When it comes to link building, SEO strategies can generally be divided into two categories: white hat and black hat.
White hat link building focuses on ethical, sustainable practices that align with search engine guidelines, while black hat techniques aim to exploit loopholes to achieve quicker, short-term results.
Let’s dive a little deeper.
White Hat vs Black Hat Link Building- A Quick Look
The easiest way to define white hat and black hat SEO is this: If it aligns with Google’s guidelines, it’s white hat. If it goes against them, it’s black hat.
White hat link building
White hat link-building relies on ethical, search engine-approved strategies to improve rankings. These techniques focus on creating value for users and earning links in a more organic way. By following Google Search Essentials (formerly Google’s Webmaster Guidelines), websites can build authority without risking penalties.
Black hat link building
Black hat link-building takes a different approach. Accordingly, it uses manipulative tactics to game search engine algorithms. These methods aim for quick ranking boosts rather than long-term success, often leading to penalties when Google catches on.
Grey hat link building
Grey hat link-building exists in the space between white and black hat. These methods aren’t outright banned by search engines but push the boundaries of what’s acceptable. While they can offer faster results than white hat techniques, they come with the risk of future penalties if Google updates its guidelines.
9 White Hat SEO Link-Building Techniques
1. Creating Linkable Assets
Creating linkable assets involves producing high-quality content that naturally attracts backlinks. This could be a comprehensive guide, an insightful case study, or even a useful tool that provides real value to your audience. By focusing on in-depth, informative content, you increase the likelihood that others in your industry will link to it.
To make this actionable, ensure your content is relevant and offers something new. Once it’s live, share it with relevant influencers, bloggers, or industry experts who would find it valuable. You can also promote your asset through email outreach, or social media channels to gain initial traction.
2. The Skyscraper Technique
The Skyscraper Technique focuses on finding high-performing content in your niche and creating an even better version of it. By improving on existing content—whether through more detail, updated data, or added features—you create a superior resource. The idea is to build something so valuable that others are naturally inclined to link to it.
To put this into action, start by researching the most linked-to content in your industry. Once you’ve identified these pages, look for ways to enhance them—whether by adding fresh insights, more visuals, or updated statistics. After creating your enhanced version, reach out to those who linked to the original content and suggest they link to yours instead.
3. Unlinked Mentions
Unlinked mentions refer to instances where your brand or content is mentioned on a website without a hyperlink. While these mentions don’t pass link equity, they present an opportunity for link building. By reaching out to the site owner, you can request that they add a link to the mention, turning a casual reference into a valuable backlink.
To take advantage of unlinked mentions, first set up a Google Alert or use a tool like BuzzSumo to monitor brand mentions. When you find an unlinked mention, contact the website owner and politely ask them to link back to your site. Be sure to highlight the value of the link for their readers to increase the likelihood of a positive response.
4. Creating New Mentions
Creating new mentions focuses on getting your brand or website mentioned across the web, even without a direct link. This can be done through media outreach, influencer partnerships, or simply being active in industry-related discussions and forums. By getting your name out there, you increase brand visibility and the chance for people to naturally link to your site.
To make this technique actionable, start by identifying key influencers and industry sites where your brand is underrepresented. Reach out with personalized pitches, offer valuable insights, or collaborate on projects. As your brand gains more mentions, the chances of gaining valuable backlinks from these sources grow significantly.
5. Broken Link Building
Broken link building involves identifying broken links on authoritative websites and offering a relevant, working replacement link to your own content. This strategy helps webmasters fix broken links while you gain valuable backlinks. It’s a win-win: the website owner improves their site’s user experience, and you get an opportunity to earn a quality backlink.
To execute this technique, start by using tools like Ahrefs or Check My Links to find broken links on relevant, high-authority websites in your niche. Once identified, reach out to the site owner, offering a helpful replacement link to your own content that fits their site’s context. Be sure to present your content as the best solution to fix the broken link, increasing the chances of getting a response.
6. Stolen Images
Stolen images refer to using your own visual content that has been used by others without credit. This technique leverages the opportunity to claim ownership of images, encouraging those who used your images without permission to link back to your site for proper attribution. It not only helps you reclaim credit for your work but also increases your site’s backlinks.
