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1. by authority, local citations, reviews, frequent updates, interaction as a brand (posting and interacting as the brand itself on Google +).
2. I've seen 7 and i've seen less I think it depends on the search query and device, mobile vs. pc etc...
3. Can you share a link?
4. No, because if you check the map it will show more results. Perhaps Google does not think others deserve to be there.
My pleasure. However the real credit belong to Cyrus Shepard for writing this masterpiece, Many takeaways on it.
If Google’s Penguin update taught us anything, it’s that over-thinking anchor text is bound to get us in trouble.
When you link naturally and editorially to other places on the web, you naturally diversify your anchor text. The same should hold true when you link internally.
Don’t choose your anchor text to fit your keywords; choose your anchor text to fit the content around it.
Practically speaking, this means linking internally with a mix of partial match keyword and related phrases. Don’t be scared to link occasionally without good keywords in the anchor – the link can still pass relevancy signals. When it comes to linking, it’s safer to under-do it than over-do it.
As long as they are not going to delete your link you are good, but that's a risk you will have to take if you go through with it.
IMO it's better to post the article on your own blog and look for relevant media outlets to share it. Why give your valuable content to another competing site? Sure you can get one link your site as a reference, but why not be the reference that they link to naturally.
Guest posting can be beneficial, however you are right about getting a post on a competitors site, they can remove your link at any time and they will learn your strategy. I would look for a similar niche rather then a direct competitor.. ie if your site is selling funny t-shirts you can guest post on humer sites...
The SEO agency that you are working with, what is their incentive? Do they want anything in exchange for the blog post?
Google has been lowering the value of low quality links such as non relavent guest blogging, because they dont want people to game the system. If you want to rank in Google you need to give the users what they want (value).
Google has not officially announced an update, however they have been making changes, and they make about 500 changes a year. If you go to Googles webmaster forum you can see that many people are experiencing loss in rankings.
You can check the weather here: mozcast.com
Also, I would recommend checking out SEObythesea by Barry Schwarts.
Hi David,
These terms are pretty challenging, but should not take 9 month to see some results. It would be wise to start off with less competitive terms.
Your link profile looks ok, not too many high quality links that drive relevant users, though...
I would push to get that blog up, having a blog on your site will give users a reason to link to you, fresh content to get indexed by search engines, and articles to share in communities around the web.
Without a blog it will be extremely challenging to rank for terms like these unless your business is very active in the community and you have established some great connections with relative authoritative figures.
The site looks good and the onsite checks out, I would recommend forcing the non www to the www or vice versa.
Also add social media sites to it, Google + is huge for tech, you can create articles and share them in relevant communities to gain relevant traffic, links and authority on the web.
The goal is not to build links on other sites, the goal is to give other sites a reason to link to you, other user to share your data, bookmark it and boast about you.
I am not sure about this company you are using and what you are paying them, but in 9 month with a company, they should of STRESSED social media, a blog, and updates on your business in case of a good PR opportunity.
Hope this helps.
What dave is saying is it's better to have unique content for each language because it gets crawled.
Well you can do a 301 but also be sure to 301 all the deep links...
So 301 junkthecars.com to sellthecars.com/about-us and also junkthecars.com/about-us to sellthecars.com/about-us
Be sure to also do this in your webmaster tools. You will need to have both versions verified in this account.
Jesse you said what I quoted, you should own it. I don't personally like being falsely accused of things, and I believe you and your buddy John have clearly bashed a company that you do not have any information about.
You keep accusing me of misreading, FYI I am reading everything.
Now tell me, **where does David mention a lack of communication? **
Wish you all the best of luck.
He said "They are building links from relevant sites" my point is don't jump the gun on the SEO company until you have some facts.
I can say that for the most part 9 month is a long time but you never know the scenario. Maybe the client is only paying $300 a month for link building and he is expecting miracles.
Like I said in my original post, there are too many factors to tell. The company might be legit, and if they are you just bashed them without any real data.
"If somebody on this forum could provide that answer within a few hours, your SEO firm should most definitely be able to do this within 9 months." Your words, the answers to these questions would only lead us to the real answer. You are assuming it's an easy niche.
