffing – Never stuff keywords as it looks superficial and a user will never like them. Include keywords that go with the flow of the content instead of worrying about SEO.
Wrong redirects – Mischief redirects of all kinds that try to direct traffic than it should is included in black hat SEO. If a webmaster redirects to some other page than the one the user was shown to be directed to, search engines consider this foul play.
Paid Links– Buying links is a really bad idea for a search engine as these links tend to influence the algorithm of search engines. Buying and selling links are both prohibited by Google and if such a case is reported it will take action for both parties. Links through link farming or creating a private blog network also get covered in this.
Abusing Structured Data – Showing wrong data in the schema to get highlighted on search results is highly discouraged by search engines. Instead, you should use the schema as a white hat SEO tool.
Why not use Black Hat SEO
Using black hat SEO is not good for your users who may feel cheated by your techniques. It is also not good for you as Google and other search engines may eventually ban your website and you may have to start all over again.
It might look lucrative to employ black hat SEO initially as it can give you instant results but in long run, it will do you more harm than good. It will neither save you in effort nor money and you will miss out on the benefits of digital marketing.
If you have been employing a black hat in past, you should stop this immediately and never employ it in the future. Further, use the disavow links tool to get the dirty links removed from Google indexing.
Why use White Hat SEO
White hat SEO first of all keeps you in the good books of search engines and you continue to reap the digital benefits. Secondly, the users get what they see and consume your data without any kind of difficulty. This helps you to become a thought leader and maybe convert the user into a customer.
White hat SEO can be considered as honest hard labor. It might be difficult initially but in long run like honest work, it gives you good results.
Why do webmasters use Black Hat SEO?
Even though SEO experts know the difference between the two, still they use black hat SEO extensively.
So what makes them use this even though it’s not advisable?
High competition – Every sector seems to be crowded and starting from rock bottom can look like a hell of a task. Webmasters try to beat the system by using a black hat and taking a shortcut.
Quick results – Black hat SEO seems to give quicker results than white hat SEO and you might even get a good start ahead. In long run, you will end up undoing the black hat work and will eventually either land back at rock bottom or get yourself banned by search engines.
What should you do?
First of all, drop the very idea of using black hat SEO and get a good SEO agency to work for you. The digital marketing agency will then create an SEO strategy for you that will take you in the right direction. The agency will guide you in finalizing the keywords, content strategy, and also natural link-building strategies.
How much does SEO cost?
SEO charges differ from sector to sector and also geographies. However, it can be safely said to start from Rs 20,000 on monthly basis for a regular sector while it may cost Rs 35,000 onwards for an e-commerce sector. Using black hat SEO to avoid the cost is not an alternative you should ever think about. Use white hat SEO and stay on the right track of your SEO journey.
How does AmitKK Help in SEO?
We have a very strong SEO team that follows laid-down processes and has no room for black hat SEO of any kind. Removing black hat SEO links done in past will be the first of the few steps we take. Our strategy involves website audit and analysis, finalizing keywords, planning pages, and blogs including this content, and a gradual honest link-building strategy. The SEO team is well versed in how search engines work and the factors they take in their algorithm. So, if you looking for a top SEO agency in Delhi, connect today.