Forgot to mention, I have had very good experiences with Whitespark.

The work is carefully and diligently done.

On completion, you get a spreadsheet with logins and passwords.

So you "own" your own listings.

Another problem with Yext is that you are locked in to a very high annual fee.

If you don't renew, Yext threatens to "release" your listing and says you have to manually "reclaim" each one.

Not a good solution and not the most noble of business practices, IMHO.

Now that there are better alternatives, I would use Yext only for big businesses with deep pockets. Its only advantage is its speed. If I had a reputation management client who need to push negative stuff down quickly...I might consider Yext. But that's it.

That would be bad.

You should follow the rough 10-80-10 rule, whether you are building 10 links or 10,000 links. And you should always do it slowly.

I agree there are no specific percentages. You have to look at the big picture over a long period of time.

Big picture: What a good "problem" to have!

Without taking a close look at your specific URL...

...my first instinct is that the answer to your question is almost certainly a giant...

**No.

DO THE HARD THING: NOTHING!!!!** There is a real danger of overthinking this stuff and neglecting the fundamentals.

I faced the same issue with a DA72 site for a leading SME In his field who had 450,000+ backlinks....some from major media outlets and universities, but most from "nobodies" in the field. This is good!

What you want in a classic Inverted U-shaped curve in terms of DA.

• 10 % crappy links

• 80 % middling links

• 10% super high quality links

You mess with this at your peril!!!! Beware. "Bad" links are not necessarily bad in the grand scheme of universe. Every credible and authoritative site should have some. They are part of a natural link profile.

Getting rid of the <20 DA authority links could hurt...badly.

Focusing excessively on tweaking or sculpting the middling 80% of your links is probably a mistake. You could shoot yourself in the foot.

Less is more.

It might be better to just keep doing what you're doing.

This is hard...and requires great discipline!

Agree completely with the above responses.

Bottom line: Google has some of the smartest people in the world working on these issues. In the end, they will prevail.

The idea that can can fool Google or game the system is...well, foolish.

At best, you might be able to score some temporary gains by disregarding the guidelines.

And then the hammer will fall.

Thanks for the courtesy.

Not to belabour the point (so this will be my last response):

But I never said cold calling was ineffective.

I just said that it was wrong.

In the grand scheme of the universe, it annoys people, gives business a black eye, and invites government regulation that over reaches.

Thanks for the response, but we'll have to agree to disagree.

I maintain my position: cold calling is wrong. I would never try it.

Most sensible people already hang up. More people should.

And then fewer people would cold call.

And the world would be a better place.

I agree with the above and would add my own experience.

I've had good results with the format www.widgetservices.com/location 1, www.widgetservices.com/location 2 etc.... all accessible from a drop down menu entitled "Locations and Clients". Each location page talks about the people who work at the location and has some mini-case studies and testimonials. The actual product descriptions, the same in each location,  are elsewhere.

I also build links to the individual location pages. Each location page, in text and tags, is also optimized for the not only the main location but a few of the closest cities.

Note that this is a regional business with only 7 locations. YMMV.

You can remove the links from PR Web press releases, even after publication. No need to disavow unless they have been picked up by other sites and do-followed.

That said, I seriously doubt they can get you into trouble...unless they are part of a sustained pattern of misconduct, say dozens or hundreds of press releases from spammy press release sites (not PR Web, which is reputable.)  Your backlinks from PR  Web may even be helping.

There is much confusion on this subject. Two general and casual remarks Matt Cutts made years apart have been taken out of context and widely misinterpreted. The conventional wisdom seems to be that all backlinks from all press releases are always and everywhere useless or harmful.

This suffers from the defect of being untrue.

And it's s just as silly as saying:

"All directory listings are useless -- or harmful."

or

"All guest blogging is useless -- or harmful."

or

"All infogrpahics are useless -- or harmful."

Life is complicated. Context is everything.

And much depends on your overall link portfolio.

