{"id":37,"date":"2019-02-15T11:24:21","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T11:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explicitly.me\/?p=37"},"modified":"2021-04-28T20:56:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T20:56:10","slug":"do-i-need-to-know-blackhat-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explicitly.me\/do-i-need-to-know-blackhat-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I Need To Know Blackhat SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sometimes it\u2019s important to ask questions that may have answers that you already know. One such question popped in my mind yesterday, which obviously found its way onto twitter:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Ok Question tweeps: As an SEO do you NEED to know \u201cblack hat\u201d tactics? Thoughts?<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To my surprise I had a phenomenal number of responses. I either caught twitter at a good time, or the question is one that attracted peoples attention.<\/p>\n

Of course not all answers were what I expected\u2026\u00a0Steve Plunkett\u00a0asked:<\/p>\n

define black hat tactics\u2026 lol<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fantomaster owns the Gray Hat<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2026which to be honest is a perfectly good question. How DO you define Black Hat SEO? How do you recognise the difference between those who are Black Hat and those that are merely hackers for hire? I think\u00a0Greg Boser\u00a0nailed it (and I think others thought so too, his response was retweeted a lot):<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty easy for me to define. I consider BHSEO the act of breaking rules, not laws.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s the difference. Search Engines have a whole bunch of rules they don\u2019t like us violating, and which typically lead to sites being kicked out of the SERPs if caught. Breaking those rules makes you a BHSEO ( I won\u2019t debate the whole buying links and Gray Hat SEO thing here because it\u2019s much debated and covered territory). Hackers work outside the law. Case and point? The whole\u00a0Ugg Boots\u00a0scene that played out in the UK recently. I consider the whole\u00a0Link Injections\u00a0scene to be beyond Black Hat and illegal.<\/p>\n

Of course some people like my friend\u00a0Dave Snyder<\/a>\u00a0just refuse to belong to a classification\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dave Snyder “I only wear hats Cause I am Bald”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

(Dave is Co-Founder of\u00a0Search and Social\u00a0and regular blogger at\u00a0Search Engine Journal)<\/p>\n

But getting back to the point, do I as a White Hat SEO need to know Black Hat tactics? Do I need to understand the intricacies of the Dark Side? Why? Shouldn\u2019t I just run at the mention of black hat? My twitter peeps don\u2019t seem to think so:<\/p>\n

@wiep<\/a>\u00a0(who by the way is a\u00a0link building<\/a>\u00a0genius)\u00a0how else would you know what white is?<\/em>\u00a0Which he then followed by\u00a0the biggest problems are caused by cowboys who think they\u2019re wh, but don\u2019t have an f*ing clue what they\u2019re doing\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

@andyheaps<\/a>(Head of Search at Latitude)\u00a0need to know what they are and be able to recognise them, not necessarily implement them\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026unless you\u2019re selling viagra!<\/em><\/p>\n

@drewhoward<\/a>\u00a0as an SEO I think you do need to make yourself aware of black hat tactics so you know what to avoid and how to stay ethical<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>mosquitohawk<\/a>\u00a0I think it helps if you\u2019re going to really say you understand the search engines, but isn\u2019t required to improve rankings generally<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>MichelleRobbins<\/a>\u00a0Was quite succinct:\u00a0absolutely.<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>swerveball<\/a>\u00a0yeah. you need to be aware \/ have some understanding. you can\u2019t master something by only studying half.<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>APSG<\/a>\u00a09\/10 times they\u2019re the ones who find the exploits first \u2013 you could look at how to waterdown the tactic turn it grey \/ white<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>SEO_Doctor<\/a>\u00a0often debated that. If you can do quality white hat, then no. Big G is getting too good at filtering. But it\u2019s great playing\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>robwatts<\/a>\u00a0definitely \u2013 you need to understand dirty tricks to combat them<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>davidjmain<\/a>\u00a0only to know what to Avoid!<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>DavorGoldie<\/a>\u00a0I think you should have an understanding of blackhat tricks, tactics etc. You need to know what you\u2019re up against\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>Fearless_Shultz<\/a>\u00a0I say yes, if nothing else to know whether you might be inadvertently using them! But also they can inspire white hat variants\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>GregBoser<\/a>\u00a0not only know, but be proficient at it. Anything less is a disservice to a client.<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>Dixon_Jones<\/a>\u00a0(Dixon is the director of Receptional who do run the\u00a0Majestic SEO<\/a>\u00a0Campaign)\u00a0Sooner or later, you\u2019ll do something \u201cblack\u201d by mistake if you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing.<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>yrewol<\/a>\u00a0(although unknown in the general SEO industry, I vouch this guy is a genius, and I consider him a good friend)\u00a0you absolutely do need to know them. Whether you use them or report them, you need to understand them and their impact.<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>Matt_Siltala<\/a>\u00a0I think if you do not test, and have never tested on the dark side, you really can\u2019t call yourself an SEO<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>seoidiot<\/a>\u00a0just give them a white hat name \u2026\u2026\u2026. \u201ccommercial link programme anyone?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>Skitzzo<\/a>\u00a0i think you need to be able to spot the most frequently used BH tactics so you can understand why sites outrank you etc.<\/em><\/p>\n

@<\/em>fantomaster<\/a>\u00a0(if you don\u2019t know this man, you need to read up. He KNOWS Black Hat SEO)\u00a0Expectably, my take is: Most certainly! If only to stay in the loop on the state-of-the-art side of things. (<\/em>BTW Ralph is launching\u00a0Customized Content Creation\u00a0soon)<\/p>\n

But for me one of the best analogies was by\u00a0Kenny Hyder<\/a>\u00a0(who by the way just launched\u00a0AwesomeTools.com):<\/p>\n

Do cops NEED to know how to think like criminals? Gotta know both sides to compete on either.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you can see form the responses above, there is a certain pattern to peoples thoughts regarding BH SEO. What does that tell me? That I NEED to know Black Hat SEO:<\/p>\n

\n