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There seems to be very differing opinions on what is good practice (white hat) and what is not (Black hat) and I'm not sure which way to lean (although my inclinations are slightly to the white). I'm starting a business offering a service and see ranking position 1-3 in the serps as my key to success. I'm creating good and useful content on my site and without much effort beyond on page seo have reached page 4 google for a few choice keywords. I feel that with a small number of links to a few of my pages i can reach page 1 and here is where my dilemma begins. With a bit of investment in some software (£400-600 for 3 different products) I can start Tiered linkbuilding (in a black hat way) and get results quickly but potentially risking my site in the eyes of google. I've been doing a little outreach to gain links in a whiter way but not had much success yet. I'm keen to keep with the whiter side but see progress as slower. Am I wrong? Can i build a robust link profile in a white hat way rapidly? Are there any quick wins i can gain to give me confidence? Why is white hat better than black hat? All wisdom, experience, guidance and humour gratefully received.

I've published my first infographic and started outreach to get links. I've also submitted it to several infographic directories. Should I use a canonical URL and if so how?