There is no spoon…No matter what Google says

I hate the notion of black hat vs white hat and most of all I hate the whole notion of grey hat. It really frustrates me that we are arguing over who is ethical and both sides feel they are superior over the other. I respect both sides of the argument, but I do not respect the argument.

Isn’t black hat better though?

No. There are no black or white experts in SEO. You can’t fully understand either side without understanding the other side. You can tell me you are a ‘white hat expert’ all you want, but if you don’t have a good understanding of black hat, then as far as I’m concerned, you are not an expert. It is exactly the same with black hat. There is no point spamming a forum (or my blog) if you don’t really understand white hat SEO. You will fail. The one thing I can’t understand is why you wouldn’t want more knowledge and why you wouldn’t want to push the boundaries of the search engine algorithms and understand where the real rules are.

Remake the rules at every opportunity

When you cross the road, do you always wait for the green man? I very much doubt it. I know that at a certain crossing there is a window of a few seconds between one set of lights turning to red and the adjacent set of lights turning green. I know that the real rules of that game are that I should cross when there is a green man. I also know that if I utilise the brief window of opportunity, I am at a slightly higher chance of becoming an elaborate road marking. I now almost always use that window of opportunity when I cross at that crossroads.

Why do I break those rules? I have developed an understanding of the timing involved on those lights and I now understand how to exploit the system.

Lets make that slightly more relevant…

Why do I break Google’s rules? I have developed an understanding of the technology that runs Google and I now understand how to exploit the system.

What about your ethics?

I have no problem exploiting loopholes in Google to rank higher than you. That is what every SEO does. Black hat or not. I have no issues with being able to rank better just because I understand the real rules of this game. Nobody is going to handicap themselves to let you catch up at anything. So quit moaning and further your knowledge. If SEO isn’t your main priority and you “haven’t got the time” to learn all the tactics fully, then hire someone who can!

Filed under: FUD Discussion, I disagree, Just plain old SEO by Ryan