What is White hat SEO? Advantages and Disadvantages

You are a blogger, and your sole aim is to get as much traffic as possible. How would you do it? You adopt several means to achieve that goal. However, you may be worried about the penalties Google may decide to throw at you for not following the rules they specify.

What would you do to avoid such circumstances? Well, the best option you can adopt would be to use what is known as White hat SEO. So, you are now wondering what is White Hat SEO and how to go about it? In this post, we will explore the concept behind White Hat SEO and the strategies that can be employed through the legitimate means of gaining traffic and essentially, staying in the good books of Google and other search engines.

What is White Hat SEO?

Well, the term White is associated with everything that is permitted by law and guidelines. White Hat SEO means the SEO tactics you employ assuring that they are in tune with the terms and conditions laid down by search engines, especially Google. The exact definition of White Hat SEO is to make use of website optimization techniques, strategies, and tricks that have been approved by Google.

Possibly, we can call it the ethical way of improved your site traffic and the conversions thereby. The techniques you use in White Hat SEO will involve working towards achieving the best practices without cheating the search engines.

What are the Techniques used in White Hat SEO?

Well, there are no techniques as such that constitute White Hat SEO. Anything that goes perfectly right as per the Google’s books is White Hat SEO.

Some of the examples of adhering to White Hat SEO techniques may involve:

• Follow the Google guidelines. Do note that they have clearly mentioned their instructions and keep updating you at regular intervals with respect to any updates.
• Optimize your website keeping the humans into consideration. Targeting the search engines would essentially bring up shady practices. Keep the visitors and web users in mind when you optimize your website.
• Use descriptive and keyword rich meta tags.
• Make your site easy to navigate for the human visitors and easily accessible for the search engines.
• Improve the site load times and mobile friendliness of your website.

In essence, you can employ any means to improve your site visibility to the search engines with an aim to focus on the legible options would be termed a good technique from White Hat SEO point of view.

Do You really need to Invest in White Hat SEO techniques?

Well, yes –  if you really want to be in the good books of Google and other search engines. Implementing White Hat SEO techniques can be helpful in the creation of an ethical website that sustains itself and becomes successful enough.

Ultimately it would be dependent on your goals. Are you looking towards a sustainable website that works for you for years together? Go White Hat. On the other hand, if you are targeting a short-term goal that may not span not even a year, something on the lines of those spammy payday schemes, go Black Hat.

It would also be dependent on the industry you are in. Some industries have a Black Hat SEO domination. Employing a White Hat SEO technique and surviving may not be easy in those circumstances.

Why do we suggest investing in White Hat SEO? Well, it comes with a host of conveniences and benefits. And you will be able to run a business that is legitimate in every respect. If you want the search engines to be considerate to you and your site and in case you want the search engines to take your site as being useful – White Hat SEO is a must.

What are our reasons to focus on investing on White Hat SEO? Here we go with our reasons.

• White Hat SEO is the best means to manage your reputation as a legitimate industry or an entity.
• It improves the organic visibility of your site.
• It helps you improve your ROI.

A Few White Hat SEO tactics You can Follow

Well, there is nothing like specifically created White Hat SEO websites. Or techniques that come under White Hat SEO. Some of the techniques you can use include

Create A Single Useful Website

Instead of launching several websites in the same genre, launch a single site with enough high-quality content. Prioritize the UI of your website and make sure you are paying more attention to quality rather than the quantity.

Focus on Content and its Quality

Never steal content from other websites and post them as your own. This would amount to a completely unethical way of running a website. Make sure you are writing unique content and keep it engaging. Avoid rewriting, spinning and duplicating the content from other websites. You can use some genuine and authentic techniques like using a unique headline, improving readability, and including a good meta description.

Refresh Old Content

People like to find fresh and new content. Even the search engines would prefer the sites that are regularly updated. So, the key to work in an effective manner would be to focus on updating your old content. Instead of using 301 redirects and similar other options, it would be wiser enough to update the existing content. This will help keep the content updated, and the quality of your site will stay maintained.

Build links

That is yet another area you may need to pay attention to. Build links, do not buy them. Of course, links are important for building your traffic. You may have used top ranking keywords in a high quality content that is 100 percent original. But, without backlinks, it may not be able to achieve the desired results. Buying backlinks, however, can reduce the quality of the content. Make sure that the links are genuine and come in a natural way.

Keyword research is the key

Keywords are the lifeline for any kind of SEO. Of course, keywords have been one of the important aspects ever since the concept of SEO has come to the fore. Make sure you have chosen your keywords wisely. The latest updates to Google algorithms have made the crawlers smarter enough. The search engines no longer are dependent upon the metadata, but check what your site is all about. Using the keywords naturally is the key to a good ranking and essentially forms part of a practical white hat SEO technique.

Those were just a few inputs on how to implement a White Hat SEO strategy. However, do remember that there are no hard and fast rules that cover a particular strategy to make it come under White Hat SEO. As long as you stick to the right kind of strategy without opting for the illegal means, there should never be anything that goes against White Hat SEO in general and Google in particular.

Advantages of White Hat SEO Technique

In fact, opting for White Hat SEO should be beneficial in every respect. However, for the benefit of users and SEO enthusiasts, it may be a good idea to share the beneficial effects that you stand to gain with White Hat SEO.

It would cost you less money

Implementing Black Hat SEO comes with a lot of efforts and money, but does not guarantee any success. In sharp contrast, the White Hat SEO strategies would help you work towards long-term goals. You will be dealing with other humans in a rather natural manner, and thus it would be an excellent option from the cost point of view.

It builds your brand reputation

The white hat SEO techniques help you build a good reputation to your company. They would go a long way in promoting your long-term relationships further. It will incite excitement in the minds of the customers to build a good relationship with the company. The clients will attempt to stay connected with the company.

The techniques are Not Risky

The white hat SEO is less risky and you do not run the risk of being penalized. No matter which updates does Google bring up, it would not ideally affect your performance of your site. You will keep getting organic and clean rankings and help you stay safe.

They would need less Work

Spamming needs you to stay ahead of the others by playing the one-upmanship games. However, in terms of White hat SEO, you are thinking of long-term goals and thus do not need to worry about the immediate challenges. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say.

Build Multiple revenue options

White hat SEO lets you build multiple channels for revenue generation. You tend to get organic and natural results from the white hat SEO strategies, and this improves the possibility of authentic traffic. This can go a long way in promoting the flow of content rather easily.

The Disadvantages of White Hat SEO

Well, we did not find many of the cons with respect to White hat SEO. In fact, you are doing something in a legal manner, and as such, it should not have any serious implications.

However, the results would be slow to come by if you indulge in white hat SEO. Unlike in the case of black hat SEO where the results are immediately visible in terms of conversions, you may need to be patient enough to see the growth of your website or blog. However, the growth you witness would remain long standing.

The Parting Thoughts

Those were a few inputs into what is White hat SEO and how beneficial it would be for your blog or website. With the search engines getting smarter day by day, it would only be practical enough for the white hat SEO techniques to become more powerful. If you really want to stay ahead in the face of the competition, make sure that you have to employ the white hat SEO techniques in your website building and implementation.

Do share your thoughts into how white hat SEO can be beneficial for your requirements. Let us know your experiences with the right mix of techniques for a good growth as a legitimate website.