White vs. Black Hat SEO: What is the Difference

What is White Hat SEO?

First, let’s take a look at the term “white hat” SEO.

In short, it refers to the correct, ethical way to optimize a site.

But to give you a more concrete idea of what means, a white hat strategy meets the following three criteria.

1. It follows search engine guidelines

The most widely-accepted definition of white hat SEO is that it follows Google’s Webmaster.

These are the rules that Google has laid out to define the proper way to optimize a site.

And while they go into a bit of detail as to what an “ethical” SEO strategy looks like, they can essentially be summed up with one simple idea: Don’t be manipulative.

So, in general, if you’re not attempting to manipulate rankings or otherwise deceive Google’s algorithm, you’re likely following their guidelines and using white hat SEO.

2. It focuses on a human audience

White hat SEO involves making changes that are beneficial to a site’s visitors.

And when you consider that Google’s top priority is to provide their users with the best possible results, it makes sense that this is an essential component of the “right” way to do SEO.

Fortunately, many of the most effective SEO strategies already involve taking steps that improve the experience a site provides its visitors.

Tactics like publishing high-quality content and improving page load times improve the value that users get from a site, and the ease with which they can navigate it — making them upstanding, Google-approved strategies.