When it comes to the world of SEO many different agencies and marketing departments will take advantage of different tactics and strategies to achieve the aim of getting either themselves or their clients higher up Google search results. The field in many ways is still in its infancy however there have been some notable advancements in the ways agencies try to optimise their client’s websites from an SEO perspective.
In the early days, many webmasters focused on the ‘Black-Hat‘ SEO tactics. These are often looked on with disdain by modern SEO agencies however the tactics were popular during the early stages of Google.
What is Black Hat SEO?
Black-hat SEO refers to tactics and strategies used by individuals to ‘game the system’ in SEO. We all know the importance of keywords. Google guidelines stipulate that these much come in the form of good content.
In the world of black hat SEO, they are often ‘stuffed’ and this can sound unnatural or sometimes they are even included as white space on webpages to try and increase the chances of search engines determining it as relevant. Google’s algorithm has gotten a lot smarter with various famous updates that have looked to reduce the power of these tactics.
Link building farms were another early SEO tactic that has since become too risky to dabble in. Doing so could put you at risk of de-indexation by Google which would be a disaster for your rankings. These links are usually very poor quality in terms of the websites that they come from and the relevance they have to your page and content.
Why is White Hat SEO better?
When it comes to a good SEO strategy modern agencies focus on the white hat tactics. These are recommended and approved by Google and are meant to help support and promote the great content of the clients and websites that they come from. So what should you focus on?
Good quality content: this is essential and will often be recommended by an expert SEO consulting company. You want to provide well-sourced, varied and well-researched content that answers users queries and provides value.
Make your website good on mobile: being responsive on mobile means more than just working. Your website needs to be easily accessible on mobile devices with all images loading correctly. Google now takes a ‘mobile-first’ approach to SEO in its indexing so this white-hat tactic is crucial for both you and your pro seo company to take.
Schema and structured data: this is very important if you want your pages to stand out on search engine results pages. Schema is a type of code that makes it easier for Google to read and interpret the content of your page on the SERPs. Schema and structured data is used to make rich snippets and a variety of other SERP features.
Link building: whilst black hat link building through directories and other spammy sources is to be avoided, building links through good quality content is a great way to start climbing the Google results. To Increase your website rank organically, maybe try to focus on creating shareable, useful, and user-friendly content that can naturally attract high-quality backlinks. For instance, publishing detailed guides or industry-specific research can encourage reputable sites to link to your content. Now, the three main areas looked at for links to your site include the authority of the linking page, the linking site, and the overall relevance of the link. If you consistently create valuable content, you will be well on your way to building a quality backlink profile.
Go with an SEO agency that works with White-hat tactics
Whilst black-hat SEO tactics did use to return good results, the risks associated with them mean they are no longer worth following. If you work with an expert SEO agency they will be able to provide you with recommendations for white-hat SEO tactics that will revolve around good content, a good technical SEO grounding and user-focused design. All these will help make you the best website in Google’s eyes to answer their searcher’s queries.
