Do you know the difference between Black Hat and White Hat SEO practices?  If not, it’s important to get in the know before attempting to apply search engine optimization to your site or to hire someone else to do it for you.  A wrong move in this area not only will find you ranking lower than you’d hoped, but could land your site in the abyss of search results rarely seen by human eyes.

Black Hat SEO includes techniques that cheat the system and get ranking results in an unethical manner.  While Black Hat techniques can sometimes get you to the top of the page for a time, it will only be a short time.  Search engines are getting smarter every day and won’t stand for those who try to cheat their way to the top.

A few techniques to avoid are:

Keyword Stuffing-Keyword use is important, and good SEO uses keywords wisely and appropriately and in the right places.

Link Farming-Link farming involves submitting your site’s URL to sites that have link directories that are filled with unrelated content.

Hidden Text-White text can be typed on white backgrounds and can be crawled by search engine spiders but not seen by human eyes.

Doorway Pages-Using a doorway page involves creating web pages that are listed in search results but cannot be accessed by users.

Excessive Reciprocal Linking-Don’t get carried away with the “I’ll link to you if you link to me” exchange.  Build links the right way, over time, no shortcuts.

White Hat marketing is the only way to go.  By following both written and unwritten rules put out by search engines, you keep your site on the straight and narrow and the ranking results you get over time will likely be easier to maintain.

When it comes to good online marketing, stick with TOTUS Internet Visibility Agency and know that your marketing is done right from the start.