The field of search engine optimisation (SEO) is a strange place to find a battle of morality.
However, within this niche form of digital marketing, a pitched battle between good and evil is taking place every day. On one side is the ‘white hats’ and the search engines – on the other, the ‘blackhats’ and the disreputable websites. One side stands for order, the other for advantage. One for long term stability and honesty, the other for short term success and deception.
Of course this battle is far less melodramatic than this. It’s not really a battle between “good and evil” – it’s a battle between “good and bad” – good practice and bad practice.
Broadly speaking, it boils down to two different philosophies of search engine optimisation, each with their own techniques.
The “Good” guys are, to a great extent, just those that operate within the system. The ones that use techniques recommended or tacitly approved by search engines; promoting SEO through good website design, strong content and promoting a business or site through a more holistic approach to both people and search engine bots. These are the “white hats” and done properly, these are the SEO consultants who achieve a lasting benefit for a website.
The “Bad” guys are the ‘blackhats’. They’re the ones who take the guidelines and policy agreements of the major search engines and look for the best way to exploit the system for maximum effect, hoping to get results before they get caught. When it boils down to it, they simply use techniques not approved by the search engine companies – which in many cases can actually be illegal. Their techniques basically fool a search engine through subterfuge, creating pages that get great rankings but are of little to no use to a user.
Both sides get their name from another niche community that has its origins in the development of the web, one that similarly operates behind the scenes of the vast majority of web users but has a profound effect on the general experience: hackers.
Whitehat hackers effectively temper their transgressive proclivities through an ethical code, penetrating data security to highlight gaps in network defence and vulnerabilities. These are the people who find employment as data security experts.
Blackhats are the ones who attack systems for profit, fun or for their own inscrutable reasons; they do things without permission, without invitation and without thought of benefit to their target. Given the dubious legal status of their actions, they are less likely to be directly employed by any reputable company. Their direct effect on the internet is the creation of headaches like botnets, viruses and internet worms.
Returning to SEO, the situation is much the same for any company or client interested in purchasing their services. Like blackhat hacking, blackhat SEO carries its own risks. The difference is that the punishment is rarely going to involve the criminal system – the police aren’t looking for unscrupulous search engine optimisation.
Instead, the pitfall of the blackhat approach is in the efforts of the search engines themselves. Like spam advertising, blackhat SEO dilutes the effect and benefit of all other forms of search engine marketing and is likely to discourage users from using the engine. If you get caught using blackhat SEO, your site will probably disappear off the search engine entirely – or at the very least fall massively down the rankings.