Black hat or white hat SEO?

Black or white, this title has nothing to do with the title of the famous singer disappeared a few days ago.

We are talking about SEO techniques.

Traditionally, these techniques are broadly classified in two categories, black hat and white hat SEO. As usual, the white are the "good guys and black are the villains.

But what difference does it the black hat of SEO white hat? Why focus on one technique to another and in what situation?

A little history

Many agree to say that these designations of "black hats and white hats" come from old Hollywood cliches when the good guys wore cowboy hats to the color you can imagine the bad and the other color (it should be said that it was easier to switch to screen films in black and white).

Today, the white hat SEO will use techniques that respect the advice of quality search engines, SEO Black Hat will instead try to find "flaws" in what he perceives the algorithm of engine and try to use techniques condemned by them to improve the position of its web pages in the results.
When to use White Hat techniques?

The use of white hat techniques to optimize websites is what we always advise our clients.
In many cases, they have sites they wish to make and sustain over time. They do not want to risk downgrading brutal related to identification of a technique "banned" by Google (once again, we mention this engine because it has 90% market share in France).

Despite these precautions, the risk of change of position is already significant, but if the site is optimized for numerous applications and in conformity with the guidelines of the engines, it will suffer less variation algorithm can be induced by the addition of filters by them.
Instead, black hat techniques are often another goal.

Using black hat techniques is very effective when it aims to get high traffic on a limited (if you know your event website goes live only a few months, it's tempting).

When the application of these techniques is a long-term positioning, they prove quite costly in time, because the game of hide and seek is played almost daily with search engines. If this is compatible with a personal site, and if you practice all by yourself, these techniques are hardly compatible with the site of a client for whom you work.
What techniques are white hat?

We will not provide a summary of 70% of the articles of our blog, because generally we detail these techniques through them. Let's say that in general, these techniques do not involve cheat engine, but rather to make every practice to avoid putting their sticks in the wheels. The objective is to facilitate the indexing of pages and understanding of their themes and content.

Google even gives many tips in applying these techniques, you will find these tips here. Other tips are also given as to avoid falling to the dark side.
What techniques are black hat?

The list is long ... and fluctuating because search engines do their best to combat them.
Our intention is not to give advice to that effect. Generally these techniques are always one thing: show engine optimized content arch that will not see the Internet.

10 years ago, it was still possible to write in white on a white background (and it still works ... sometimes a few weeks). Today, the cloaking techniques are usually preferred. They are to distinguish spam from search engines based on various parameters (user agent, IP) to submit their content to be different from that presented to the user. Games 301s can also be used occasionally.

The technical annexes benefit from hotlinking image or content or even use the back door some API search engine. Others include spamming blogs and forums in order to increase its number of backlinks.
Is there a middle ground?

It is used to name the middle "gray hat SEO" (gray hat).
In practice, we can say that this concerns the practical implementation techniques are not formally banned by search engines (we never use the term "illegal" that are often found on the forums, because the worst cloaking do not take into prison, took the only risk is to be de-indexed or blacklisted engine). But with the engines, which is not forbidden is not necessarily allowed either. Turns of phrase councils Google sometimes leave matters in abeyance.

The border-line techniques are often performed in cases of extreme competition on a key phrase. Often because they are the fastest way to get his pin of the game "punishment" is often applied short, these techniques help to limit risk taking over time, because you can try asking re-index your site after cleaning. Very often, these techniques involve the integration of textual content in a more or less openly visible.
Does the black hat SEO is wrong?

"Do not be evil" Google says. For them, the answer is clearly yes, it's very very wrong, wrong, dirty, yuk!

On the merits, the exploration of these techniques is, however, something interesting (not always profitable in the long term, but exciting). That often going for something that one is on track for a result that was expected and that no one can use for a few weeks, months, years, before a penalty (or termination) do not fall over.

It is equally exciting, because it forces him to dig his head to try to understand how a search engine, it can get into the shoes of a Google engineer and imagine what it would do to counter these techniques, or demonstrates that Google can not (yet) to eliminate them.
And we, what is your?

You will understand for our customers, our hat is now pure white.

For ourselves, and some sites that we manage on our behalf, we sometimes played with fire but are now repentant ;-).
We usually take huge rakes in the distance, but during the few years when these techniques have worked, they were lucrative.
The guidance would rather now become whiter than white because our small team in a hard address to the army of engineers that faces us.

This does not prevent us from plunging off so lightly, but only for the game, during contest referencing (see black hattitude), or simply for testing. And quite frankly, it's always exciting to go play the other side of the fence, you know, the one which is displayed on the big board ban.
So white, gray, black?

Firstly, there are no good guys and bad guys. The "game" is simply to position themselves in the results of a search engine, no lives are put at stake and the black does not pollute the planet more than the white.

For my part, I tend to think that black hat SEO has many advantages:

* It helps to look so very trainer operating search engines.
* It avoids the Google engineers to sit on their laurels, and the challenge is one of the best engines of innovation

In parallel, it has many drawbacks, including:

* Its very time-bound side of the passion that leads quickly.
* Its very risky appearance on the day a method leads to blacklistage

Are there any publications on black hat techniques?

Yes, of course. Make no mistake, however. The people implementing these practices rarely give their tips as they work perfectly. But these publications are very interesting in the sense of discovery and implementation.

Here is a small list of sites on the topic.

http://www.seoblackout.com/ Someone very much against his dark hat (hello Paul ;-))
http://www.theblackmelvyn.com/ His tips will also help you defend yourself against evil.
http://bvwg.actulab.net/ not been active for one year, but very interesting.
http://www.deliciouscadaver.com/ very informative and practical
http://www.blackhatseo.com/html/ various dark SEO (English)
http://seoblackhat.com/ (English)
http://www.blackhat-seo.com/ (English)
And of course, for fun, we introduced this game recently black hat seo: http://www.jeu-referencement.com/ it's time you rub the black hat SEO without taking risks and testing your knowledge.
And if you prefer to see life in pink: Pink hat ...

And you, what color is your hat?