Black Hat Vs White Hat - Two Basic SEO Techniques - Internet

The method of search engine optimisation has been in use since the mid 1990s and is classified into two main categories, i.e. black hat and white hat. White hat techniques are the ones that are recommended by all search engines as "acceptable" practices whereas black hat techniques are the ones that offensive, misleading and unacceptable. Here is an account of some acceptable techniques as well as malpractices that are commonly used by a number of online businesses for search engine optimisation and their counter measures. Black Hat SEO Methods Two popular methods are stated below: Spamdexing This is a cunning process that involves things like repetition of unrelated phrases and using hidden text to manipulate the resources listed by a search engine in a way that does not conform to the purpose of the search engines indexing system. Search engines employ various methods to check for spamdexing and regularly prevent suspected pages from appearing in their indices. Entire we bsites can be blocked and blacklisted by search engines if they are found to be using spamdexing methods. Cloaking Cloaking is a technique in which the content delivered to the search engine is different to that which is being shown to the user. In this case, a website identified by the search engine spider uses a server-side script to deliver an altered version of the webpage. Cloaking is a method that will lead a user to a website that may have completely irrelevant, even offensive and pornographic material. White Hat SEO Methods White Hat SEO methods are in sync with the guidelines laid down by search engines and do not involve malpractices. It is necessary for website owners to know that the content that is listed on the search results should be the one that a user will get to see. It's foolish to keep on creating content that is of no use to the user but is only worth getting the website listed at the top of search engine results. The content should be easily accessible to web crawlers. Tricking the search algorithms is another malpractice. Counter Measures Used by Search Engines Search engines employ various methods to counter Black Hat optimization techniques such as reducing a websites' rankings, black listing them as well as completely removing their listings from their database. A few years, a major automobile company was blacklisted and for using inappropriate methods to get its site listed at the top of a major search engines' results. The company's listings were completely removed from the search engines' database. The company had to apologise as well as mend faulty pages in order to get relisted. Websites that need high rankings also need to understand that spamming the internet with worthless information means, increasing the clutter and making it difficult for users to get to relevant information.