Black Hat and White Hat SEO - Is it about ethics? Or just the highest link value?

I don' use black hat seo technique ever and its not good for those who using this technique. Today google is very strict and if we will do spamming on our site then google may be penalize our site.

As an SEO without labels- I hate this whole "White Hat v Black Hat" debate.

Is it not just better to understand SEO, and just do what works?

There are Black Hat techniques which are a waste of time, and abused. But there also plenty of White Hat techniques which are also a waste of time.

When I see the words "SEO" and "Guest-Blogging" in the same sentence, I laugh out loud- how is a link on an inner page of a website effective to your SEO efforts?

I'm not against Guest-Blogging, I think it is great to engage with other readers for exposure and traffic, but as far as SEO goes, it should not be part of that strategy unless the blog you are writing for is going to post your article on their High PR front page.

It is important to remember that SEO is purely speculation. Nobody knows the in's and out's of an algorithm, all we can do is trial and error and speculate about what really works. Give Google exactly what it wants, and Google will give back!

Don't over-think it!

It was interesting to see the SEOMoz rebrand. Although their argument was they cover all online marketing disciplines, not just SEO, I do wonder if we are seeing a shift away from traditional SEO terminology as customers become confused or disillusioned with the SEO industry as a whole.

Online marketing seems much more obvious and business like than SEO terms, which rightly or wrongly seem to paint a negative picture.

Be interesting to fast forward 5 years and see how many people still call themselves SEO consultants! Maybe the industry can repair it's image and the good guys (of which there are plenty) can regain the high ground?


Just noticed Sami predicted the new name of SEOMoz back in March

It is funny you mentioned the transition from SEO branding to Online Marketing branding. This is something I have recently done myself with my blog.

The reason why I have taken this approach though is purely to fill a void- many online marketers only ever talk about SEO when they are doing niche research, which is very misleading to newbies.

I want to portray that SEO & Internet Marketing go hand in hand, since many newbies will waste so much time and spirit if they think Keyword Research is where true SEO finishes!

I'm focusing more on using SEO to build an authority site, rather than niched micro sites, since the micro sites are starting to go the route of the Dodo....Oh, and all that without bloody Market Samurai!haha!

'Twas just a nickname, honest....

Newbies are always going to be caught in the middle though, if you think about it. Somewhere, someone is going to try their hardest to tell you that their techniques work the best, and even show you false imagery to "prove" that its going to work. I got a spam email a few days ago with the heading being "Can I trust you with my secret technique?" For someone new to SEO, this could be terribly misleading and could start more newcomers on a destructive path rather than help them.

Let me ask you this though, If you had to direct a newcomer to information, to help them learn the trade, how would you decide where to send them? I mean besides using Moz, how do you decide what is good or what is bad.

Starter for 10, here!

SEO 101