Learn about White-Hat, Black-Hat, Grey-Hat and Negative SEO

Jennifer Robinson

Written by Jennifer Robinson

4 Minute Read

Learn about White-Hat, Black-Hat, Grey-Hat and Negative SEO

Before you optimize your site, you must understand and learn the different types of SEO, available for your business to improve your website's traffic. understanding the different strategies and techniques will help you create a campaign that will drive better organic results for your business. There are various types of Search Engine Optimization, each with its own purpose and goal. Let’s get along with the kinds of SEO and their tactics.

White-Hat SEO

White-Hat Search Engine Optimization is an ethical and legal method bound by all SEO guidelines and rules made by the Google webmaster and cannot violate any of them. Search engine promotes the white-hat SEO strategy with positive review. The main goal of white hat SEO is to increase the rankings organically in search engines. This optimization method is the most secure and risk-free to get a top rank in SERPs. It is also an ethical way to build your web page backlinks through useful content on other websites.

White-Hat Search Engine Optimization uses harmless tactics and techniques to improve website ranking in search engines, e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. The SEO experts work with the strategies within the rules and regulations of search engines. It does not contain unfavorable strategies that can harm or penalize your website. There are some valuable techniques of white hat SEO that can be implemented:

  • Use content-relevant rich keywords organically and strategically.
  • Publish high-quality, unique, and helpful content
  • Follow the tactics and guidelines of Google’s webmaster.
  • Ensure a website’s positive User Experience (UX)
  • Optimizing high-quality inbound links
  • Simple and user-friendly website navigation
  • Satisfy the user intent and the interests of the searchers.



Black-Hat SEO

Black-Hat Search Engine Optimization is unethical and involves techniques against the SEO policies set by the Google search engine. Unlike white-hat SEO, it includes all spam actions and activities to get a higher ranking in search engine results. Undoubtedly, black-hat SEO is the fast and quick way to get a better position in the search results. The spammy measures used in this method can cause trouble for you, such as penalizing or banning your website.

Black-Hat Search Engine Optimization is not illegal. But since it is against the rules and guidelines of a search engine, your website can still be dropped down or removed. The only objective of black-hat SEO is to achieve a better position in search engine results, regardless of whatever the sources are. Listed below are the black hat SEO techniques that can harm your website's ranking and must not be executed.

  • Keyword Stuffing
  • Cloaking
  • Private Link Networks.
  • Doorway Pages
  • Sneaky Redirects
  • Link Schemes
  • Rich Snippet Markup Spam
  • Duplicated Content
  • Malicious Behavior such as Viruses And Malware



Grey-Hat SEO

Grey-Hat Search Engine Optimization is a mixture of Black-Hat and White-Hat SEO means Grey hat SEO lies between white hat and black hat SEO. The tools and techniques are vague as they are abide by and simultaneously go against the terms and conditions of Google webmaster.

Grey-Hat SEO is ethical, legal, and acceptable. Some of the practices of this SEO method are ethical, and some are contrary to the guidelines of search engines. Therefore, based on unethical techniques, the website can likely be punished. On the other hand, grey hat SEO is considered to be the most commonly used strategy.

Grey-Hat SEO can improve the rankings of a website, but it’s risky. Grey hat SEO can give you organic results and rank your website high in search engine results. But at the same time, it is not risk-free, which is why this SEO method is performed cautiously to avoid future negative impacts. As mentioned, the grey hat is the combination of white hat and black hat SEO; therefore, it is crucial to stay informed about the updates on categorization; as grey hat SEO strategies turn periodically. Some of the techniques that are used in grey hat SEO are mentioned below:

  • Using Expired Domains
  • Paying For Reviews
  • Cloaking
  • Automated And Duplicated Content
  • Buying And Trading Links
  • Private Blog Networks



Negative SEO

Negative Search Engine Optimization lowers the competitor's ranking in search engine results. It includes unethical actions to destroy the search rankings of competitors’ websites, reduce their organic traffic and ruin their SEO efforts. Therefore, negative SEO is sometimes also referred to as black hat SEO. Negative SEO actions are considered highly unethical, including hacking the site, modifying its content, or building unnatural backlinks on other sites.

Negative SEO can be harmful and risky for your website. There can be more chances of negative aftereffects and risk factors due to the spammy activities involved in negative SEO. Therefore, it is essential to monitor your website with different authentic tools and take preventive measures to avoid problems. If you do not secure your website from negative SEO attacks, Google may find it and impose a heavy penalty or can ban your site. Here we will discuss some of the tactics associated with negative SEO.

  • Hacking Website
  • Viruses And Malware
  • Spammy Backlinks
  • Repeated Anchor Text
  • Duplicate The Website’s Content
  • Fake Negative Reviews
  • Heavy Crawling

In a Nutshell

Knowing and understanding how SEO strategies and techniques work to get higher rankings is important because just creating quality content is not enough now-a-days. Using the correct type of SEO can help your website rank higher or downgrade in search engines. Take time to understand how each factor works, but don’t try implementing all techniques simultaneously. Maybe you find it a hassle initially, but don’t worry; our SEO consultants will figure it out for you. Cynosure Designs’ SEO services will make your return on investment so high! So get your phone and contact our SEO Digital Marketing Agency today!

Beat your competitors through top search engine rankings!



Originally Published September 14, 2022 05:02 PM, Updated September 14, 2022.



Our Clients

  • Our Clients

    We are Google Partners

    Being a Google Partner means we deliver excellent customer service, give customers a competitive edge and have been trained to help businesses grow online. We have Digital Marketing Specialists who know the google's algorithm better than any other experts in the field.