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Search engine optimization (SEO) ethics are often discussed, but rarely defined in any meaningful ways. Website owners often hear about the so-called "white hat" and "black hat" SEO professionals. A few webmasters are even aware of some undefined "grey hat" SEO techniques, and their practitioners as well.
There are no hard and fast rules for what these regularly utilized terms mean, if anything, in the world of high search engine rankings. It's time to consider whether the categories retain any real meaning, or if ethics even has any role in the practice of SEO.
Here we can begin our discussion of search engine optimization ethics and practices.
From the very beginning, we must understand that the issues involved are very complicated and highly subjective for different people. What is good "ethical" SEO to one person, might be stooping to the deepest depths of evil to another. Defining "good", "bad" and "best" practices is at best, aiming at an undefined moving target. At worst, it is impossibility due to the lack of complete knowledge of the search engines and their respective algorithms.
What does “Hats” means in SEO Ethics
Any discussion of search engine ethics requires a definition of the various "hats" so everyone knows what the writer considers ethical, grey area, and entirely unethical in SEO practice. Lacking some sort of definitions, no matter how loosely described, provides a framework for further discussion and debate. Some SEO practitioners don't believe there are any ethical distinctions at all.
Any discussion of SEO ethics must include the goals of the various website owners. One consideration is the willingness to assume risk of search engine penalty or even outright website banning. Another is the relative competitiveness of the keywords and keyword phrases being contested. A third and important consideration is whether or not the website owner would rather compete without bending, let alone breaking, any ethical rules or guidelines at all.
The goal of any search engine optimization effort, for any website owner regardless of ethics, is to achieve high rankings. That coveted number one spot, on the first page of all major search engines, is an alluring bauble. Like any treasure, everyone with varying degrees of desire, wants to have it in their grasp.
Whether for increased traffic, sales and revenue, or purely for ego gratification, webmasters employ widely varying methods to reach those lofty heights. Some of those techniques might be frowned upon by others. As a result, an examination of ethics and whether or not they are important in search engine optimization is very important.
Which hat do you wear?
Search engine optimization practitioners are divided into roughly three camps. There are the "white hats", their polar opposite "black hats", and the more loosely defined "grey hats", who use a mixture of ideas, some of which fall under the umbrella of both main camps.
White Hat SEO
What is referred to as white hat SEO is really means using generally accepted optimization techniques, and scrupulously avoiding even a hint of practices that are listed as problems in Google's Webmaster Guidelines. For the white hat SEO professional, any hint of a lack of ethics is to avoided at all costs.
White hat SEO involves standard best practices including adding more theme relevant content pages, updating regularly, adding incoming links that have properly utilization of keywords in the link anchor text, and keeping the title tags up to date. Along with those standard procedures is the addition of a blogging component, working toward hub site and authority site status, and placing a strong emphasis on writing sound on page copy, with well placed keywords.
Black Hat SEO
Black hat SEO usually means employing ranking techniques that are clearly outside of Google's stated Webmaster Guidelines. The same is true of the published guidelines for the other major search engines as well. Methods used to achieve higher search rankings include cloaking, hidden text, link farms, and intensively cross linked sites.
Grey Hat SEO
Grey hat SEO falls somewhere in the middle! While that simple label doesn't fully explain grey hat SEO, the concept is much more difficult to define. The techniques employed by a grey hat SEO are occasionally white hat, and just as often less oriented toward best practices. The uses of some linking tools and content generating software have often been placed in this category.
Regardless of how the various SEO hats are defined, there will always be disagreements as to where the boundaries are drawn, if there are even borders at all. The definitions are not intended to be firm and final. Instead, they are merely used so we understand the general terms for purposes of a discussion of SEO ethics.
Are ethics important in SEO?
Are ethics and ethical discussions even of value in the discussion of SEO, or in any other profession or business for that matter? Some would say the obvious and unarguable answer is yes. Other people are not so sure, while some SEO practitioners would say that ethics are not all that important, provided the client receives strong search engine rankings. As we can see, there are no hard and fast answers.
Since an SEO professional has in effect, two clients, there is really more than one set of ethics involved. First, there is the ethics in relationship to the website owner client. Secondly, and also very much a part of the ethical question, are the search engines themselves. Since the needs and requirements of the two clients are often diametrically opposed to one another, an SEO is often placed in a dilemma.
The SEO practitioner has a responsibility to the website owner to attempt to achieve the highest possible search engine rankings. Consideration must also be given to the search engine webmaster guidelines, as they are part of the condition of their use. Where the search engine optimization professional draws the boundaries between website and search engines, and how those boundaries are explained to the website owner, is very important.
Also needing serious discussion are the real goals for the website owner, and what level of penalty and banning risk that person is willing to assume. Not very SEO professional will go as far as the webmaster wants to travel into grey and black hat territory. Different experts have different interpretations of where the boundaries between the search engine guidelines end and where the needs of the website owner begin.
However, we should not use any search engine optimization techniques that could be classified as black or even grey hat. Search Engines allow for only purely white hat SEO methods. Not all SEO professionals, or even potential paying clients, agree with that ethical stance. In fact, many SEOs’ disagree completely with these white hat seo ethics.
Conclusion
While it's a bit idealistic to believe that all websites will follow the published guidelines, keeping one's own house in order will prevent any penalties or banning landing at one's own doorstep. Taking care to use only generally agreed upon best practices, in effect using only "white hat" techniques, will win out in the end.
While white hat methods might appear slower at first, they provide long term staying power, that can survive any shifts in the search engine algorithms. White hat techniques also let a person rest easily, knowing the site is safe from penalties and banning, while providing useful information and products to the site visitors.
Instead of worrying about other sites, take care of your own site, and you will do well in the search engines.
You can then safely ignore any shade of hats. |