subject: White Hat Seo Tips [print this page] In the terminology used by search engine optimization techniques, White hat SEO also known as ethical SEO, refers to strategies, techniques and tactics which adhere completely to search engines rules and policies. The use of the term White hat is derived from references to the cowboy movies where good guys wore white hats and were always honest and trustworthy while the bad ones wore black hats. Similarly white hat SEO are optimization methods that follow the webmaster guidelines as published by search engines. Commonly used Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have published a list of good site building techniques. Some of the specifications include how to use keywords, keyword analysis, link building and popularity. White Hat SEO techniques are mostly used by long term web site investors.
It is the intention of each site builder to give his site an advantage in terms of search engine rankings. Some even go to an extent of using techniques and methods which clearly violates published standards. Their techniques, known as Black hat SEO techniques, achieve this by deceiving search engine spiders. Such bad website building techniques that violate these published standards can lead to penalties or bans from search engine indices. In fact any method that leads to a penalty is categorized as a black technique.
It is therefore useful for any website builder to be conversant with webmaster guidelines in order to build a good website that ranks well with search engines without any risk of penalties. Here are a few examples of good white hat SEO methods. We have also pointed out some SEO optimization techniques which can be mistaken for bad SEO techniques.
First a website developer is required to write a unique web content that supplies useful information or a solution to a particular problem. It is wrong to duplicate a website under a different name or copy some of its content. The web content should not be stuffed with keywords in the hope of increasing ranking. Keyword frequencies is crucial but keep in mind the web content is for users not search engines.
The website should have reliable and efficient internal linking structures that ensure correct hits. It is advisable to use XML sitemap for large sites with more than 100 pages to help search engine spiders find all pages. One should avoid using hidden texts, hidden links or build links that lead to continuous iterations. When referring to topics or text that people such for, avoid using reciprocal links or excessive listing in multiple site directories. Finally, disclose all your intensions and you should not try to install unwanted software or malware on other peoples computers.
Webmaster guidelines do change, although changes are published prior to implementation, it is advisable for site developers to continuously read through the webmasters guidelines.
