Last time, we talked about black hat SEO and how cutting corners can land your site in serious trouble, including penalties that can wipe you out of the search results altogether.
So the real question is this. How do you climb the Google rankings without breaking the rules?
The answer is white hat SEO.
White hat SEO is what delivers sustainable growth, strong long term ROI, and results that actually stick. It focuses on doing things properly, in a way that aligns with Google’s guidelines and, more importantly, with what real users want.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how white hat SEO works, why it matters, and how you can use it to attract quality traffic, increase conversions, and earn higher rankings the right way.
What is the difference between white hat and black hat SEO?
In simple terms, SEO is about improving your website’s rankings on Google so customers can find you without having to dig. An SEO agency like Local Digital specialises in doing exactly that.
And this visibility is about much more than just looking good. Around 32% of all search traffic goes to the website sitting in position one on Google. That is a huge share of potential customers going to a single result.
How you approach SEO is what really matters, and it’s what separates white hat strategies from black hat ones. Some methods play by the rules and focus on long term growth. Others try to take shortcuts and usually end up doing more harm than good.
What is white hat SEO?
White hat SEO refers to search engine optimisation tactics that fully align with Google’s terms of service. In short, you are playing by the rules. Google’s rules.
Google prioritises user experience above all else. Following white hat practices means building a website that genuinely works for people and creating content they actually want to read, not content designed purely to manipulate rankings.
When you do this properly, the benefits go beyond better visibility in search results. You attract more qualified traffic, build trust with your audience, and create an experience that naturally leads to higher conversions. That is where the real value lies.
White hat SEO covers any ethical practice that helps improve your rankings on a search engine results page. This commonly includes:
- Publishing high quality, useful content and services
- Prioritising a smooth and intuitive user experience
- Ensuring your site is mobile friendly with fast load times
- Writing clear, keyword rich page titles and meta descriptions
- Keeping website navigation simple and logical
- Earning inbound links from relevant, reputable websites
Taken together, these practices create sustainable growth that compounds over time, without risking penalties or sudden drops in visibility.
Why are white hat SEO techniques important?
Not using white hat SEO techniques can result in your site being banned from Google or other search engines. There are heaps of benefits of white hat SEO for site owners:
Reduced cost
Right off the bat, white hat SEO is significantly cheaper than black hat SEO. This is because site owners won’t have to repair identified violations and be penalised by Google for acts such as spam links or keyword stuffing.
A secure site
When sites are optimised with white hat SEO, they are secure against Google Penalties.
Consistent rankings
Any rankings that are achieved with white hat SEO are stable and long term, especially when compared to pages that use black hat practices.
What is black hat SEO?
At its core, black hat SEO is the opposite of white hat SEO. It sits firmly on the dark side of search engine marketing and includes tactics like sneaky redirects, keyword stuffing, and other techniques designed to manipulate rankings rather than help users.
Anything that is misleading, deceptive, or harmful to readers generally falls under the black hat umbrella.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Black hat SEO can work. In many cases, it will get you rankings, at least in the short term. The problem is that those results rarely last.
Google’s algorithms are constantly evolving, and they are specifically designed to identify and penalise these tactics. A classic example is Google’s Penguin update, which targeted low quality backlinks, keyword stuffing, and paid link schemes. When it rolled out, many websites saw their rankings disappear overnight.
The lesson is simple. Play the black hat game, and penalties are almost inevitable. The more penalties a site receives, the harder, slower, and more expensive it becomes to recover lost visibility.
If you are serious about sustainable growth and long term results, white hat SEO is the only strategy worth investing in.
Our recommended white hat SEO practices
Here are some of the top white hat SEO strategies that every company should use.
Prioritise user experience
If there is one thing Google consistently cares about, it is the user.
Instead of writing content for machines, focus on writing for people. Connect with them. Answer their questions. Provide real value.
Google’s algorithms are built to reward websites that offer a smooth, intuitive user experience. That is why SEO and UX go hand in hand. Without strong UX, even the best SEO strategy will struggle. Without solid SEO, great UX will never be seen.
At the end of the day, if users enjoy being on your site, they are far more likely to choose you over competitors who make things harder.
Here are some key UX elements to focus on.
Make the navigation easy
Clear, logical navigation makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site and for users to find what they are looking for quickly.
Visitors should never have to guess where to go next. If they do, they will leave.
