If you’re just starting to learn about search engine optimization or SEO, there’s a good chance you’ve stumbled upon the term “White Hat SEO”. Aside from White Hat SEO, there are also Black Hat SEO and Gray Hat SEO – and you’ve probably heard or read about them. First, however, you are going to learn all about White Hat SEO.
So What is White Hat SEO?
Basically, White Hat SEO is good guy SEO. Practicing White Hat SEO means using only the techniques that are within the terms of service of the popular search engines and techniques that maintain the integrity of your sit and (since you’re the one doing the optimization) your integrity as a person as well. The techniques included in White Hat SEO practice are practices that stay within the bounds.
Advantages of White Hat SEO
- White Hat SEO Keeps Your Site Safe
Well, if you want to practice SEO but don’t do White Hat SEO, you’ll end up doing Gray or Black Hat SEO. Doing the darker hat color SEO practices, is a risk that you are taking and will probably get your site banned from the popular search engine.
A lot of people use the popular search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, to look for content on the web. If your site is banned from these search engines, people using the internet won’t be able to see your site, unless they have your address memorized.
- Keeps Your Site Ethical
When your site practices White Hat SEO, Google will take notice and not flag your site. Being a site that Google can trust also keeps your PageRanking safe.
White Hat SEO Techniques and Tips
Here are some of the best White Hat SEO techniques that you practice on your site.
- Provide Quality Content
There’s a saying in the SEO world: Content is King. And you know what? That is very, very true. Nothing can be more true in the internet. So if you want to give your site a PageRank boost and if you want to be in Google’s good graces, simply provide the one thing that everyone is looking for in the internet: reliable, high value, information.
- Use Descriptive, Keyword Rich Meta Tags
While search engines might think of the meta description and meta keywords as less relevant, it’s still important that you do what you can here and use these properly. Another thing that you can focus on is the title. Make sure your titles are keyword rich and actually mirror what your site contains.
- Proper Keyword Research and Use
It’s still important to use the proper keywords in your site so that people using these keywords will be able to find your site more easily. Research keywords and phrases that people will type in search engines. Assign around 2 or 3 keywords in each page of your site and also use them in the title, meta description, meta keywords, heading elements, the text, the alt tag, title tag, and in your links.
- Keep Quality Inbound Links
Consider that each link to your site is a vote. However, links that come from bad side also count as a vote against the quality and integrity of your page. So what do you do? Make sure that your inbound links come from quality sites. Think quality over quantity and slowly but surely.