There are approved ways to get Google and other search engines to notice your website, but there are also unapproved ways. Unapproved methods can prove problematic. You might initially think they’re a smart idea, but as time goes on, you may discover the opposite to be true.

We will discuss the difference between white and black hat SEO strategies right now so you’ll know what to do to get your website noticed and what to avoid.

What is White Hat SEO?

White hat SEO means approved search engine optimization strategies or ones that are considered best practice by the SEO community. For instance, a company like Search EngineLand lists top link-building providers. If you reach out to one and hire them, that is using white hat tactics to get your website some attention.

In addition to link building, adding original pictures and videos to your website is white hat SEO. Adding keywords and keyword phrases in strategic places qualifies. Adding a blog section and posting a weekly blog is white hat SEO. So is adding an FAQ section, an “About Us” section, and any other pages that a site visitor might expect to see.

What About Black Hat SEO?

Black hat SEO is any one of a number of practices that might get your website attention in the short term but is almost certain to backfire in the long run. For instance, keyword stuffing is a prime example. Keyword stuffing means you add keywords to your site, but you do so indiscriminately. The keywords and phrases that you add make your site’s content unreadable.

Cloaking is another common example. Cloaking means you present content to a search engine’s web crawler that’s different from what you provide to the web browser of someone who’s trying to access the site.

Why is White Hat SEO the Only Way to Go?

The thing about black hat SEO is that it can cause your site to rise in the ranks quickly, at least for a time. However, your site will quickly drop out of favor because you used SEO techniques that Google or another search engine’s algorithm does not like.

Google or another search engine would never reveal all of their algorithm’s composition to someone outside the company. Still, by seeing what kinds of content get pushed to the top and those that get dropped down, you can figure out pretty easily what’s considered white or black hat.

Any website creator or SEO specialist working on a company’s site will be quickly penalized if they use black hat tactics. They’ll get caught and punished faster than ever these days since the Google algorithm has become remarkably advanced and sophisticated.

That’s why, if you want to grow your site to get more views, product sales, email sign-ups, etc., you must only use white hat SEO. Any strategist you hire who uses unapproved tactics will get your website penalized, and that’s definitely the last thing you want. It can take months or years to regain your credibility.