Although the terms sound like something out of a Harry Potter book, white hat and black hat essentially describe search engine optimisation methods that are deemed ethical or unethical by search engines.

As the name would suggest, white hat describes methods of SEO that conform to the search engines’ guidelines and are seen as ethical. While these guidelines aren’t formal or written down in strict code of conduct manual anywhere, they essentially stand for good usability and accessibility for web users. Content must be straightforward – the pages that the web spider pulls up must be the pages that the user sees – with no tricks or illusions involved.

Conversely, black hat techniques involve trickery and deception, of which there are many. Spamdexing (repeating unrelated phrases), hiding text (behind graphics, in a colour similar to the background, off-screen or in a div tag) or cloaking (giving different pages depending on whether the visitor is a search engine or a human) are all different SEO methods that carry the black hat label.

As search engines become more complex, more attuned to Black Hat SEO and less lenient (ignorance is not an excuse) black hat does not disappear, but simply raises its game in response. So why bother? Black hat produces quick results but white hat ensures that pages produce high rankings for the long-term.

And the risks of using black hat methods of Search Engine Optimisation are great; black hat search engine optimization carries the risk of temporary or permanent bans from the search engine’s listing and database if a website gets caught out by the search engine algorithms or by a manual website check. .

Good usability is compromised because search engine spiders are pulling up specific pages that are then not the ones the user sees, or is interested in. They waste users’ time, annoy and frustrate them. And of course, the user blames the search engine – hence the strict penalties.

Ironically, black hat techniques were employed by many in the early days of search engine optimisation and weren’t seen as Unethical until they were routinely abused and pushed to the limit. When black hat began to negatively affect the users’ experience and damage the credibility of search engines, they lost their legitimacy.

If you are looking for consultants or companies working in search engine optimisation, you need to be aware that some will employ black hat techniques for their short gains with little concern for the long-term health of your website. Here are some tips and things to look out for:

- Be wary if you are promised a top ten placement in a short time
- Look out for the use of press releases, as they are a great way of getting legitimate links. Ask for examples and search them.
- Be suspicious if they ask you for a link to their site. You don’t want to be used to improve their ranking neither do you want links to sites that aren’t relevant to you.
- Speak to some of their clients who they have worked with for at least a year, if not two or three.

Black hat will always have an allure, but everyone knows that you can’t win a deal with the devil.

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