After creating a website, most business owners run to start optimizing without considering the different types of SEO. It’s essential to know and understand the available types of SEO to know the best fit for your business.
Understanding the different types of SEO helps you create the best marketing strategy for your business. There are eight different types of search engine optimization techniques. All are designed to earn your site visibility.
These SEO tactics differ due to Google guidelines and how they impact your efforts. Below are the types of SEO you’ll find.
White Hat Search Engine Optimization
Using white hat SEO is the most effective way to boost your site’s SEO ranking. It’ll also help you optimize your site with time. Google recommends that marketers use white hat SEO to help boost their websites and content ranking on the search results.
It also helps you drive positive outcomes for your brand because white hat SEO follows Google’s algorithm and other search engine guidelines. However, this technique will take some time to yield results, but it’ll be worth it. You’ll also have long-term growth and increase your site’s performance on search engine result pages.
Below are some of the techniques included in this type of SEO.
Generating High-Quality Posts
Posting high-quality and relevant content will bring your website valuable leads. It’ll bring consumers who are interested in what you’re selling to your page. This will help you reach a bigger audience of more interested individuals and improve your page’s ranking.
Generating high-quality posts and content includes creating numerous types of relevant, high-quality posts related to your industry. The content could include infographics, videos, eBooks, blog posts, and articles.
Also, remember to include industry-related and engaging videos and photos. You can create videos showing your users how to use your products or post articles about the benefits of using your products.
Make Your Website Mobile and User-Friendly
Your website must be user-friendly and mobile-friendly to keep individuals browsing. This means that the site should have an attractive design and well-organized navigation. Users should find it easy to navigate from one page to the other and find what they’re looking for.
Today, over 92% of mobile users browse the internet using their phones. If you don’t optimize your site for mobile usage, you’ll leave out a higher percentage of potential clients.
Share Content on Social Media Pages
If you’re looking to drive traffic, you can share your content on social media. This way, you’ll increase your page’s engagement while driving leads to the website. It’ll also help you improve the site’s ranking.
Optimize HTML
For your website to work well and perform better, you must clean up its code. Optimizing HTML includes eradicating white space, cleaning messy code, and decreasing redundant text. This is the best way to ensure your site performs better.
How Effective Is the White Hat Technique?
Most people wonder how to know if the SEO technique they’re using is working. The best way to find out is if your website’s growth, ranking, and performance on search engine results are impacted when there’s a Google algorithm update.
If you’re implementing the white hat technique properly, you may notice a drop in your site’s ranking every time there’s a change in the Google algorithm. This does not mean that you’re using the wrong technique. However, it shows that you’re correctly implementing the white hat SEO technique and you may need a minor adjustment.
After an algorithm update, your site may take a while to adjust. However, it’ll be easier to get back on track. Using the white hat technique is the most effective way to boost your website’s ranking and it produces long-term results.
Black Hat SEO Method
Black hat search engine optimization takes advantage of search engine algorithms to boost a site’s ranking. Most businesses that use this technique do so because of how fast it drives results. That’s because most people prefer immediate gratification with little to no effort.
Unfortunately, the black hat SEO technique may hurt your business down the line. Many tactics may fall under this technique. These include:
- Keyword staffing
- Link spamming
- Hidden links and texts
- Cloaking
- Purchasing links
- Copying content
- Overly optimizing HTML headings
- Using popular and irrelevant keywords
The above tactics are used by most brands today to boost their websites. Unfortunately, the resulting site optimization from black hat SEO doesn’t last. The Google algorithm is very keen on these techniques and will catch on to your site.
If you’re caught using any of the above techniques, Google will punish you and reduce your site’s ranking. Other search engines may also ban and punish your business. They do this by preventing the site from appearing on the search result pages.
Google and other search engines only want to show users relevant pages on the search result page. So they may ban your page if you take shortcuts to increase your site’s ranking.
Negative Search Engine Optimization
Negative SEO refers to when competitors and other businesses try to hurt your business by bringing unfavorable publicity to your site. This is a distinctive position for your brand. Negative SEO is not enacted by your marketing team but by other individuals, such as your competitors.
In most cases, you may notice that businesses try to bring negative publicity to their competitors in order to increase their own leads. The negative publicity brought to your business is meant to hurt your reputation and send some of your clients to your competitor’s website. This technique may increase your competitor’s rank and reduce yours.
Below are some of the strategies businesses may use to drive negative SEO:
- Creating atypical links linking to their competitor’s website
- Hacking competitor’s website to alter their content
- Posting negative comments and reviews
The main intention behind negative SEO is to hurt and harm your competitor’s website for your personal advancement. It’s very challenging to control negative SEO and its damage to your business. That’s because you’re not in control; the other company is initiating the attack.
