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Looking for Opinion on Greyhat / Whitehat / Blackhat Backlinks (seo)

by TotalWebsiteControl
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Ok so this has been on my mind for awhile now. As a SEO Provider (rather i used to be) i have always wondered if what i was doing was.. uhh for lack of a better word... unethical.

In the eyes of google, isn't all link building you purchase considered blackhat?
Obviously google doesn't want people purchasing a rank increase...

So does that mean that every link you buy is "black hat"?
#backlinks #blackhat #greyhat #looknig #opinion #seo #whitehat
  • Profile picture of the author KristinaRoy
    "Each and everything is right unless it is proved wrong" Same philosophy applies here.

    If Google found that you purchased links then it is unethical and black hat seo.
    If Google did not find that you purchased links then it is ethical and white hat seo.
    If Google has doubt then it is Grey hat seo.
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  • Profile picture of the author GyuMan82
    I think people incorrectly associate "black hat" with "fraud", these are two different things.

    Building links is not unethical, it is a way to promote your business.

    As long as you're not stealing, hijacking, or sabotaging sites I see nothing wrong with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author jinx1221
      True 'blackhat' is cloaking, hijacking, etc.. think 'Sape'.

      True 'whitehat' is site promotion with no seo in mind.. no-following every single link you build would be saintly, absolute 'whitehat'.

      'Greyhat' falls somewhere in the middle.. promotion with seo - pr - link juice in mind.
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  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    Originally Posted by Henrich View Post

    Ok so this has been on my mind for awhile now. As a SEO Provider (rather i used to be) i have always wondered if what i was doing was.. uhh for lack of a better word... unethical.

    In the eyes of google, isn't all link building you purchase considered blackhat?
    Obviously google doesn't want people purchasing a rank increase...

    So does that mean that every link you buy is "black hat"?
    Yup. Most people don't want to accept that, though.

    I think we all consider ourselves to be a little "grey hat." But let's be honest. We're still manipulating the SERPS which is against Google TOS. There really is no in-between.

    Now, I'm sure most of us aren't Black Hat in terms of doing something illegal. That's a different type of Black Hat.
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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    You were a SEO Provider and you don't know these types of things?
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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    A guy that knows a hell of a lot more than you....

    And no, you should not be 'providing SEO' if you can't honestly disclose the potential risk of your actions to your client's assets. But apparently you think you know better.
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    • Profile picture of the author TotalWebsiteControl
      Originally Posted by godoveryou View Post

      A guy that knows a hell of a lot more than you....

      And no, you should not be 'providing SEO' if you can't honestly disclose the potential risk of your actions to your client's assets. But apparently you think you know better.
      I'm not going to argue with you. Honestly i could care less what you come up with in that over cooked noodle you call a brain.

      p.s: love how you assume you are more knowledgeable about SEO then me. And how you know more about SEO then matt cutts. Man you are really ignorant lol (or just a troll...)
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  • Profile picture of the author WordpressManiac
    There's nothing you should care about as long as your links help to increase rankings. Don't hurt other peoples sites and you're good to go. Blackhat, greyhat or anything inbetween has nothing to do with ethical or unethical as well as legal or illegal: This is not about Law this is about what Google (a private corporation) wants you to do.

    So feel free to build links in any (legal) way you want and as spammy or not spammy as you might think could help you!
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  • Profile picture of the author jinx1221
    Buying links is not blackhat, it's against Google tos. There is a difference.
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    • Profile picture of the author KenL
      Seems the correct question op should be asking is whether buying links is or isn't acceptable according to G's tos.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I don't know why people get fixated on this stuff. Use your head & you'll be fine.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
    I'm a

    Rank-My-Page-The-Best-Way-I-Know-How-Without-Getting-Found-Out

    HAT

    And so is pretty much everyone else. Every technique, whether you want to paint it black, white or green doesn't matter. If the technique artificially manipulates SERP's in your favor, it's blackhat to Google. Meaning it breaks their ToS (BH).

    Spin it up for your clients whatever way you want, to make it sound "White Hat". At the end of the day, most are risking clients sites, some are dumb enough to not even realize it.
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    • Profile picture of the author zon27
      With recent changes to SEO, anything you do to get links actively and rank your site is considered against google policy.
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      • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
        Originally Posted by zon27 View Post

        With recent changes to SEO, anything you do to get links actively and rank your site is considered against google policy.
        It has always been like this.

        Most people don't want to accept this though. If you're doing SEO, you're taking risks. That's all there is to it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Soccerwidow
    Even if Google is not the law and certainly a private company, their "quality guidelines" and policy against "link schemes" have a good reason. They aim for a quality experience to users and appreciate the limited time people have when searching for information and answers.

    Google needs to guess as best as they possibly can what people seek when typing in keywords and then they need to return the most suitable information and not spam. Otherwise, Google would be out of business sooner than later.

    'Black hat' is about "unnatural links" - links which are not "vouched for by the site's owner on a page". It is about "sites that participate in link schemes".

    Here Google's guidelines on this topic: Link schemes
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