In one of the biggest SEO headlines in recent months, JCPenney was publicly outed as a practicioner of black hat SEO. The company, whose uncanny organic results have been manually downgraded by Google, was allegedly unaware of the sketchy tactics used by SearchDex, a third party SEO vendor acting on their behalf. Before webspam engineer Matt Cutts and the rest of the Google team took action, JCPenney had front page rankings for multitudes of product-specific keywords, like “comforter sets” for months.

How they did it:

SearchDex used a paid links network that compensates website owners for the placement of links on their sites. By optimizing the anchor text (the text that appears in the underlined hyperlink) with a given keyword for a large number of pages, it did not matter that the pages they used had little traffic on their own or were not contextually relevant. In a specific example shown by Search Engine Land, JCPenney’s landing page for “comforter sets” had 700-plus of these junk sites linking to it, which included sites dedicated to Eastern Medicine, car modification and “How to hack Friendster Private Picture” (I was not personally aware Friendster was even still in existence).

If you have any hand in your company’s search marketing efforts, regardless of size, you should learn from this. Yes, the ROI from their dark alley campaign was probably phenomenal. However, was it worth the mess their PR and marketing people have to clean up now? Google has manually demoted their search results to obscurity. For a company that is trying to transition from its “Big Book” catalog to e-commerce, is a few months of SEO glory worth the work it will take to repair the damage from this fallout? Fortunately for JCPenney, sales driven by organic SEO are only a small part of its revenue. But for any legitimate business seeking long-term online marketing success, pure black hat SEO is just not worth it.

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.

When it comes to small business advertising, Outrank.com is the leader in reaching potential customers on the front page of the search engines. With a low cost and measurable results, it’s no surprise that the SEO specialist now caters to over 8,000 small businesses looking to establish an online presence.

There is no secret to the company’s success, as the product sells itself. Clients are given a website and are registered on local directories in a way that helps their customers find the products and services they offer. It’s evident that people are going online to research and contact local businesses.

As demand grows, so does Outrank.com. They’re constantly adding experienced client services professionals to the team to make sure that every client has a personal point of contact, no matter what their monthly budget is. They’re also beefing up their marketing team, whose sole job is to make sure the product drives business to the customer. They have recently been named a “Top Workplace” by the Austin American-Statesman and a “Best Company to Work For” by Texas Monthly. These honors reflect their dedication to their employees and customers alike.

To see what all the buzz is about, call Outrank.com at (877) 332-4321.

As if it were any surprise, Verizon is currently asking legislators from Virginia and Maryland for permission to stop delivering the local white pages to everyone except those who explicitly request it. One of the country’s premier phone service providers, Verizon has already been granted these permissions by five other states. By early next year, the company hopes to have these changes made in all twelve states in which it offers its services.

What director of public relations Harry Mitchell calls a shift to “on-request delivery” heralds the inevitable death of the phone book. According to the Washington Post, about 2 percent of residents are actually requesting phone book delivery in states where forced delivery is out of practice. While also citing environmental benefits, Mitchell also noted that “the nature of the way people are getting information is evolving.” Both Verizon and AT&T–who has reportedly pursued similar permissions–say that “most people search for numbers online,” according to the Post.

This news has immeasurable implications for your business. Though these changes only affect delivery of the white pages at this time, rest assured that the yellow pages are on their way out too–well after people have stopped using them entirely. This is especially important if you are wasting money on advertising in the phone book or have not established a visible online presence for your business. Talk to a small business specialist at Outrank.com to see how you can achieve this at a fraction of the cost of other advertising methods.

Keeping your customers happy is the key to continued business. While sales performance is a primary concern for any business owner, it is all for nothing if you cannot retain your clientele. With this in mind, here is a brief Outrank complaints guide to help you deal with issues that come up.

Listen and Clarify the Issue

Before anything else, you must get to the root of the problem. Focus your full attention on understanding exactly what is wrong. Be respectful and attentive. Summarize the issue for the customer so that they know you have heard and understood the complaint.

Empathize and Apologize

You have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Everyone has been on the receiving end of terrible customer service at one time or another. Remember how you felt when you were treated unfairly or disregarded. Apologize to the customer for their inconvenience and be sincere.

Convince Them You’re On Their Side

This is the most important step for ending the interaction positively. A customer can tell by the tone of your voice and other verbal cues if you are interested in their welfare. Your whole approach to complaints has to hinge on a genuine desire to make the customer happy. If you convince them you will do as much as you can for them, it will give you volumes of credibility as a business.

Act Swiftly and Confidently

Outline what you can do to remedy the problem, and be honest about how your solution is fair for both parties. A customer’s reaction will largely depend on your confidence and the fairness of the resolution. Do what you say you’re going to do, and do it quickly.

We hope this Outrank complaints guide will help you improve your customer relationships and your company’s overall approach to service.