“Gray hat SEO” is that fuzzy area of search engine optimization between ethical SEO (i.e. “white hat”) and the really naughty stuff that you’ll get banned for if you get caught (i.e. “black hat”). Some say that white hat SEO is idealistic, whereas gray hat SEO is pragmatic, employed by SEOs with keen business acumen. I say it’s simply pushing one’s luck.
The difference between white hat SEO and black hat SEO is profound and obvious. But the gray area in between the two is not so easy to define. Cloaking and pagejacking are obviously black hat. But what about stuffing the same keyword dozens of times into dozens of links on a web page? Or tucking a keyword away in the top left corner of the page in order to maximize its keyword prominence?
Consider the following examples, illustrated with screenshotted excerpts of three different homepages…
HOMEPAGE #1:
- Are there too many links?
- Is there too much repetition of the same keyword in the anchor text of these links?
- Is the link text too light? (the rest of the text on the page is markedly darker)
HOMEPAGE #2:
- Are there too many keywords stuffed into title attributes of links? (an example of which was made visible in the above screenshot by mousing over one of the links)
- Are there too many links?
- Is the color of the text too similar to the background?
HOMEPAGE #3:
- Is the keyword phrase in the top left of the page too obscured?
- Was it excessive for them to have applied this tactic to over a thousand pages?
Clearly these companies are into aggressive SEO. But have they crossed the line? What do you think??
What I find most interesting is the fact that all three of the sites rank really well for keywords they’ve targeted, and it appears due, at least in part, to these aggressive tactics. Top ten rankings in Google for many of the keywords targeted by the anchor text of homepages #1 and #2, and for many of the keywords targeted in the top left corner of a thousand+ pages of site #3. I can see the allure of these tactics — after all, they seem to work!
SIGN UP FOR EXCLUSIVE WEEKLY CONTENT 
Those all look white hat to me. Nothing is hidden. #1 is as white hat as you can get. #1 & #2 could probably implement the same navigation links in a more user friendly way, but that does not make them gray hat.
When so much of the algo is based on link anchor text, many times it’s your own internal anchor text that will have the largest bearing on your rankings. You gotta do what you gotta do 😉
Hey Stephan,
yeah, it definitely has a grey hat feel to it. But, in some verticals it could make sense from a usability perspective.
Hello Stephen and greetings to all fellow readers. If you are interested in a “gray hat” approach then take a look at http://www.mdtravelitaly.com
I really think it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. Funny enough this rather questionable approach achieves top rankings on Google – I rest my case …
A great week end to you all,
Sante
While the above may appear to be white hat, the excessive amount of keyword stuffing in home pages 1 and 2 would probably be considered black hat. Home page 3 is more likley to be a white/grey seo tactic.
This just goes to show how hard it is for the SE’s’ to enforce their “guidelines”. It’s very difficult to distinguish between keyword stuffing and just a listing of all bra types or companies. Website #2 isn’t using the same word over and over… they are using related words and SE guidelines compliant IMHO. The visual attractiveness sucks but there is nothing wrong with it.