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Since the birth of the World Wide Web, accompanying its rapid growth was the
realisation that there needed to be some way in which internet users could find
what they wanted, quickly and efficiently. This need triggered the development
of text-based search engines, which in turn started off an entire new area in
the information and technology sector. Today, search engines are a vital aspect
of website promotion.
As such, search engines are an excellent - and normally free - source of
traffic, which has led to a surge in the demand for SEO techniques for website
promotion. SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is a process whereby both on-site
and external factors are addressed in working to
build search engine rankings for a given site, primarily focused upon
presence in the Google search results although other engines such as
Microsoft`s recently launched Bing are now competing for a share of the search
market. In today`s search industry there are two clear options when it comes to
implementing SEO techniques: ethical and legitimate approaches known as
"White Hat", and less acceptable "Black Hat" trickery.
When considering the degree of competition, it is perhaps unsurprising that
some webmasters resort to Black Hat SEO techniques. Black Hat SEO techniques
generally exploit a loophole in a search engines` ranking system, so that the
website in question "may" appear further up the search rankings than
it should. They embrace various "spammy" approaches which range from
hidden text on the page (seen by the search engines, not by the visitor); page
redirection from a search engine friendly page to a page designed for
monetisation; use of co-operative networks and so-called "link farms"
or simply buying links to artificially inflate the number of links a site may
appear to have; "cloaking" (presenting one version of a page to a
search engine and another to a user); secret teams globally using the search
engines to artificially boost the click-through-ratio (CTR) and time on site
for a given site (Google can track user behaviour via the Google toolbar and
uses this as a key part of its scoring system); and a myriad of other methods
which are almost invariably against the search engines` terms of service.
Unfortunately the search engines are not perfect and some Black Hat SEO
techniques may be very effective whilst they last, however when the search
engines recognise the situation the website in question may be banned or
penalised heavily, negating the effort put into website promotion.
In contrast, White Hat techniques use link equity, on-site content, keyword
density, site structure and quality and generally focus on ensuring that the
website actually deserves to be at the
top of the Google search results Since these techniques tend to agree
with the search engines` terms of use and are much more ethical than the
alternatives, their effects will last - even though they may take far longer to
produce results. Different search engines use different algorithms and formulae
in order to decide where in the search results a website should appear, but
they all focus on one thing: abusing the ranking system or another aspect of
the search engine is not allowed, and anybody caught doing so will be
penalised. Forget Black Hat.
There are thus a wide range of ethical white hat SEO techniques, many of which
will work with ALL of the search engines. Posting insightful comments and
content onto social media sites and leaving the website address in an anchor
link within the post, is one such method. Perhaps the most effective is the
creation of high quality content (of value to a human visitor) on your website,
with the content including relevant keywords at a sensible density. The better
your content, the longer the visitor will remain on site - another key factor
for ranking in the Google search results. Remember that the search engines are
sensitive to grammar and spelling so investing in the best quality content you
can afford is a must. Attracting links is also vital. Here you need to offer
other website and social media owners something of value (other than money
which is against TOS). Perhaps a simple exchange of links or the provision of
some content, a widget or something else of value. The more links you gain as
part of website promotion, the greater your chances of achieving long term
sustainable ranking.
Simply put, it is perfectly possible to cheat the system in order to boost your
website`s ranking in the Google search results but such SEO techniques are site
killers. If you are going to invest in website promotion then this investment
should result in your website being of real value to visitors. Cheating the
system, in contrast, will lead to your website being regarded as untrustworthy.
No traffic. No money. There is no magic bullet or overnight
solution to get to the top of the Google search results. Search Engines
such as Google and Yahoo exist as a service to the users of the internet and so
to appear as the number one site in the search results and stay there for more
than a couple of hours, your SEO techniques will really need to focus on
proving that your website is a key part of the online community.
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