SEO Basics
White-hat vs black-hat SEO: how to spot risky tactics
Some SEO promises sound too good because they are. Learn the difference between the two approaches, and the warning signs to look for when hiring.
White-hat SEO means improving your site in ways search engines encourage: useful content, a sound website and links you earn. Black-hat SEO tries to trick the system instead.
Common black-hat tactics
- Buying links in bulk or using link networks
- Stuffing pages with repeated keywords
- Publishing large amounts of low-value copied or auto-generated pages
- Showing search engines different content from what visitors see
Why the risk isn’t worth it
These tactics can bring a short rise, but Google can demote a site through its systems or a manual action. Recovering can take far longer than the gain lasted.
Warning signs when hiring
- Guaranteed first place. Nobody controls Google’s results.
- Secret methods. You should be told what is being done to your site.
- Very low prices for lots of links. Those links are rarely worth having.
Ask for clear reports and a plain explanation of the work. Good SEO has nothing to hide.
