Getting Started
Searching for a way to improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) game? Look no further.
What is SEO? This word has been trending for many years and businesses are spending lots of money on SEO.
SEO is the process of improving the quality your website to increase its rankings and visibility for relevant searches. The higher the ranking your webpages have in search results, the higher the chance of attracting potential and existing customers to your business.
“Effective Search Engine Optimization Requires a Commitment, Not a Campaign.”
– James Reynolds, SEO Sherpa
Getting Noticed
Sure, spamming the word “Search engine optimisation” a million times on your website is going to increase your keyword density of your website. Is the keyword being used in quality content or is it just a bunch of white texts on white background?
Google knows if you are using Black Hat techniques to boost your site rankings, and “punishes” these sites by deindexing them. This means that these websites will not appear on search results until they are properly formatted and go through the whole process of indexing again.
The Dos
These are White Hat techniques that businesses can adopt to boost their website, the right way.
- Quality Content
- Nothing screams louder than good ol’ quality content.
- Appropriate Use of Metadata Tags
- These tags are hidden in the code of your website, use them wisely and avoid spamming it.
- Keyword Research
- Using the right keyword is crucial to reaching your target market. Selecting the right keyword will boost your rankings to the right target market!
- Quality Inbound Links
- Link up all your business’s social media accounts to your website for genuine connections from your potential and existing customers.
The Don’ts
These are Black Hat techniques that many businesses have used to boost their site rankings. Many have been penalised or even removed from the search engine index.
- Hidden Content
- Filling your page with tiny keywords or using the same colour as the background.
- Meta Tag Keyword Stuffing
- Meta Tag Keyword Stuffing, also known as spamdexing, is done by spamming keywords in your webpage that makes it look unnatural.
- Doorway Pages
- A doorway page is plain HTML code flooded with text filled with intended keywords. These doorway pages are not visible to the visitors of the site as they are redirected instantly to the intended page that has actual content.
- Link Farming
- Link farming is done by creating multiple websites with the sole purpose of boosting another website’s search rankings. This is against the guidelines of search engines.
You’re all set!
All it takes is genuine and good quality content paired with appropriate links to your website and you are good to go. Social media is one of the best and cheapest option to gain exposure. Click here to read more on social media marketing!
Digital Marketing 
14 replies on “Search Engine Optimisation, Pay To Win?”
Hi Jeremiah! Amazing Content! I have understood better about the white hat and black hat techniques as well as what to do and don’t. I would like to know if there are some other examples on how to boost search rankings through SEO. Thank you and I look forward to your reply!
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Hi Jeremiah, I agree that many companies are using SEO to help promote their sites. However, what should a small company, for instance a start up do when they do not have the funds? Looking forward to your reply!
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Hi Winston! Funding is indeed very important to a start up. With little to no fundings, a start up can try to improve their SEO by researching for keywords related to their business using free software. Using those keywords on their site will boost their rankings significantly.
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Hi Jeremiah, cool content on the black hat white hat, looks like I learnt something new today. However if a small company say a start up decides to use SEM, which will be more effective for them? PPC or SEO? Looking forward to your reply
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Hello Jeremiah! This is an aesthetically pleasing post as always!! Short and simple, straight to the point! You talked keyword research and using of the right keywords! As a beginner in the very technical Search Engine field, what is a good way that I can use to find the possible list of keywords that my customers are usually using and typing into the engine? Would love to hear from you soon!
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Hi Jingwen! Not to worry, there are many keyword research services out there. Even Google has their own service on that, smaller companies can set their monthly budget according to their requirements. But of course, the higher the budget, the more views, clicks and impressions on that keyword.
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Hi Jeremiah. Your post has increased my understanding on SEO! I did not know that sites would be penalised for using “black hat” techniques. Many companies have turned to use PPC as a quick way of receiving website traffic instead of SEO. What are your thoughts on that? Would love to hear from you! 😊
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Hi Jasmine! Yes that is true, many companies especially the bigger ones tend to focus more on PPC. PPC is definitely an easier way to gain more traffic to your website. However, if the website is not optimised and lack quality content, visitors will leave the website really quickly. Bigger firms usually have an excellently designed and maintained site which allows them to improve their SEO automatically. Only then, PPC will be effective to attracting more targeted visitors to their sites.
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Hey Jeremiah! Insightful post as usual! I roughly knew a little about the black and white hat techniques, but never knew about the severity of Google’s punishment! Just wondering, what if an organization used the black hat techniques initially, but they did not know that it’s wrong. Will Google give them a chance to change? Or is their website gone for good? Looking forward to your reply!
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Hi Xinhui! Not to worry, their website will only be removed from Google’s search results. Once they have changed their website and remove any black hat methods that they have used, they can resubmit their site to Google again.
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Thank you for the insightful post, Jeremiah!
After reading your post, I am now able to avoid black hat methods. You suggested that good content should be published. Do you have any suggestions on how I can produce good content and capture the attention of readers when they scroll through the search result list?
Hope to hear your reply soon!
Sincerely,
Dana
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Hi Dana! Genuine content is always good content, never try to flood your website with irrelevant and spam content just to get your keyword count up. Also, less is more. Having too many words will drive your site visitors way in an instant, keep is short and sweet.
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Hey Jeremiah! Insightful post as always! I really learnt a lot about SEO, in particular about the differences between White Hat and Black Hat Techniques! One question, do you think SEO is more of an Art or a Science to make it successful?
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Hi Saywee! I think that SEO is more of an art. There are no hard and fast rule about SEO or marketing in general. However, there are some guidelines such as the black and white hat techniques that guides businesses so that they wouldn’t implement something unethical/illegal.
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