Working with a web developer you trust can help ensure your site structure is clean, intuitive, and built with both users and search engines in mind.
Make sure that your site is mobile friendly
Google’s Mobilegeddon update in 2015 marked a turning point, giving preference to responsive websites in search results.
That was followed by mobile first indexing in 2018, where Google began using the mobile version of a website as the primary source for indexing and ranking.
If your site is not mobile friendly, your rankings will suffer. Even if users do find your site, conversions are likely to be poor if the experience on mobile is frustrating.
In 2026, mobile optimisation is no longer optional. It is foundational.
Speed up your site
Your page’s loading speed directly impacts the UX of the site.Think about it from your perspective - how long would you want to sit and wait for a web page to load?Create one website and invest in creating a user experience that is unparalleled - don’t use black hat SEO techniques which don’t even begin to prioritize UX.Page speed has a direct impact on user experience.
Think about your own behaviour. How long are you willing to wait for a page to load before you hit the back button?
Fast loading pages keep users engaged, reduce bounce rates, and send strong quality signals to Google.
Invest in one well built website that loads quickly and feels effortless to use. Avoid shortcuts and black hat tactics that ignore UX entirely. A great experience will always outperform quick wins that cut corners.
Keyword research
Let’s be honest. Keyword research is the foundation of SEO.
It underpins the themes, topics, and ideas your website is built around. Without it, everything else becomes guesswork.
Google is far more sophisticated than it used to be. It understands intent, synonyms, context, and related concepts. Because of this, outdated black hat tactics like keyword stuffing no longer work and often do more harm than good.
Smart SEO starts with smart keyword research. Here’s how to use it properly.
Use keyword research to shape your content
Your keyword research tells you exactly what real people are searching for. That insight should guide what you create.
Use it to identify content pillars, blog topics, long form guides, videos, FAQs, and how-to articles that genuinely answer user questions. When content is built around real search demand, rankings and engagement tend to follow naturally.
Place keywords where they actually matter
Once you’ve selected your target keyword, it should be woven naturally into the most important parts of your page, including:
- Page title and article headline
- Meta title and meta description
- URL slug, which appears in search results
- The first paragraph of the article
- Relevant subheadings throughout the content
The goal is not repetition for the sake of it. The goal is clarity. These elements help Google understand what your page is about and help users quickly confirm they are in the right place.
When keyword research and content strategy work together, SEO becomes far more effective and far more sustainable.
Create valuable and unique content
The worst of the worst when it comes to black hat SEO is creating low quality content, or stealing content from someone else.Here’s the bottom line:DON’T republish existing posts without crediting the author.Stealing content is not only unethical, The very worst black hat SEO tactic out there is publishing low quality content or copying someone else’s work.
Let’s be clear.
Do not republish existing content without crediting the original author.
Content theft is unethical, and Google really does not like it. Google’s Panda update was built specifically to target duplicate content and thin, low value pages. Sites relying on this approach saw their rankings disappear fast.
You are far better off investing in useful, original content as part of a considered content marketing strategy.
Google pays close attention to engagement signals. One of the biggest is how long users stay on your site. If people land on a page and immediately leave, that tells Google the content is not doing its job.
That is why quality matters so much.
Your focus should always be on creating content that genuinely attracts, educates, and holds your audience’s attention. If you are short on time or resources, bringing in experienced content writers is a smart move.
Multiple studies have shown a strong link between higher rankings and in depth content.
For example, if you sell lash extensions, you could create a detailed 5,000 word guide covering different lash types, adhesives, styles, wear times, and aftercare. A guide like this is far more likely to outperform shallow competitor content, while also giving real value to readers.
When content is genuinely helpful, it sticks. Users remember it, trust it, and often return when they are ready to buy.
The takeaway is simple. If your content gives people what they are looking for, Google will notice and reward you with stronger rankings.
Link building
It goes without saying that a strong link building strategy plays a huge role in how Google determines where your website ranks.
If you look at the pages sitting at the top of Google for your target keywords, one thing becomes very clear. They almost always have a solid profile of high quality backlinks pointing to them.
The catch is that building links properly is not quick or easy. It takes time, consistency, and effort.
The shortcut is buying links. And while that might sound tempting, it is a hard no.
Buying links can look appealing because it feels fast and simple, and sometimes those links even appear high quality on the surface. The problem is that this falls squarely into black hat SEO territory and can lead to serious penalties if Google catches on.
