'''Search engine optimization''' (SEO) is a set of methods aimed at improving the ranking of a [[website]] in [[search engine]] listings. The term also refers to an industry of [[consultant]]s who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients' sites. Practitioners may use "white hat SEO" (methods generally approved by search engines, such as building content and improving site quality), or "black hat SEO" (tricks such as [[cloaking]] and [[spamdexing]]). White hatters charge that black hat methods are an attempt to manipulate search rankings unfairly. Black hatters counter that ''all'' SEO is an attempt to manipulate rankings, and that the particular methods one uses to rank well are irrelevant. | '''Search engine optimization''' (SEO) is a set of methods aimed at improving the ranking of a [[website]] in [[search engine]] listings. The term also refers to an industry of [[consultant]]s who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients' sites. Practitioners may use "white hat SEO" (methods generally approved by search engines, such as building content and improving site quality), or "black hat SEO" (tricks such as [[cloaking]] and [[spamdexing]]). White hatters charge that black hat methods are an attempt to manipulate search rankings unfairly. Black hatters counter that ''all'' SEO is an attempt to manipulate rankings, and that the particular methods one uses to rank well are irrelevant. |