Types Of SEO Practices That are Making Rounds In 2020

When the term “SEO” pops up in front of business owners, most of them think of a very specific kind of optimization: the kind that involves the usage of the right keywords on web pages. And while that is an essential part of SEO, there’s a lot more to SEO than most of us know.

In this blog, we will review 6 types of SEO. 

Black-Hat SEO

In the early 1920s to 1940s, western movies in the US featured heroes wearing White hats and villains wearing Black hats, to symbolize the contrast between good and evil. 

That’s where the term Black-Hat SEO came into existence. 

Black-Hat SEO is the worst type of SEO that you can practice. It usually costs less but takes advantage of loopholes in Google’s search algorithm to rank better. It focuses on delivering the fastest results by manipulating and violating Google’s webmaster guidelines.

Some of the popular Black-Hat SEO techniques are –

• Keyword stuffing
• Cloaking
• Using paid link building methods 
• Private blog networks
  

This type of SEO can result in your site being banned from the search engine and affiliate sites. Therefore, it is best avoided.

White-Hat SEO

White-Hat SEO is the exact opposite of Black-Hat SEO. It includes all the optimization techniques that are approved by Google. 

Such efforts deliver sustainable google rankings, but it may take some time for you to reach there. Moreover, there is no risk of your website getting banned. 

Some popular example of White-Hat SEO techniques are:

• Curating relevant content.
• Earning high-authority links.
• Offering quality services.
• Employing the services of a website development company. (Fast-loading speed, easy navigation, and mobile-friendly design) 
• Using rich meta tags.
  

Grey-Hat SEO

Grey-Hat SEO falls in between White-Hat and Black-Hat SEO. It’s a barren land, embedded with hidden mines that can explode at any time.

Grey-Hat SEO doesn’t defy Google’s webmaster guidelines, but it uses methods that may lead to undesired outcomes. This stuff is ambiguous, and that’s why it poses more danger. 

It can either boost your rankings dramatically or drop them significantly. Therefore, it’s best to avoid using them.

Some popular Grey-Hat SEO techniques are:

• Using old domains that have a high DA.
• Getting fake reviews.
• Using clickbait title to increase click-open rate but not providing value to the visitor.
• Prolific link exchange.
• Altering content and reusing it.

Local SEO

Local SEO means optimizing your online presence to attract more customers in a specified area. It benefits businesses that provide location-specific services. 

To appear in local search results, a business needs to register itself with Google My Business, which includes your name, address, phone number, opening hours, and reviews. Besides listing within Google My Business, local directories also provide valuable citations. 

Here’s how marketing agencies in Greenville optimize your online presence for Greenville SEO.

• Create Google My Business Page. Get it verified.
• Add region/ city pages to the website.
• Embed a Google maps marker on your homepage.
• Curate content for local customers.
• Get listed in local directories.
• Spend time on eCommerce website development.

On-Page SEO

Everything that you do to optimize the content on your website comes under On-Page SEO. From including alt-tags in your images to using keywords in your headings and subheadings falls under this category.

These factors help search engines understand what your content is about. Moreover, they make your webpage rank higher.

Off-Page SEO

Off-Page SEO includes all the efforts that you make off-site to feature higher up in the SERPs. It refers to the signals that come from other websites. 

When Google ranks your webpage, it considers four main signals:

• The quality of your content.
• User experience your website provides.
• The strength of your backlink profile.

Final Thoughts

There are many other types of SEO, like Mobile SEO, Content SEO, Technical SEO, eCommerce SEO, Negative SEO, etc. 

But you have to focus on the types that can improve your rankings and deliver the best possible results in the long term.