Only 'Gurus' wear White Hats

White / Black Hat SEO? – It’s all just a big distraction. Find out why.

Unnecessary distractions can lead to a life in the slow lane
Opinion Piece, Written by James Doncaster, Digital Marketing Executive

Many in the SEO community talk of ‘white and black hat techniques’ – holy ‘white hat’ versus evil ‘black hat’ – that you’ll get banned from Google they cry on a whim if straying from ‘SEO 101’ is suggested.

The web is full of SEO moralisers who think staunchly adhering to what they term as ‘white hat’ guidelines and techniques are the only and correct route for successful optimisation.

The thing is – ‘white hat’ is a purely subjective term. I believe it’s a term, in this context, coined and utilised by search teams whom are content with mediocrity and flat-earth thinking. It’s easy to hide behind a ‘white hat’ moralising shield as this hides a lack of creativity in achieving results.

The vast majority of external SEO cannot universally be termed as ‘white hat’ – some may term PR article marketing for SEO purposes as unethical – some may say it’s as white as emulsion. There really is no right or wrong. People who try to build up walls – painted in white hat paint (sorry) have something to hide.

All these terms – white/grey/black hat, and ethical, unethical SEO – could all mean nothing, insofar that they have no practical worth and only serve to build perceived barriers to entry to a SEO industry which is in many ways stuck in the past.

I’m talking of a past in which is made up of shady snake-oil gurus / salesmen to respectable agencies who place too much emphasis on outdated methodologies and techniques –- keyword density, heading tags, bolding keywords etc –- which are presented as holy ‘white hat’ techniques.

Their purpose is tantamount to time wasting tactics. Engaging supposed ‘white hat’ techniques which are so cringingly outdated – they should never be used as indicators of a positive level of optimisation past circa 2008.

What REALLY matters with SEO is how visitors react when they arrive to a site. Do they convert? Are customer journeys intuitive? Are there killer call-to-actions across the site – from the META description (yes they ARE important!) to the checkout process?

Web users are so much savvier than a few years ago. If a site doesn’t look quite right or it doesn’t nurture customer journeys because it’s over optimised with old outdated / spammy techniques, then it’s failed.

Ditch the closed terminology and work on improving the experience visitors receive. They’re entering your shop / lounge / place of business – treat them with respect and you’ll be rewarded.

Published: 10 Jan 2012

Tags: Digital marketing