To implement this strategy, use a reverse image search tool like Google Images or TinEye to find where your images are being used online. Once you locate sites using your images without permission, reach out to the site owner or webmaster with a polite request for credit or a backlink to your website. This approach can help you recover lost value and build new links from authoritative sites.
7. Guest Blogging
According to this white hat link building technique, you write valuable content for other websites in your industry and include a backlink to your own site. This technique helps increase brand exposure and drives organic traffic by leveraging the audience of established platforms. It also allows you to build trust and authority by contributing quality content.
To use guest blogging effectively, identify high-authority sites relevant to your niche that accept guest posts. Focus on creating well-researched, engaging articles that offer genuine value to the host’s audience. By consistently producing valuable content, you’ll establish a strong reputation and earn backlinks that benefit your SEO efforts.
8. Link Insertion (Niche Edit)
Link insertion, also known as niche editing, involves adding a backlink to an existing piece of content that is already performing well. This technique takes advantage of established authority and traffic from older posts, giving your link a stronger foundation without the need to create new content. It’s a more subtle and effective way to improve rankings by leveraging already valuable resources.
To implement link insertion, start by identifying high-quality, relevant articles in your niche that are underperforming or outdated. Reach out to the website owners or content managers and suggest a natural addition of your link where it would add value. By strategically placing your link in this way, you ensure it enhances both the content and your SEO performance.
9. Journalist Platforms
Journalist platforms, such as Help a Reporter Out (HARO) or SourceBottle, connect journalists with experts seeking to provide insights for media coverage. By responding to relevant queries, you can gain high-authority backlinks from reputable news outlets or blogs, boosting both your website’s visibility and credibility. This method allows you to position yourself as an expert in your field while securing valuable inbound links.
To use journalist platforms effectively, sign up for the service and monitor the daily emails for opportunities that align with your expertise. Craft a concise, compelling response that offers real value to the journalist’s inquiry. If your response is chosen, you’ll not only gain a backlink but also earn recognition from a broader audience.
6 Black Hat Link Building Strategies
1. Buying and Selling Links
Buying and selling links involves exchanging money, goods, or services for backlinks, bypassing organic link-building methods. Often, this happens through direct purchases, where one website compensates another for including backlinks in their content, or through link marketplaces that offer backlinks based on metrics like domain authority or relevance.
The appeal of this technique lies in the immediate ranking boost it can deliver. The short-term success makes it tempting, but the long-term risks of penalties or de-indexing from Google often outweigh any quick gains, ultimately leading to greater damage to a site’s authority and visibility.
2. Reciprocal Linking
Reciprocal linking occurs when two websites agree to exchange backlinks with each other to improve rankings. This practice, once a popular tactic, involves linking back and forth in a way that’s designed purely for SEO purposes rather than user benefit.
Although reciprocal links can generate some short-term SEO advantages, they can also trigger penalties if Google detects the pattern. This technique is considered manipulative because it’s based on artificial link exchanges, rather than earning links naturally through content value or relevance.
3. Private Blog Networks (PBNs)/ Link farms
PBNs and link farms are networks of websites created specifically to build backlinks to a target site. These networks often consist of expired or low-quality domains, purchased solely to control the linking structure and manipulate rankings.
People use these networks because they can quickly generate a large number of backlinks, which often results in a temporary boost in rankings. However, search engines like Google are highly adept at detecting such networks, and when caught, these websites are often penalized or de-indexed entirely.
4. Deceptive Technical Tactics
Deceptive technical tactics involve manipulating how search engines and users interact with a website to achieve higher rankings. These tactics include:
- Cloaking: Showing different content to search engines and users to deceive ranking algorithms.
- Doorway pages: Creating low-quality, keyword-stuffed pages that redirect users to irrelevant content.
- Sneaky redirects: Sending users to a different page than what search engines have indexed.
- Hidden text or links: Using invisible text or links to boost rankings artificially without users noticing.
These techniques can yield quick rankings, but they are highly risky and against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Once discovered, sites using these tactics face the risk of penalties or complete removal from search results.
Conclusion
On the one hand white hat link building is looking to offer informational value to the user and the editor/ webmaster.
On the other hand, black hat SEO is focused on gaming the system and quick wins.
Do you need help doing link-building the right way? Contact us for a legitimate link-building strategy and execution.
