Did J.C. Penney Wear An SEO “Black Hat?” The Story and How to Do It Right

Everyone wants their website to be ranked first by Google, but how far would you go to make that happen?  J.C. Penney learned the hard way that you better follow Google’s rules or your website will be buried, literally.  The New York Times article, The Dirty Little Secret of Search, exposed how J.C. Penney’s website was using “black hat” methods to appear first in search results. Once this was brought to Google’s attention, J.C. Penney’s website dropped in search results from the number one result to page five or six depending on the search term.

So how do you legally improve your websites search rankings?  Google protects their search algorithms like your grandma protects the secret family recipe, so there is no magic answer.  However, Google does tell you where to find their Webmaster Guidelines and Webmaster Tools which serve as great places to start when you want to improve your search results.

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura