Alain Guillot

Life, Leadership, and Money Matters

Searching Through SEO: The Types and Tactics to Get You Started

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SEO can boost your business in so many different ways. But before you start to optimize your website it’s crucial to understand the various types of SEO that you can take advantage of. Because search engine optimization is such an all-encompassing subject it’s important to get an understanding of different techniques and strategies to create a campaign that will drive the right sort of traffic for your business. There are approaches that have good repercussion, but there are also some that are quite the opposite. We are going to cover four different types of SEO and some techniques to ensure you understand which way is best for you.

White Hat SEO

Generally viewed as the best way to improve your SEO ranking, white hat SEO tactics recommended by Google to ensure your site ranks better in the results. White hat SEO tactics that abide by the Google search engine guidelines. And these techniques can take time to produce results. There are approaches such as optimizing your website’s codes, sharing links on social media, optimizing your website to make it user-friendly, and incorporating backlinks into your content. Each of these approaches requires a significant amount of effort on your part. However, there are ways for you to outsource it. For example, you can use FATJOE Link Building to improve SEO tactics relating to link building. The one true way you will know if you are using white hat SEO techniques correctly is if your ranking changes when Google updates their algorithm. Many businesses find that they need to stay on top of the search engine results no matter what, but if you are sticking to white hat techniques you might see a drop in your rankings when algorithms change. This doesn’t mean you are using bad approaches but you are sticking to the rules which require you to adjust. White hat techniques are the best way for you to update your search result rankings in the long run.

Black Hat SEO

Techniques such as this exploit the algorithms to result in higher rankings. Many companies use black hat SEO techniques because of its immediate gratification. There are a wide variety of tactics that comprise black hat SEO. Copying content is one example, as is keyword stuffing, link spamming, and using popular keywords that are irrelevant. While these are just a handful of tactics, there is a wide range out there that can improve rankings in the short-run. If Google catches on to these techniques this can result in your website dropping down the search engine rankings. In fact, search engines could punish your business or ban your website from appearing in the search results. While there are certain ways for you to make the most of these shortcuts, it is something that only helps immediately.

Gray Hat SEO

Described as a gray area between white hat SEO and black hat SEO. While these techniques aren’t banned by Google per se and are considered risky, they are an affordable solution for businesses struggling to make an impact. You can see many examples of companies that have gray hat SEO techniques, especially those that struggle in terms of budgets. A good example is spun content. This is where an article that already exists has been spun by one of the numerous content spinners out there to reword content. There are also segments like paid reviews. Ultimately, this is the best way to help any business website grow but it’s understandable when companies are caught in a gray area that they opt for gray hat SEO.

Negative SEO

This isn’t something that you as a business would be responsible for. It is a technique conducted by someone else. Businesses use negative SEO techniques to hurt the reputation of their competitors. When a business is using negative SEO such as using gray techniques and black hat SEO approaches to decrease a business’s rank, they can capitalize on this. This can consist of building and natural links to a competitor’s site posting negative reviews but also hacking websites to alter their content. This is not morally sound. The best thing for you to do is to stick to the side of the white hat SEO but also conduct an SEO audit for your website.

How to Drive Results Using SEO

Now you have a knowledge of the four types of SEO, you need to find the right sort of strategy for your business. There are numerous approaches out there, but to get started the two key ones are on-page SEO and off-page SEO:

  • On-page SEO is something that most businesses focus on and refers to making changes on the website. This can comprise keyword optimization or optimizing URL structures to make the website more memorable.
  • Off-page SEO requires focusing on factors that don’t appear on your website. Social media is one of the biggest factors to help boost your off-page SEO. Sharing content on your social media will help you to link for your webpage. This will encourage traffic to divert your website. This can also include reviews and backlinks.

Other Approaches to Consider

If you want to take advantage of digital marketing opportunities there are some common tactics that can seem obvious, but underestimated. Content is one of the key approaches, but posting content regularly and making it interesting will get your business noticed. But this is where you can outsource long blog posts to a content writer. It’s also important to remember the power of video content. Video content is used by 81% of businesses as a marketing tool. And as people are demanding video content over anything else, it’s important to consider this. Content in every single form is king.

To win the battle of SEO you’ve got to consider the long run. When you are boosting your business or looking to improve your website rankings, there are so many methods out there that can prove overwhelming. But this is where you have got to start playing the long game. Search engine optimization will be around forever so it’s time to get the tactics and the knowledge under your belt.