Well IMO that is false. Some terms just take longer to rank than others (depending on the competitiveness of course).
Let me give you a scenario....
Take a very competitive niche that every term has an organic score of 70+ when run through the SEOMoz organic KW tool.
Unless this client is "Bill Gates" (with deep deep pockets) and has very strong connections with extremely authoritative brands on the web (which is typically NOT the case), it would be nearly impossible to rank them "top 3" doing true white-hat SEO in a period of 9 months.
I am not referencing "transparency" between clients and SEO's as EVERY business should be transparent with its clients/consumers.
So if his term is "insurance" you guys can develop a plan for ranking in 9 month? IMO its all about the competitiveness and the best angle to approach it. However, some keywords can take much longer to rank for... Such as "insurance" very broad and very competitive.
Hi David,
This can be for many reasons.. However, without your domain it will be very difficult to do any real research.
There are about 200 ranking factors search engines use to rank a site, and link building is just one factor.
Do you have Google Analytics Set up? If so you can use this tool to see if you have had any traffic, and if it came from a brand search or an organic search.
Has the company done any onsite SEO?
Do you have a blog with fresh content?
Do you have any social media presence?
Do you have a natural looking link profile?
Are you over optimizing?
Also, what niche is it? Are the competitors very active?
9 month is a long time with no results, but some markets are very very competitive and will take longer to see results for top keywords. However they should have been targeting the low hanging fruit, long tail terms first to build authority and test what users like.
If you want to rank for "backpack"
You can not just build links to a backpack page it looks unnatural and does not add too much value.
What we would do is build pages for: "Where can I find a good backpack?" ; " Best Backpacks" ; "Blue Backpacks" ; " Vintage Backpacks" etc...
By gaining traffic you are also gaining more linking and domain authority.
Ideally you want to keep the number of 404 pages low because it tells the search engine that the page is a dead end, ask any SEO, it's best to keep the number of 404's as low as possible.
Link equity tells Google why to rank a page or give the root domain more authority. However, Google does not want users to end up on dead pages. So it will not help the site, rather hurt it. My recommendation is to create a sitemap and submit to Google WMT with the pages you want the spiders to index.
Limit the 404's as much as possible and try to 301 them if possible to a relevant page (from a user perspective).
No they don't. Search engine spiders follow the link as a user, if the pages no longer exist and you cannot forward the user to a better page then create a good 404 page that will keep the users intrigued.
yes this is what I was getting at 
just wanted to ask first, in case it may have been another issue.
Did you link you Google Webmaster tools to your Google Analytics?
Hi MacKensey,
If I want to know my rank for bank account, do I need to list bank accounts as well or will my ranking include variations?
They are exact so the term "bank accounts" and "bank account" are separate. SEOmoz is reflecting the data they find on the SERP when you run the report.
Also, if I use the word bank as a keyword, will any search that contains the word bank (even when other words are included) count towards the ranking for that word? Or would I need to add additional keywords like dallas bank, local bank, etc?
No it will only contain the term you include.
Hi Jim,
Is this really a problem? With limited resources, what real positive effect will making all these images have unique title tags really have from a SERP perspective?
Yes it will help, giving descriptions for your images can also help visually impaired people. I would name all my images, however if theres other content on these pages that are duplicate such as URL string I would recommend adding a canonical code, this will help you avoid duplicate content penalties.
This should help:
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139394
"Google trends" should give you an idea of what people are searching for and if the terms are moving up/down etc...
If you want to know volumes of terms searched within Google you can use "Google adwords keyword tool".
Hi Gordon,
We use [exact] and look at the local (which is in the US) for projects within the US. If the project is global we look at global.
Targeting broad may be cheaper but might not have a good ROI. My bes response is experiment and keep you eye on analytics. What is working? what is not working? etc...
In definition:
Select a match type to see the monthly traffic volume for a keyword with that match type.
How it works: The table shows approximately how much traffic a keyword with a selected match type gets on Google.
