by Mouhcine Azizoun

Created on: August 10, 2010

Ethical search marketing or ethical search engine optimization is the use of approved techniques to get more visibility on the search engine result pages (SERPs).  There are tactics that the search engines deem safe and appropriate.  By using these tactics, you are using ethical search marketing.  This is also called White-Hat SEO.  There are also tactics that the search engines deem inappropriate.  By using these tactics, you are using unethical search marketing, which is also called Black-Hat SEO. 

Other tactics that are neither white nor black do exist.  These tactics are called Gray-Hat SEO.  Many people have seen the existence of Blue-Hat SEO.  In this article, I am going to explain each type to get a clearer picture of what ethical search marketing is.  I will also question the existence of Blue-Hat SEO.

White-Hat SEO

These are SEO techniques that the search engines approve of.  These tactics neither deceive nor hurt anyone.  You are permitted to use them as much as you want.  The search engines will not penalize your website.  Some examples of White-Hat SEO are the use of keyword-rich content, building back-links (links back to your website posted on another website), link authority, link popularity, article marketing, video marketing, forum marketing, etc.

For Google, White-Hat is about creating content primarily for Internet users not for the search engine.  Making your content easier for the search engine spiders (by writing keywords in bold, mentioning them in the title, at the beginning and at the end of your content, etc) is also important. 

Google states: “make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as cloaking.”

The use of White-Hat SEO is a guaranteed way to build reputation and authority on the search engines.  However, the use of Black-Hat SEO is a guaranteed way to blacken your reputation.

Black-Hat SEO

Google believes that making pages primarily for the search engines will make one use abused techniques that they deem invalid.  Black-Hat SEO is used to deceive the search engines.  Some of these tactics are keyword stuffing and cloaking.

Your content would be good if it is keyword-rich.  If you use keyword stuffing, your content would be like this: “driving web traffic to your website

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>