Search Engine Optimization or SEO is all the hype these days. Advertising and Marketing Agencies are always looking for SEO experts that make their websites rank high and their businesses a success. The recent years have seen too many people talk about how good they are at SEO, and it makes you wonder whether they even know the basics of the concept to begin with.
SEO is the process of increasing the eyeballs on your website by ranking better on Google SERPs. This is done through relevant keywords and the search phrases within your domain.
Did you know that there exist mainly 7 different types of SEO? Did you also know their importance in planning the organic search strategy to rank higher than your competitors? If you’re curious to know all about it, keep reading!
Types of SEO
1. White-Hat SEO
White-hat SEO comes with no risks of your site getting banned or pushed down in the search results if the search algorithm changes, as it abides by the guidelines given out by Google’s search engine. This type of SEO creates genuine goodwill around your brand if you’re patient enough to stick it out through the waiting process. To sum it up, white-hat SEO offers high rewards with minimal risks if the job is done the right way. Some examples of white-hat SEO include thorough keyword research followed by authoring relevant data, earning high-authority sites link by your on-page content merit, and much more.
2. Black-Hat SEO
Like the colour black is the opposite of colour white, so is Black-hat SEO the opposite of White-hat SEO. In simple terms, black-hat SEO looks for loopholes in Google’s search algorithm to make the website rank better on its SERPs. It blatantly strays from Google’s SEO list of Dos and Don’ts. It ends up using spammy link-building practices, keyword stuffing, cloaking, etc. Black-hat SEO can get your website blocked, banned, and blacklisted, and that might lead to a dip in its ranking. It is advised that one avoids this type of SEO as it might give you short-term results, but in the long run, it will be detrimental for your website.
3. Grey-Hat SEO
If an SEO agency wants to deliver quick results to its clients, it will resort to grey-hat SEO. Its approach falls between those of black-hat and white-hat. They may not be explicitly forbidden in Google’s webmaster guidelines, but this practice is still frowned upon as it can bring news of trouble for the website. Activities like clickbait and paid reviews fall under the umbrella of grey-hat SEO.
4. Negative SEO
Negative SEO is the most unethical practice that exists as it makes your competitor’s search rankings lower so that you can benefit from it and take their spot. Hacking into someone’s website, putting negative online reviews on different portals can get you caught under the charge of using negative SEO and can have legal implications as well.
5. On-Page SEO
On-page SEO comprises all that you do to make your page rank high on a search engine. Creating high-quality and relevant content for readers, inserting meta tags and HTML tags, avoiding broken links, etc. are all on-page SEO tactics.
6. Technical SEO
The technical SEO is designed for the Google bots to decipher and index your website’s pages for future use. A mobile-friendly site, XML sitemap, structured data, and more can be useful for this purpose.
7. Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO might not seem a great deal but it can fetch some great results. Social media marketing, positive customer reviews, links build with trusted sites are just some examples that will feature you high up in the SERPs.
While there may not be a defined list of what works and what doesn’t to make a website successful, the wisest approach is to inculcate all the steps in your approach and avoid the ones like black-hat SEO, grey-hat SEO, and negative SEO.
Under any circumstances, it is a good idea to remain far apart from practices that can get your business in trouble. Making SEO techniques work takes time and if you’re patient and diligent enough, you will make it a huge success!