What is grey hat SEO?
Grey hat SEO refers to techniques and methods that do not directly violate Google’s guidelines for websites, but are also not recommended. Using these methods does not necessarily mean you will be penalized by search engines, but they are not approaches that are guaranteed to give you higher rankings either. They fall somewhere between white hat SEO and black hat SEO.
It is difficult to stay in control of which methods are rewarded by the search engines. The algorithms used to evaluate websites are constantly changing. Activities and techniques that are acceptable today may be assessed differently later. That’s why it’s important to keep up with changes in the search engines’ ranking guidelines when you work with SEO.
Examples of grey hat SEO techniques
We know that buying links is black hat SEO, and that publishing high-quality content is white hat SEO. But what falls under grey hat SEO? Here are some examples:
- Creating landing pages on your website solely to get backlinks: If you create pages whose only purpose is to generate links to your site, it goes against Google’s vision of showcasing content that actually delivers value to users. But what if users find the content on these pages good enough? That’s why this is considered grey hat SEO.
- Adding relevant keywords to an article that would have been just as useful without them: The content is valuable in itself, but you weave in search phrases in a natural way to rank for them.
- Commenting on other people’s blog posts with a reference to your own site to get a backlink
Summary
Grey hat SEO refers to methods for increasing organic visibility that do not fully follow best-practice guidelines, but are not explicitly discouraged either. It sits somewhere between white hat SEO and black hat SEO. When it comes to grey hat SEO (and in general), it is important to stay updated on changes in Google’s algorithm. Practices considered “acceptable” today may not necessarily be so in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is grey hat SEO?
Grey hat SEO refers to techniques and methods that are neither recommended by Google nor explicitly discouraged. You use tactics that fall into a grey area to achieve organic visibility. Because it sits between what is recommended and what is discouraged, it is less certain that it will work, and also uncertain whether you might lose organic visibility as a result.
Why should you keep up with Google’s guidelines?
Google’s guidelines are constantly changing, and there are regular updates to Google’s algorithm. If you use techniques that fall under grey hat SEO, something that works today may stop working after such an update. It is always important to keep an eye on this, but if you operate in the grey area, there is a greater chance that a change in the algorithm may affect you.
