Previously in this blog series, we explained to you what SEO stands for and the role it plays in the web.
Next, we will touch on the difference between White Hat & Black Hat SEO tactics to answer the question, “What is White Hat SEO?”
White Hat SEO tactics are exactly what the name connotes- an ethical and appropriate way of doing things. Now before you get rebellious and think, “well rules are meant to be broken” consider this: the driving message behind the world’s most powerful search engine (Google) is to bring valuable content and information for all internet users. As such, they carefully monitor existing websites and their content.
Sites who try to deceive Google by posting useless, unhelpful or deceiving content will be penalized or shut down. While rankings may feel like everything, as a professional real estate agent ask yourself this:
- Do I want to rank, or do I want to expand my clientele?
- What message am I sending to potential clients if I’m using unethical tactics for my website?
- If Google doesn’t trust my website, which is a direct reflection of me, why would anyone else?
If that doesn’t convince you why White Hat SEO is the way to go, remember this message from Google:
Don’t deceive your users, or present different content to Search Engines than you display to users…or feel our wrath.
Okay, I added the last four words for an ominous tone but you get the idea.
Redman and all team members are strong believers in White Hat SEO practices. We recently read an article by SEO Moz which explains some characteristics of Black Hat SEO. As mentioned in the article, to stay away from SEO’s Dark Side avoid any of the following:
- Cloaking– What you see is what you get. Under no circumstances should your website deliver one version of a page to internet users and a different version to search engines.
- Keyword Stuffing – “Shrek is a Faraway Land REALTOR®, so choose Shrek in Faraway Land for all your Faraway Land Real Estate needs. Shrek the REALTOR® can find you the perfect Faraway Land real estate home in Faraway Land.” That was painful to write, and I hope it was just as painful for you to read. I also hope not to see any of Redman’s clients with something remotely close to that on their websites! If you’re unsure about SEO Friendly content, simply contact a member of our team.
- Duplicates – If you create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with the exact same content in hopes of ranking high on Google- you will most likely get penalized or shut down. If you want to have more than one domain, try setting up redirects from your multiple domains to your main website.
Did you know Redman offers multiple SEO Services? Our team of professionals would be more than happy to help you understand SEO or provide you with SEO Friendly Copywriting. We can also assist you with your Search Engine Optimization Plan. So give us a call! You’ll feel better knowing you have useful and relevant content on your real estate website.
Sign-up For FREE Updates