Google has been very clear on this. Buying or selling links that pass PageRank goes against their guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s rankings. In some cases, sites can lose visibility almost overnight.
So rather than risking long term damage, the smarter option is to build links the right way.
This means focusing on earning links naturally by creating content worth linking to, building genuine relationships, and placing your brand in front of the right audiences.
You can start by focusing on things like:
It takes longer, but the payoff is sustainable rankings, stronger authority, and SEO growth that lasts.
Quality over quantity
Google looks for clear signals that backlinks are earned naturally, not manufactured. Because of this, quality matters far more than quantity.
A single link from a trusted, high authority website carries significantly more weight than dozens of links from low quality or irrelevant sites. For example, a mention from a publication like Forbes is far more valuable than multiple links from websites that have little authority or trust.
The goal should always be to earn links from sites that real people respect and rely on, not to chase volume for the sake of it.
Relevancy
Try and aim for backlinks that relate to your site. If you sell microwaves, for example, you’d want brands like Harvey Norman or The Good Guys to link to you.
Growing naturally
How many backlinks are you receiving over time? If Google determines that you receive a large quantity of backlinks in one go and then nothing, it suggests that the backlinks are being paid for.
How can I build valuable links?
There are so many ways to find yourself with white hat backlinks. Some of these are:
Round-up posts
Start inviting experts into your space to include them in round-up posts on specific topics. Write a blog post that includes their name, a link to their website, and a link to their social media profiles. You can then email this link and ask the subject to share the post on their website and social networks. This will get you more shares, and help your site be noticed and linked to by high authority sites.
Broken link-building
By finding broken links on high authority websites, you can offer the site owner your link as a replacement. Using a tool such as Ahrefs Site Explorer can allow you to check for broken links and streamline the process. By adding value to their site, people would be likely to want to link to you.
Become a source for bloggers and reporters
Using sites like Haro or SourceBottle, you can connect with bloggers and journalists who are looking to have their profile built in blogs and news sites. This white hat SEO strategy takes patience, and a lot of dedication, but is a solid way to create strong backlinks at a large scale.
On-page SEO
This one is a little tricky - it’s more than one strategy, and is a summation of a number of different adjustments and tweaks to help each page rank higher. The most exciting part about all this is that the smallest actions can make the biggest changes for your site. To start with, here are five crucial on-page elements you should be focused on:
Use descriptive URLs
Google uses page URLs to understand your content. Make your URLs both keyword rich and short - that way, Google can understand both the page and how it can be indexed.
Build site architecture containing internal links
You might not think internal linking is super important - but trust us, it is. Every internal link on the page is what helps Google understand your site architecture, and internal links also send link authority to pages you want to rank better. It might also be worth attempting to keep your site architecture ‘flat’ - and by doing this, it can take 3-4 clicks to transfer from one page to any other page on your site.
Use strategic keywords
As we’ve covered, keyword stuffing is a black hat tactic that simply doesn’t work anymore. Google’s algorithm updates have moved well past that, and overusing keywords will do more harm than good.
Instead, the goal is to use your target keyword naturally in places that clearly signal what the page is about. Focus on including it where it actually makes sense, such as:
- In your H1 or relevant H2 headings
- In the page title (title tag)
- Naturally within the introduction of your content
When keywords are used thoughtfully and in context, they help Google understand your page without compromising readability or user experience.
Optimise your images
Search engines can’t see your images - we know this much. Instead, you can use alt tags.Search engines use alt tags to find out what your images are, helping index them. Because of this - the more descriptive your alt tags are, the better that Google will understand your content.
Use tools like Google Search Console to fix errors
Using sites like Google Search Console can help crawl your site for errors, flagging them when they come up so you can address them. You can even use the ‘Index Coverage Report’ on the site to see if Google is struggling to find the important pages on your site.
Now, it's your turn
As we’ve already covered, keyword stuffing is a black hat tactic that no longer works. Google has moved well beyond it, and cramming keywords into your content will usually do more harm than good.
The smarter approach is to use your target keyword naturally in places that clearly tell Google what the page is about. Focus on including it where it makes sense for both users and search engines, such as:
- In your H1 or relevant H2 headings
- In your page title (title tag)
- Naturally within the opening paragraph of your content
When keywords are used thoughtfully and in context, they help Google understand your page without hurting readability or the overall user experience.
