Any SEO expert will tell you that SEO does not mean changing a site's code if you designed your site right in the first place. If you have hired professionals to employ the range of strategies and techniques usually employed with SEO then you will not need that many “on-page factors.” On-page factors are what SEO experts call changes that need to be made to text of your site. ‘



There are two ways of applying SEO techniques – through the application of good design and through such methods that the search engines do not approve of such as spamdexing. Some industry experts define these methods, and the practitioners who utilize them, as either "white hat SEO", or "black hat SEO". Other SEO experts see the whole black and white hat polarization as an over-simplification of what search engine optimization actually involves. However as a rule of thumb – the more changes that you or your SEO expert are making to your text, the more coding your pages will need.

Coding a site to maximize SEO is best utilized during the initial stages of a site's design. This is because even the rudimentary structures to do with web page design can be optimized including the menus, content management systems and shopping carts.

An SEO tactic, technique or method is considered "White hat" if it conforms to the search engines' guidelines and does not involve an attempt to deceive the search engines. White Hat pleases search engines because it reflects content that a user will definitely see if the link is clicked on in the search engine pages. Black hat" SEO are methods to try to improve rankings that are disapproved of by the search engines and/or involve deception. This can range from text that is "hidden" or links that direct users from a page that is built for search engines to one that is more human friendly.