There is something you will hear ad nauseam when learning about SEO. That is, "content is king". This could not be more true, and seems so simple. That fact is that it is that simple.

The purpose behind Search Engine Optimization is to convince the search engines that your website is worthy of being delivered to their users because it is a relevant and useful record of information.

So what do the search engines want? They want what the users want, which is to find what they are looking for. Users don't typically desire advertisements or tricky sales pitches or viruses on their computer; It's the free educational content that wins the hearts and minds of users and search engines alike. To ignore this simple fact is to force yourself into a whirlwind of deception and black hat SEO tactics.

Just like the free educational content you are going to create, there are others before you who have created free SEO tools to help you in being found by the billions of people on the Internet today. The web development community holds Open Source applications to a very high regard, because it is founded on the idea that you give away knowledge for free and do so because you like it when others find your creations to be useful.

There is rarely a reason to pay for SEO tools. Moneys appropriated for increasing your exposure online should usually only be used for advertising and specialized SEO consultants.

While your time may be too valuable to spend researching the popularity difference between "Berkeley music studios" and "Berkeley musician studios", understanding how these tools work will help you find a consultant who truly knows white hat SEO.

Imagine trying to convince passersby to pay $1 to try their hand at your Wack-a-Mole carnival booth that is virtually impossible to win. You're strategy will have to be pure deception. Now imagine trying to convince passersby to pay $1 for one of your delicious chocolate chip cookies. Actually, you wouldn't be trying to convince anybody; You will let the product sell itself.

Finally, imagine Google is one of those passersby who has been around the world 12 million times and has heard every trick in the book. Google sees the Wack-a-Mole game, and she will not play it. Moreover, she will penalize the booth for its tactics of deception. Likewise, she will see your cookies as an honest product that people might want. Therefore, she walks around telling everybody about them.

White hat SEO is the practice of massaging search engines' algorithms by giving them what they want in manner that they can understand.

So to beat the above analogy to death, white hat SEO puts a big sign up on your cookie booth saying "Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies $1", because Google actually doesn't have a nose. Therefore, we speak in text. The black hat SEO would put up a sign saying "Cookies Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookies Free Cookies Now!!!!", but Google's not stupid and she sees this as a deceptive attempt to attract customers.

Google's algorithms want a perfect world where everybody gives away free educational content and sells quality products at reasonable prices. If you do not also want this, then put on your black hat and move along. Otherwise, take some time to learn about the ins and outs of white hat SEO. And if need be, utilize an honest SEO consultant who knows how to give Google what it wants.

About the author: Andrew Evans is a web applications developer for Aexis Empire, a web developers group specializing in enhancing web presence for high end retail companies.