Only a month ago, Outrank.com’s client base hit the 8,000 mark. We are happy to announce that, due to record growth, we now manage SEO campaigns for 9,000 small business clients. This accomplishment would not be possible without a highly effective product and our team of dedicated support professionals. The workload is so heavy that we are having to expand our physical office location to accommodate new staff.

As we steadily approach the 5-figure mark, this number is proof that SEO works. From listening to client testimonials on our main web site, you can see that everyday small business owners are consistently pleased by the return they get on a pretty small investment. What’s more, our customers lock in these benefits at low prices without having to enter into a contract. If you own a business, call Outrank.com today to have a conversation with a friendly account manager.

Any SEO expert will advocate the importance of links in determining your placement in any major search engine, as will Outrank.com.

That said, link building is risky and complicated–too much so for an amateur to perform wisely.

All of the following are considered in the valuation of a given link:

• Continuity of subject matter
• Number of additional links to a page
• Presentation/positioning of the link
• Sites linking to the link-providing site
• Perceived authority of the linking site
• Variety of link sources
• Relative timespan/trending of links

This is a small and non-exclusive list. Furthermore, these factors vary in importance and use with one another…and between search engines.

With that said, search engines do a fairly good job of differentiating sites that try to game their algorithms from sites that are associated with relevant, trusted, popular, non-spammy domains. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to gain legitimate, valuable links to your site, though these tactics require a large investment of resources and expert SEO knowledge:

• Creative content strategies
• Viral sharing
• Evaluating trending topics relative to your industry
• Legitimate directories
• Publicity

On a final note, attempting to use these strategies on your own or with an underqualified SEO company can have disastrous results. In the wrong hands, these efforts can damage your reputation or put you out of business. To talk about building your online presence as a small business, call Outrank at (877) 332-4321.

Outrank.com has come across a couple of new developments in the search industry. More specifically, search giant Google rolled out changes that affect the way we interact with its engine.

Users of Google search have been alerted in results pages of potentially malicious pages for a long time. However, new notifications have been added that reflect advances in the company’s detection capabilities. When a site is deemed questionable, a notice appears below the title, reading “This site may be compromised”. This technology is also intended to inform well-meaning webmasters.

Also, Google’s Translate feature has been fleshed out. For one, “alternative translations” have been added, which allow the user to see the actual intent of a translated phrase. Secondly, virtual keyboards have been introduced, as some world languages are difficult to type on a standard keyboard. Finally, speech technology is now available for three additional languages (improved in seventeen), which allows you to actually hear what a translation sounds like spoken.

Check Outrank.com’s blogs regularly for more Google updates.