When running a search engine optimization campaign, make sure to continually monitor your site to avoid unexpected and unusual drops and spikes in performance and activity.
Gray Hat Search Engine Optimization
Grey hat SEO is defined as the midpoint between black hat and white hat SEO. Unfortunately, grey hat SEO is not a good technique for your website. But it’s not considered as a negative technique either, so it was named gray hat.
Search engines do not ban this SEO tactic. However, Google doesn’t consider this a suitable way of obtaining leads. That’s because these techniques are often sold as an affordable solution but are quite risky.
SEO companies may offer their clients these techniques at a reduced cost. That’s because this method is questionable and may give you immediate short-term results. Below are several cases of grey hat SEO tactics:
- Paid reviews and testimonials
- Spun content
- Link exchanges
- Clickbait
Some businesses use the above techniques to boost their website’s performance and ranking on the search engine result page. While Google hasn’t banned the gray hat search engine optimization tactic, it isn’t ideal for growing your website long-term. The above tactics could negatively impact your site instead of helping it.
On-Page Search Engine Optimization
This is one of the most popular kinds of SEO strategies that brands use to grow their sites. On-site SEO technique refers to any alterations and modifications made to the website that brings positive results. The biggest example of on-page SEO is industry-related keyword optimization.
When your target audience visits Google, they search for websites, content, and products based on keywords. After they input the relevant keywords, the search engine will generate a page of relevant results.
If you want your target audience to find your business online, you must conduct a lot of research about the relevant keywords in your industry. This research will help you find the correct phrases and keywords people look for online. You can include these keywords in your content, such as page titles, headings, and meta descriptions.
Additionally, you should also create unique content related to your industry. That way, it’ll be easier for potential clients to find your services and products online. Keywords can also help your business rank higher on search engine result pages, which earns you more leads and increases your sales.
Another popular on-site search engine optimization strategy is URL structure optimization. Whenever a client visits your website, you’ll want them to recall your page. You can do this by customizing your URL structure to optimize your site.
A memorable URL will help your leads better know what to expect on a page. If your URL is just a mixture of words and numbers, the users may not know what the site is about. It’ll also be challenging to remember the site later if they want to look for it.
Technical SEO
This is a type of SEO that comprises optimizing and altering your website’s backend. This way, your website will run efficiently and boost its ranking on search results. Technical SEO includes everything that supports and runs your website.
You could have an appealing and beautiful website, but optimizing the site’s backend is key. The biggest aspect of technical SEO is the speed of your site. According to research, 40% of individuals will abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.
For the best results, your page should load faster to avoid frustrating potential users. There are numerous software tools in the market to help you monitor and measure your site’s loading speed. However, you must ensure that you make the necessary changes to your website if the loading speed changes.
Most businesses outsource SEO services, especially if they don’t have in-house marketing and IT teams. Site monitoring may require some technical knowledge. So the digital marketing company you hire may help you with your site’s backend.
Off-Site Search Engine Optimization
Of-site means optimization actions that aren’t carried out on your website. Off-site SEO involves the external aspects that may impact your website’s performance. The most effective off-site SEO strategy is sharing your content on social media.
When you post your website’s URL on your social media pages, you won’t control how your target customers will interact and engage with the links. This is one of the best external factors that could help your website perform better.
Unfortunately, social media signals often don’t affect your search engine optimization directly. However, the signals could influence user behavior that may help you improve the site’s ranking.
Most social media users often click on the links shared on social media pages. They’ll also share the links to your site on their pages, increasing traffic to your site.
When you get relevant traffic, your website’s ranking may drastically improve. Other off-site SEO strategies include backlinks and client reviews.
Reviews will drive traffic to your website from other areas of the internet. These aren’t factors that you can control or perform on your website for optimization, but they’re exterior factors that’ll impact your site’s ranking.
Voice Search Optimization
Voice search is among the newest types of SEO optimization. It’s also a widespread way of conducting searches online for most millennials. Today, companies have developed products such as Siri, Google Home, and Alexa, which ensures that voice search use will keep on growing.
You can optimize voice search by using the relevant keywords. These keywords include phrases and slang words that your target audience may verbally mention. Remember also to optimize your website for faster loading.
Most people use the voice search feature on their phones for faster results and quick answers. So you should structure the content you post on your website to ensure that Google can easily find the information.
Now You Know the Different Types of SEO
Most businesses use different SEO tips and tricks to drive traffic to their sites. While this might work, it’s also essential to understand the different types of SEO strategies available today. This will help you apply the best SEO strategy in your digital marketing campaign for the best results.
Are you looking for the best digital marketing agency? Contact us today at Latitude Park to schedule a website evaluation. Our team of highly-trained professionals will work hand-in-hand with your company to help you grow your business and generate relevant leads.
