In podcast episode four Rebecca talked about the perfect storm of SEO and how great it was when everything came together. Today she talks about the exact opposite situation, and in doing so, she shares a story of when everything fell horribly apart.
After Rebecca shares her story of being entirely removed from Google’s index, she explores the differences between white hat SEO and black hat SEO.
Being a white hat SEO means you keep up to date on search engine guidelines, read their instructions for creating good content and strong SEO, and you actually follow the SEO best practices presented.
People that practice black hat SEO could care less about what Google wants or states is best practice. They have one singular goal of manipulating the SERP to position their content at the top. And they’ll do so regardless of this risk.
Understanding the differences between white hat and black hat can be confusing to those new to SEO. Don’t worry, there is an easy way to determine if what you’re doing is acceptable to Google.
Simply ask yourself if your actions will great a positive user experience and if these actions are ultimately good for those who search on Google. If you cannot quickly state your action is 100% focused on helping a website visitor and creating a positive user experience you have an issue.
Just don’t do it. It will come back to bite you. Rebecca knows, she’s been there and done that and it was painful.
Stay focused on your website visitors, helping your website visitors, and creating a positive user experience.
When you do that, you’ll win at SEO. Every single time.