Broad: The sum of the search volumes for the keyword, related grammatical forms, synonyms, and related words
Exact: The search volume for that specific keyword and close variants
Phrase: The sum of search volumes that include the whole phrase or near variants of the whole phrase
Yes Amber, I agree! it seems as if they have a monopoly on a bunch of listings. However, there are three directory aggregating sites that I would highly recommend getting your site listed on: **Acxicom, Infogroup, and Localez. **These three sites aggregate many of the sites from that annoying Yext index (Find the site on Yext, try to fix it ,end back on Yext.. . O.o).
Your title says "Local Coordinator" if the intension is to rank locally, look for local citations from local sites for local you can use whitesparc.ca, and for some national getlisted.org and Google ("Keyword" + Directory or "Keyword" + "Location" Directory). Lastly, how many, and our company feel about Yext <--- Overpriced! IMO spammy, they took over my Email, once you sign up you will get an email from every directory on the Yext SERP. Now we create a directories email account for each client.
Keep in mind all your information must be accurate, we like to use the exact NAP (Name Address and Phone#) that is in the places account for each of the directories. We also make sure to fill out each listing as much as possible, and we only submit to relevant categories.
Lastly,
When submitting to directories you should use some caution, some of the sites can be of low quality or have unnatural profiles. In this case it's better to not be listed. Using open site explorer can help you determine anchor texts and low quality links of the sites you are planning on submitting to.
Hope this helps and if you have any more questions about local search, I would be glad to help.
First find the listing if it exists then
look for this...
"Sign in to update your listing" <------ Click on that for the listing that is incorrect. Then sign in and fix the listing.
oh and if you did not set up the original and do not have the login info
perhaps a phone call will help resolve the inconsistant listing.
Still having trouble logging in?
Call a representative at (888) 857-6722 or Email us at customersupport@local.com
Hope this helps
Hi Tim,
If the pages you are going to replace are still content rich on a similar vertical (old blue widget to new blew widget) you can do a 301 redirect which will let the search engine know that the page has moved and it will also transfer any of the authority the old page(s) has.
Hope this helps.
Only use a link canonical for two pages with similar content to avoid duplication and let the search engine know "this content is all the same but I want to rank this page"
Do a 301 redirect from the old page to the new page if you have a new page to deliver. If not build a 404 landing page with call to action for that user.
I hope this helps.
Did you do a 301 redirect from the old page to the new one? If you had an old page that you redirect you should use a 301 redirect to pass the link juice (authority and users) from the old page to the new.
Otherwise, you lose the authority of the page and the search engines return a 404.
I would recommend adding your unit number other wise it can create inconsistencies. Keep in mind once you add the H you will need to add it to all you citations (including the ones you have already submitted) and you will need to verify again in google places.
Hello Joshua,
Did you let Google know in your webmaster tools?
Did you submit a new sitemap to Google?
How we look at the site in steps:
A)Relevancy - the site must be as relevant as possible for users (similar terms on the site)
B)Back Links/Natural Linking - then we check to make sure the site has a natural linking profile and not over optimizing.
C)Authority/Page Rank
D)Social Media - does the site have a blog with real interaction, comments, likes and shares.
A and B must be done first and if they are not good proceed to the next link.
If A and B are good, steps C and D will help you evaluate the links actual value.
Hi,
Spying on your top competitor, can help. Find out what they are doing that is working, and see how you could add value to the same users.
Find out what social networks they are in (if any) and where they are earning links from.
There are many ways to buld links, have you checked out: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-noob-guide-to-link-building
Hope this helps.
It really depends on what you want to rank for. How competitive is the SERP?
Is the term you are trying to rank for broad or exact?
When a site is new it usually takes some time for it to build trust in the search engine.
The more competitive the term the more quality work you will need to apply to your project to see results. There are many different ways you can rank, the goal is to find what works with the user in mind and the search engine's guidelines as the law.
A mat release is still going to get indexed and counted for. The first page it gets indexed on gets all the credit. Anything after that is duplicate if it does not trackback to the first piece of content.
Unless I am mistaken, I don't think the search engines are able to differentiate this type of content.
