Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a cost-effective way to increase organic traffic to your website. Unfortunately, around 47% of small businesses don’t have an SEO strategy. Without SEO, companies are missing numerous opportunities to grow their businesses.
While SEO is a great way to boost your company’s website, there are a few rules to keep in mind when implementing it. You need to employ white hat SEO practices to ensure that your website doesn’t get blacklisted from showing up on the search engine results pages. It’s essential to know the differences between those practices and black hat SEO.
This guide will discuss everything you need to know about white hat SEO best practices. Stay in compliance and avoid earning a penalty from Google.
What’s White Hat SEO?
White hat SEO refers to SEO strategies that comply with the expectations and rules of search engines. These search engines include:
- Yahoo
- Bing
This type of SEO promotes a positive rating legally and ethically. It’s executed by utilizing organic link building. White hat SEO refers to any method that improves your website’s search rankings.
The following techniques are incorporated into white hat SEO:
- Thorough keyword research
- Content that provides value to readers
- On-page optimization
- Natural link building
Your website should be user-friendly and easy to navigate. It should also be mobile-friendly with fast loading times on any device.
What’s Black Hat SEO?
While you want to avoid utilizing black hat SEO in your digital marketing plan, it’s important to know what it is. Black hat SEO refers to strategies and shortcuts that you use to quickly boost your website. These loopholes break the rules set by search engines.
Websites that use black hat SEO are looking for ways to cheat their way to the top. You’ll receive short-term gains but oftentimes long-term consequences.
Some of the techniques that are used in black hat SEO include:
- Link trading or farming
- Keyword stuff
- Spamming in blog comments
- Hidden links and texts
You can face steep consequences for using this method. They include getting penalized or even banned by search engines.
Why Are White Hat SEO Strategies Important?
Search engine result pages (SERPs) would be chaotic without white hat SEO. Website owners would incorporate outdated SEO methods to improve their Google rankings without the rules of white hat SEO. Users looking for a product, service, or information would have to comb through countless unrelated sites before finding what they’re looking for.
This type of SEO strategy benefits the following individuals and entities:
- Website owners
- Search engines
- Users/searchers
Save Yourself Money and Time
While black hat SEO might cut corners and expedite results, it also costs a lot of money to maintain. You don’t have to worry about these extra costs with white hat SEO. You won’t be violating any rules, so you don’t have to spend extra money to keep up with the algorithms.
Healthy Website Growth
White hat SEO provides you with stable, less-risky results. Your results might not be seen for a few months, but they will happen with a solid SEO strategy. You also don’t have to worry about tarnishing your reputation when you use white hat SEO.
Ways to Implement White Hat SEO
You can easily build your website’s reputation and authority by utilizing white hat SEO. Let’s talk about some of the most effective techniques.
Know What Users Are Searching For
Search engines’ top goal is satisfying the intent of users. That’s the top thing you should keep in mind when crafting an SEO strategy. User intent refers to what a person’s goal is when they search for something.
For example, if they search for “women’s dress shoes,” the user is expecting to see results of women’s dress shoes.
There are a few types of user intent. They include:
- Transactional
- Navigational
- Information
- Commercial
You can employ various strategies to satisfy the intent of a user. They are:
- Strategically placing keywords into your content
- Research your target audience
- Using images and videos
- Formatting your content so it’s easy to read
Provide Value to Your Users
Did you know that there are over 600 million blogs on the internet? Blogs are a great way to draw users to your website.
You shouldn’t produce blog content to satisfy search engines. Create valuable content for users that are searching for information.
Ensure Your Website Is Mobile Friendly
Many people use their smartphones or tablets to go on the internet. If your website isn’t built to run smoothly on mobile devices, you might lose potential leads. Users won’t be able to stay on your website if they can’t easily navigate it.
Use Keywords Organically and Strategically
As we mentioned earlier, well-researched keywords are an important part of SEO. By researching relevant keywords, you can find the ones that your target audience is searching for. You can also avoid using overly competitive keywords.
There are a few places you should add keywords. These areas include:
- Image alt text
- Page titles and headers
- Meta descriptions
Don’t overstuff your content with keywords. Incorporate the keywords and phrases naturally. You shouldn’t have to force them into your content.
Incorporate High-Quality Links
White hat SEO link building is an important step in the process. One way to build backlinks is by writing a guest post for another website.
This method enables you to establish professional relationships with other companies. You can also expand your target audience by linking back to your website within the guest post.
Partner With an Experienced Digital Marketing Agency
White hat SEO is essential to organically grow your website traffic and customer base. You can improve your search engine rankings without worrying that you’ll get penalized. While SEO takes a few months to see results, it’s the best way to develop your internet presence.
LightHouse Graphics is a full-service digital marketing agency. We can assist you with designing a new website, implementing white hat SEO, and creating new branding. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
