craigmoney
Newbie
- Aug 16, 2011
- 29
- 3
So there is a big distinction between white and black hat seo. But when and what constitutes grey hat? When you push the boundaries or do something outside of the norm...
When does white turn grey?
- Thread starter craigmoney
- Start date
Lalalaenhund
Power Member
- Sep 14, 2010
- 748
- 421
It's just simply something that the SE's don't allow, but isn't exactly illegal or that unethical. It's pretty self-explanatory IMO 
I always look at it this way. I'm not saying it's right or wrong but it is what works for me. This is how I've explained it to clients in the past.
Blackhat is the automation of WhiteHat techniques.
Now I'm talking specifically about things like Article Marketing, Social Bookmarking, Blog Commenting, Wiki posting, Forum Profile building, you get the idea. Sure I could do it manually and dial it in so everything is subject specific and that would be white hat. But I do not have the time for that and if I can use a tool that will make me more efficient then I am all for it. For example by manually submitting comments on moderated blogs using my own head for the content creation I can do 5 an hour. Or I Fiverr a gig that gets me 15,000 trackback links that I can verify for about that amount of time (I have better things to do than to keep my SB master AA list current which is a neverending process).
There are some blackhat items that I think cannot be qualified under this definition, sure. But the techniques I use are very much white or black.
Blackhat is the automation of WhiteHat techniques.
Now I'm talking specifically about things like Article Marketing, Social Bookmarking, Blog Commenting, Wiki posting, Forum Profile building, you get the idea. Sure I could do it manually and dial it in so everything is subject specific and that would be white hat. But I do not have the time for that and if I can use a tool that will make me more efficient then I am all for it. For example by manually submitting comments on moderated blogs using my own head for the content creation I can do 5 an hour. Or I Fiverr a gig that gets me 15,000 trackback links that I can verify for about that amount of time (I have better things to do than to keep my SB master AA list current which is a neverending process).
There are some blackhat items that I think cannot be qualified under this definition, sure. But the techniques I use are very much white or black.
Designerdude13
Power Member
- Nov 22, 2010
- 648
- 195
I never really understood the concept of grey hat either. It's either illegal or legal in my opinion * shrugs shoulders*
manny521
Supreme Member
- Sep 15, 2011
- 1,449
- 370
this is funny and true...
manny521
Supreme Member
- Sep 15, 2011
- 1,449
- 370
100% agree....
white hat seo = no seo
so many "white hat" gurus can try and say they are "white hat" but this just doesn't exist...
a good definition of black hat that i have thought about for a while is = building links to manipulate your rankings...
super short definition and super easy to understand...
hameem
Elite Member
- Jul 21, 2011
- 1,914
- 1,010
What about if I use social media to go my stuffs viral and my rankings improve because of that? Would you call it blackhat SEO?
mrtwister_65
Regular Member
- Dec 30, 2009
- 461
- 542
By Matt Cutts' definition - Anything you do to help your site to rank is not whitehat.
craigmoney
Newbie
- Aug 16, 2011
- 29
- 3
That's call viral marketing
And all this illegal and not illegal talk...I don't think blackhat is illegal, Search engines make the rules. So as long as you aren't hacking or doing malware then it isn't illegal. Unethical maybe, but that is debatable.
ButcherPete
Regular Member
- Jan 10, 2012
- 284
- 283
That's not entirely true. If you build an engaging site with top quality content, you won't have to do any SEO whatsoever because your rank will grow naturally as the- BAHAHAHA sorry, I can't type that with a straight face!
:beach2:
LovervsFighter
Junior Member
- Nov 10, 2011
- 165
- 60
When you have to ask yourself, 'I wonder if I'm allowed to do this?' then congratulations, you've got one foot firmly on grey territory! Population: 3/4 of the online world.
Population: 3/4 of the online world.tedchang8592
Regular Member
- Sep 9, 2010
- 266
- 64
link building is black hat no matter how you did, the only white hat way is write high quality articles and wait for years