White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO: What’s the Difference?

As long as it produces results, does it really matter who does SEO for your company? If you answered “no,” think about how a $17 billion a year company like JC Penny was penalized by Google for using a 3rd party SEO firm that tried to game the search engine’s organic (a.k.a. natural or unpaid) search rankings.

And claiming ignorance about the use of these tactics is no defense.Whether the perpetrator is a rogue vendor or a misguided employee, if you get caught — and all SEO scams are eventually caught — the risk is that your business is demoted — or even removed — in search results. For those that rely on the online channel for a significant portion of their prospects (read: all businesses now),