Is there a relationship between SEO and Hats? Not really. The analogy stems from the cowboy movies where the good guys always wore white hats and the bad guys always wore black hats. SEO techniques can be classified intro three distinct categories:
– White Hat
– Black Hat
– Gray Hat
White Hat SEO techniques are those endorsed by search engines. White Hat techniques focus on producing tangible, lasting results standing test of times through the flood of search engine algorithm changes.
These “good citizen” techniques usually focus on creating a focused user experience in addition to providing compelling quality content (or product) producing user loyalty. Google does a good job in explaining these techniques in their Webmaster Guidelines.
Google Webmaster Guidelines provide tips on three distinct areas namely:
– Design and content guidelines
– Technical guidelines
– Quality guidelines
Other useful resources on Google include:
– Webmaster Central (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/)
– Webmaster Group (http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help )
Black Hat SEO techniques are those deceptive techniques disliked by Search Engines. Black Hat techniques make a lot of web users angry by wasting their time in clicking on mostly useless spam links. The main goal of Black Hat SEO is to make quick profit by artificially attaining high rankings.
Gray Hat SEO techniques are those that have not been label officially as Black Hat techniques but carry some elements of deception or cheating.
