The method of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is far from simple. It contains a lot of strands that need to be tied together in order to obtain the best results. As a result, SEO experts are faced with a plethora of choices. They must decide what is most important to them and which paths they want to pursue.

What is white hat link building?

If you're reading this, you probably already know what link building is. A key component of SEO is obtaining relevant and trustworthy websites to link to your own sites or pages. It's one of the most effective strategies to increase your Google authority and, as a result, your SERP ranks. You might be wondering what all of this has to do with headwear. The solution may be found in Hollywood, particularly in conventional Westerns. Sheriffs, marshalls, and the film's other "goodies" would invariably wear a white Stetson in films set in the Old West. Instead, bandits, livestock rustlers, and other "baddies'' would dress in black. That film's topic has since been utilized as a metaphor in the tech sector. White hats and black hats would be used to describe computer hackers and SEO specialists, respectively. White hats, like the good guys in traditional Westerns, followed the rules. Black hats were their own law, breaking all the laws for their own gain. White hat SEO is SEO that sticks to techniques unlikely to draw condemnation from Google. It will function within the parameters of Google's webmaster quality guidelines, which are available for free. Black hat SEO is a type of SEO that breaks the rules. Keyword stuffing, cloaking, and other shady practices are examples of black hat SEO. Link building used to be a field strewn with black hats. Buying links or utilizing private blog networks is nothing new to SEO experts. All in the name of deceiving Google's algorithms. The algorithms became wiser over time, and Google's human review process became more strict. Following that, black hat link building became extremely risky. Sites that engage in dubious black hat link-building tactics are now subject to Google penalties on a regular basis. These are difficult to recover from for any website and should be avoided at all costs.

Penalties from Google

Google's algorithms and a slew of human reviewers are always on the hunt for websites that are behaving badly. The search engine wants its results to be useful to users and not contain any potentially harmful or illegal websites. That's why they provide webmasters with SEO and link-building guidelines and expect them to follow them. If a website engages in black hat SEO, Google will take note. It won't happen immediately, but it will happen eventually. If the malpractice is detected by an algorithm, the offender site's organic traffic will drop dramatically. If the reviewer is a human, the site's owner will receive a 'Manual Action.' They're referred to as "Google penalties" informally. The Google Search Console will send you a message informing you of the Manual Action. That message indicates that Google wants the site to improve and change its ways as soon as possible. If you get a Google penalty, you're not going to be too happy about it. It will have a significant impact on your organic traffic and will require a significant amount of time and work to recover from. This is especially true in the case of penalties related to link building. These frequently fail to identify the specific connections that caused the penalty. Before submitting a reconsideration request, site owners must figure this out for themselves. Most SEO experts have shied away from black hat SEO and link building because they are afraid of Google penalties. The good news is that this is the case. The bad news is that white hat penalties are still possible. Even if you truly try to keep to white hat link building, you will face these penalties. Backlinks obtained using what should be legal ways might nonetheless result in a penalty. These are common when a white hat technique is tried but performed badly. We'll go through nine ways you may unintentionally attract white hat fines to assist you in avoiding falling into the same mistake.

White hat link-building strategies

1. Posting as a guest

Guest posting will almost certainly be mentioned in any guide to excellent white hat link development. Writing guest articles on other people's websites and blogs is a common technique to get backlinks. It is a good example of white hat link building in and of itself. You are not breaching any of Google's guidelines if you offer helpful and reputable material to a relevant blog or forum. In fact, by providing value to the internet, you're following one of their major recommendations. If you aren't careful about where you publish, guest posting can result in white hat fines. It's preferable to connect to high-authority sites that are in the same niche as the page or site you're linking to. Otherwise, Google may flag the connection as unnatural and irrelevant.

2. Incorporating Reputable But Inapplicable Links

Another well-worn piece of link-building advice is to go back and add extra links to material that is working well. It makes sense to link out from a terrific piece of content that Google plainly enjoys and is ranking well. Internal links aren't as good as external connections, but they're still quite valuable. A link from your excellent content to another website will almost certainly boost that page's organic traffic. You must avoid cramming links into the material in an unnatural way. Google dislikes links that are simply there to connect to something else. If a link goes to a website that is irrelevant to the content's topic, the link is likely to be penalized.

3. Link Exchange

SEO professionals would frequently swap links in the early days of link development. Two high-authority sites in the same niche would agree to offer each other one or more links. The procedure was referred to as "link exchange" or "reciprocal linkages." Some less scrupulous operators went too far, as has been the case with many SEO techniques. They created arrangements amongst sites that resulted in the sharing of a large number of links. This was quickly noticed by Google. As a result of this procedure, white hat fines are now frequently enforced. These penalties are unrelated to the authority or even the relevancy of the site supplying the connection. They've been enforced only because Google has determined that the links were offered in exchange for others.

4. Commenting on blogs

At this point, we already know what you're going to say. ‘But wait, isn't commenting on blogs and providing a link to your site a black hat strategy?' you could ask. That is not the case, and you do not have to take our word for it. The issue, like with many of our other white hat tactics, is how you do it. It's OK to leave a relevant and honest remark on a high-authority blog. If it then connects to a related and interesting website, it will most likely be beneficial to both the blog owner and the viewers. Google appreciates anything that benefits users and adds value. If you cut shortcuts with your remarks, you'll get into trouble and may face white hat penalties. In comments, it's a no-no to use spun or repeated text. It's also a bad idea to cram links or keywords into the area where your name should be. Google will only give you bad feedback if you do those things.

5. Using the Media and News Organizations

Reaching out to the press and media sources is an excellent white hat link-building strategy. Offering yourself as a source for news sites, journals, and blogs is a wonderful method to obtain high-quality connections. It will also assist you and your organization in positioning themselves as experts in your area. Using a free service like Help A Reporter Out is the best way to go (HARO). If you join that program and specify your area of expertise, you'll receive emails with a list of reporters in need of assistance. You may then give quotations or statistics to be used in their work, as well as if you're lucky, a juicy link. There isn't much of a risk of white hat penalties here.

6. No Authority, No Meaning

We've already discussed the importance of obtaining links from high-authority websites. Webmasters and SEO experts consider those links to be gold dust. The domain of a website may reveal a lot about its authority. Sites with.edu.org and or.gov domains are excellent candidates for earning a link. You can attempt a few different methods to obtain such connections. You might be able to acquire one from your previous university if you write an alumni update, for example. If you collaborate with a local non-profit with a.org domain and give your time or resources, they may provide you with a link.

7. Article Links to the ‘Top' or ‘Best' List

Whatever your specialty, news or blog sites about it are almost certain to exist. Obtaining connections from those websites is frequently a good idea. A link in one of their posts may be highly beneficial if the site has a lot of traffic and high domain authority. In practice, things aren't usually so straightforward. Many careful watchers of Google's human operations have noticed that particular blog sites have been more targeted by the search engine.

8. Business Listings & Online Directories

Online directories are a must-have for companies and businesses. It's a method for potential consumers to locate them. A directory listing will always have at least one backlink. Signing up for the listings is also a good move from an SEO standpoint. Being listed in a business directory cannot be considered unnatural by Google for any website. The connections obtained as a result of being included are frequently among the most pristine of white hat links. Even for these sorts of links, though, white hat fines are not uncommon.

9. Skyscrapers with a shaky foundation

The 'Skyscraper Technique' is highly popular at the moment. It's a link-building and page-ranking method used by SEO professionals to create content. The basic concept is that you find material that is performing well on Google and then produce your own improved version.