As long as the syndicated articles are tracking back (linking back) to the original version it will not count a duplicate.
The first page to get indexed will not suffer from syndication regardless of track backs. Only the site that syndicates needs to track back or it wil look like duplicate text.
Based on the situation, I would only disavow the ones that are indexed and be sure to keep track of your work. The Read More link I posted above explains everything you need to know. You should also check both versions (www and non) of the back links to your site.
another quote from that page:
'Note: When looking at the links to your site in Webmaster Tools, you may want to verify both the www and the non-vww version of your domain in your Webmaster Tools account. To Google, these are entirely different sites. Take a look at the data for both sites.'
Hi Carlos,
Remove both Google looks at them as two separate sites. However, I would not recommend using Google disavow tool unless the linking page is not accessible, or the webmaster of the linking site will not take it down after a couple attempts.
"This is an advanced feature and should only be used with caution. If used incorrectly, this feature can potentially harm your site’s performance in Google’s search results. We recommend that you disavow backlinks only if you believe you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that the links are causing issues for you. In most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance, so most normal or typical sites will not need to use this tool." Read More
This should help.
You can use uber suggest http://ubersuggest.org/ or you can use Google Adwords Keyword tool.
To determine a keywords ORGANIC competitiveness seoMOZ created a tool: http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/keyword-difficulty
Many factors (over 200) go into why a page should rank.
I would use Google to do a search for the content to see what comes up. Also Google gives all the credit to the first content indexed. So you will not be punished as long as your content was indexed before the syndications.
Hi,
Checking keywords can be challenging because Google checks if you are logged on, and uses personalized settings to show results. If it's not your personalized settings it could be your browsers saved settings (cookies and cache). If it's not your browser it can also be the location you are searching from.
The best way to check for your terms is logged out, with a cleared cache browser. If it's national the organic should be good from anywhere. However if it is a local business check from the cities the business is working on ranking.
Hope this helps.
Because that info was being pulled fro google adwords keyword tool, my guess there are issues with pulling data.
However you can still collect this data from google adwors keyword tool... just be sure to set your search to [exact] instead of broad.
Global results = the entire world search volume
Local Results = your continent
Hope this helps.
I would start with keyword research to find which one of these terms has traffic and how competitive they are.
A)Google Adwords keyword tool (set to [exact]) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QBslJx6psIs
B)then use SEOmoz's keyword difficulty yool to determine how competative the terms are "organically" http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/keyword-difficulty
If you still want to go for both terms you can build two pages and optimize both pages, build links to them, and most importantly outreach/social media.
Hi Bede,
You can merge them http://www.seroundtable.com/google-page-local-verification-15526.html
Also, when it comes to a doctors/dentists you can have a listing for the name of the place and each dr. that practices there.
Hope this helps.
I would recommend using whatever you have listed in your Google places account. As long as all the NAP (names addresses and phone numbers) are consistant with Google it will help you rank better in Google Places.
I agree if the page is live in your browser (xml version) then Google should be able to crawl it.
You have to submit the .XML version and it has to be live in your directory on your server.
on our site ie:
The page for users: http://www.boastingbiz.com/sitemap
The page for the Spiders: http://www.boastingbiz.com/sitemap.xml <--- Submit the .xml from wherever you place it on your server.
hope this helps.
The fact that you went from generating 35 impressions per day to 2000 impressions per day, could mean that one of your pages is on the first page of a SERP that has high traffic. However, that can also mean that it is in the last spot and not driving any conversion.
To find out the keyword go to secondary dimension and select: Traffic sources > Keywords
Hi Samuel, There are about 200 factors that rank sites.
The competition chart shows you overall analytics, but you need a more in depth audit in order to see why someone is really outranking your site.
Search ensines look at: Links, social media, relevancy, natural progressions, and easy crawlability. They are also looking for bad signals: over optimization and unnaturally linking.
We look to see what our competition is doing just to create ideas to put into play, or to create a better piece of content that they have written about.
I don't believe so. A google search engine spider reads a 301 and automatically transfers the juice/credibility/authority/social-credit...
See here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Filv4pP-1nw