Yep, that is it.  Send them an email. Good luck with it.

partnerships@moz.com

Firstly it is not something to be encouraged copy someone's blog post. I am assuming you have permission to re-post. Duplicate content is confusing for the search engine, which page to show to the searcher? The below link details duplicate content issues.

In your instance I would imagine that if someone was to type in a query in the language of the blog post - then that may mean your blog post would be returned as the most relevant to answer the query.

https://moz.com/learn/seo/duplicate-content

If any issues after reading the link let me know.

Patricks suggestions I think answer your query.

I googled airsoft and it seems strongly related to paintball & airguns. I would not recommend subdomains but keeping it on your main domain. Our experience in fashion is that the more products you have that volume exponentially increases sales. ie go with www.brandname.com/paintball

That said you appear to be leaning towards a sub-domain. As it has completely separate customer bases.

I would try and re-think that strategy and see if there is any way you can live with one URL. You will be dedicated to one purpose not focusing on 2 or 3.  Become the expert in airgun sports...

Let me know if have any queries.

I have done it for an ecommerce site and I found there was no simple solution.  Be great to hear if there is one.

I chose or knew the keywords then went to google translate. Then put those keywords into various tools to see how they extrapolated out.  ie Adwords keyword tool.  I also used semrush.  Also put some onus on keywords on the client.

Because I was also terrified that the translate and then "my combination" might not means what I hope it to mean I then got it reviewed by a native speaker.  Great learning curve.  That was where I learnt the most from speaking to a local. There is heightened risk not speaking to a someone fluent - so I would not recommend publishing without doing that.

After that it is a process - move back to the re-fining the standard and arduous practices we already know about in keyword research. I was chasing simple clothing keywords and then fortunately the retailer was opening shops which made the job easy.

Not 100% clear on the question.

But I think what you are asking is "Does Google recognizes footnotes, etc?. which is where superscript is often used.  The short answer is yes, as I do not believe the size of words would have any factor for google in search. Referencing could only be a positive if only from a semantic perspective.

Hope this helps.

No is the short answer.

Below is a great article detailing the dangers of directories.

https://moz.com/blog/web-directory-submission-danger

If you want a great contemporary webinar on link building. This came out two days ago on the 18 June from the guys at page one power. I like to break up the reading with a  webinar every now and then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n39BPLmMiY4

Hope this helps.

Folding or merging websites should be done when possible. The fact you are on this blog querying same shows that you are properly considering the implications of the fold. Take your time to do it right. Consider all options.

A poorly executed fold can have sustained detrimental impact - seen it a few times when Bosses pull the trigger and demand speed & nothing else, no room for thought allowed. I would recommend drawing a site map of both sites and then considering the impact of the re-directs for each page - mapping/planning it out.

I know this is about technical and the boys have that covered but also think about brand, mail outs, informing your data base. However you connect with the customers make sure you have that covered. The customer comes first.

Finally on examples - we have done several mainly eCommerce sites where the blog has been a separate URL not even a sub-domain. None have gone backwards and a couple of them popped immediately after the fold. Ultimately great outcomes for all.  So I have confidence. Just make sure you are doing what you are doing now considering the unique aspects of your website and how you will capture those aspects in the fold.

Good luck.

SG

We do consistently identify that customers in that 1/3 of a second when they scan the page are attracted to click on the "well written" & "proper english" result.  There are rare exceptions but does not look like they are relevant in your case. Good luck with it, at least I think you have partially answered the branding decision with some hard data...

Maybe more complicated decision than asked.

To me and my clients it is about market share. As you know ultimately there is usually only one winner/survivor. Law of the jungle.

google -v- bing

pepsi v coke. etc,

I suggest you use adwords as one tool in the kit to strategically gain market share at a faster rate than your competitors - however carefully monitor the cost of client acquisition. At some stages it may get too expensive to chase key Adwords in the high season - due to bulging cheque books of competitors - but stay in the hunt as long as you can afford to. Do not go head on for the "main" keywords if you cannot afford it. Also get smart if you can't afford to go head on - use social media, mail outs, editorial, long tailed keywords - fight to the death.  A favorite of mine at the moment is outbrain. Never stop thinking about stealing clicks from your competitors. But never stop marketing at any time, just do it smarter. In high season you must be seen and heard as that is what will carry you through the slow season...

Ok. Your experiment is live:-

website www.predikkta.com

username: chasingfireflies
password: 2mvs7h8v

Login and review results... It is live now.  Good to see what you learn.

No problem and the keyword phrase typed into google appears to be "girls halloween costumes".  Correct me if I am wrong.

Nick

If using symbols I would have think not. My experience is google discounts common symbols. However if it is written yes, I believe it would have an impact. That is something google would take into account.

In fairness I would think people would type in "weather Melbourne tomorrow" or "weather this weekend" - So I would think the most relevant aspect for SEO is dealing with those keywords... and serving up content that answers those queries.

For interest more than anything. A freebie. No cost.

We will not do a competitor test, we start with a self test, hence offering a self test. It will give you insight into the preferred way to present your title tags, descriptions etc. So you can run the baseline (current result) result against 7 other titles and descriptions see the outcomes.  Can test up to 8 URL's as well, but assume the URL is static. This way you can play around with the capitalization and present some hard data to the people above...

Kevin

From an SEO perspective Patrick and Alick are correct. It makes nominal if not no difference.

However from a CTR perspective the pipe is 97/100 times superior to the hyphen. Further you only generally have 512 pixels in the title before it truncates. ie if the title extends to over 513 pixels - often google reverses the title and places the brand first.

So every pixel matters and the pipe takes less space. Hence given the high impact of the title on SEO - and every character matters, to me it makes the pipe a winner on a few fronts.

Using your example:-

Emergency Electrician | Windsor - BrandName = 399 pixels

Emergency Electrician | Windsor | BrandName = 397 pixels

My conclusion is always use the pipe unless you are prepared to experiment and try and break a strong general rule. Plus you may be able to squeeze that extra letter in, or introduce proper Capitalization so it has a higher CTR.

Let me know if any queries on the above.

SG

Your keen to get it right. I can run an experiment or test it for you and get you a definitive answer.  Hopefully settle the discussion.

If you list 8 possible Title tags and 8 possible descriptions - (include the ones your using now so you have a baseline) then I will run an experiment for you.  Let you what combination is the most clickable.  Can do it Monday.

So you can find out Monday if capitalized or not in your instance...

SG

We assume CTR is a google ranking factor - as it just makes sense ie we know CTR is a ranking factor for Adwords so we assume it is a ranking factor for organic search results.

On lower case -v- upper case - It really depends on a case by case basis - there is no other way.

We do find that proper capitalization, english and a clean looking title have a positive impact on CTR. But it depends on each SERP page.

I will give you a few examples:-

Lets say your title was the one below

Thumbtack - Accomplish your personal projects

If the company changed to the below, they would increase their CTR for new customers. Note increased Capitalization and simply looks more professional.

Hire Experienced Professionals | Thumbtack

So this supports your hypothesis. However on the title below - Capitalization for each word has been used so based on the above as a general rule - it should have a better CTR. However it doesn't.

Cosmetics SFG Australia, Discount Make Up, Skin Care, H

Buy affordable makeup & beauty products | Cosmetics SFG

So by using the title starting "Buy affordable makeup.." - the CTR increased significantly. Why? To obtain this optimum Title, for SEO and clickability the company had to use lower case to come within the 512 pixels so the Ad did not truncate - and hence lose its customer friendliness.

I appreciate you are looking for rules but there are none.  There are some general rules. ie at present from what we observe the pipe (|) has a higher CTR than the hyphen (-) - so we would recommend using the pipe.    Also www. has a higher CTR than no www. on domain names.

But every instance needs to be carefully examined.

Finally say you are in the gambling space - our research shows - that when you want to gamble - it really does not matter what the Ad states - as long as it is passable, not off putting - it is all about position only. However for other SERP's ie "travel insurance" customers tend to scan the page in more detail. On those SERP's spend the time getting the balance between SEO & clickability right.

Not sure if I have assisted your argument to get capitalization, as indicated it all depends on your SERP that you are competing on.

I actually specialize in your question. In short there is no data either way. There are general rules.

The balance between clickability and SEO is integral to success for big companies defeating or mitigating page rank ie competing for big keywords like "car insurance" or "home loans".  Small companies we find the problem is too granular - they go for title for SEO only.  Small companies in fairness do not have time to research the balance.

The prime reason why no-one can give a definitive answer to your question is the title tag is generally only allowed to be 512 pixels. 1 pixel over and it truncates. So often you have to go lower case (optimize clickability) to fit within the 512 pixels or make lower case type adjustments to get to the optimum clickable headline. That said a general rule it is best to go with "proper pronunciation or spelling". It has a clear positive impact on clickability.

Our studies generally show that a Capitalized appropriate word in the right place has a higher impact on clickability.

However to be clear if this changes the title tag make up, ie it now truncates then it could be a disastrous decision for CTR. Finally and i will not go into detail here - it depends on your competitors title tags and descriptions on the relevant SERP.

So I appreciate you will hate the answer - but in short "it all depends".

Finally on rankings I have not heard that it would have any impact. So I would discount that. Though one of the myriad of factors for google on rankings would be spelling and "proper english".  Though we deal with many companies where their branding is lower case, even capitalization second letter and it has not been an issue for them. So as indicated on rankings I would discount entirely but someone may have alternate views on same.

Robert,

Unless it is on your dashboard for the boss as a measurement tool, then I would not be concerned.

Sounds like you are doing great work. I cannot provide an explanation - except to say the DA is a useful tool in the tool box but the ultimate measurement that matters is rankings - and you seem to have that covered. If anything happens negatively on rankings I would dig deeper but at this stage I would recommend monitoring... but not much more.

Before we go further - have you noticed any dip in page rankings, have you lost any positions? For sought after keywords.

Astrid

Do not pay them. I have dealt with several of these companies on behalf of clients.  In Australia they lock you into a 12 month contract.  The fact is at law they have an obligation to provide a product fit for service - and they are not doing that. In fact from reading the blog only it seems they could be doing long term harm typical type operators.

Send them an email along the lines

"As you are appreciate various promises were made to increase site rankings using white hat practices.

Can you please detail exactly what you have done for the money paid to date. No further payments will be made and this contract ceases immediately if not done forthwith.

I have had several SEO experts review the website and the site now has a number of spammy bad links pointed at it.  This is considered black hat practices and is rejected as a sub-standard practice by google webmaster.

I await for your response. If I do not get a detailed report within 7 days I will assume that the contract is repudiated.

I reserve my legal rights in relation to the damage occasioned to the business in relation to the spammy links"

Fight hard... these guys make our lives very hard..

It really is your SEO strategy in what methodology to adopt ie what do your customers search for with ie inches or ".  If you are unfamiliar with your searchers intent there are some great keyword tools you can use. I am favorable to semrush.com but there are many out there.

That said because it is such a niche field and every click matters I would try and rank for both.

All the best.