I can't imagine any sensible person ever buying anything from someone who cold calls.

It is not a practice associated with reputable businesses, IMHO.

Thanks for the response, but we'll have to agree to disagree.

I maintain my position: cold calling is wrong. I would never try it.

Most sensible people already hang up. More people should.

And then fewer people would cold call.

And the world would be a better place.

You can remove the links from PR Web press releases, even after publication. No need to disavow unless they have been picked up by other sites and do-followed.

That said, I seriously doubt they can get you into trouble...unless they are part of a sustained pattern of misconduct, say dozens or hundreds of press releases from spammy press release sites (not PR Web, which is reputable.)  Your backlinks from PR  Web may even be helping.

There is much confusion on this subject. Two general and casual remarks Matt Cutts made years apart have been taken out of context and widely misinterpreted. The conventional wisdom seems to be that all backlinks from all press releases are always and everywhere useless or harmful.

This suffers from the defect of being untrue.

And it's s just as silly as saying:

"All directory listings are useless -- or harmful."

or

"All guest blogging is useless -- or harmful."

or

"All infogrpahics are useless -- or harmful."

Life is complicated. Context is everything.

And much depends on your overall link portfolio.

Skip it.

You feel like taking a shower after spending time on this site.

Seems to be mostly a bunch of small-time sleazebags trying to con each other into spending a few bucks of marketing guides that provide...

Secret Tips!

Get Rick Quick Schemes !

There may be a little worthwhile info on the site, but it's a very bad neighborhood, IMHO.

Hi, Mike:

This is very much my niche. I am the former editor-in-chief of the CrossFit Journal and have acted as a web consultant to CrossFit gyms, the Personal Trainer Development Center at www.theptdc.com.,  several fitness authors and experts, and some equipment manufacturers.

My Llinkedin profile is here.

I agree that press releases can be be an effective strategy -- but only as part of a diversified link portfolio. I have used both PR Web and Marketwire, and think PR Web has the edge in the fitness space due to a superior distribution list in this niche.  I currently have a bulk subscription to PR Web and could offer you a very attractive price on a per release basis.

But first things first. I would suggest you consider your overall link-building strategy before jumping into press releases. There is probably low-hanging fruit -- including niche directories and guest blogging opportunities --  that could be plucked first.

Feel free to email me at Danielfreedman78@gmail.com to discuss fuirther.

I helped a friend  sell a domain name for $5,000.

It was perfect for the buyer's business.

And the buyer made the mistake of describing his business as "a small little company in France." A little research revealed the company was small only in number of employees and had sales of neary 2 million Euros!

Even for a much smaller company, $300 is peanuts. Go for it.

I agree with the above and would add my own experience.

I've had good results with the format www.widgetservices.com/location 1, www.widgetservices.com/location 2 etc.... all accessible from a drop down menu entitled "Locations and Clients". Each location page talks about the people who work at the location and has some mini-case studies and testimonials. The actual product descriptions, the same in each location,  are elsewhere.

I also build links to the individual location pages. Each location page, in text and tags, is also optimized for the not only the main location but a few of the closest cities.

Note that this is a regional business with only 7 locations. YMMV.

Agree completely with the above responses.

Bottom line: Google has some of the smartest people in the world working on these issues. In the end, they will prevail.

The idea that can can fool Google or game the system is...well, foolish.

At best, you might be able to score some temporary gains by disregarding the guidelines.

And then the hammer will fall.

I can't imagine any sensible person ever buying anything from someone who cold calls.

It is not a practice associated with reputable businesses, IMHO.

Thanks for the courtesy.

Not to belabour the point (so this will be my last response):

But I never said cold calling was ineffective.

I just said that it was wrong.

In the grand scheme of the universe, it annoys people, gives business a black eye, and invites government regulation that over reaches.

Another problem with Yext is that you are locked in to a very high annual fee.

If you don't renew, Yext threatens to "release" your listing and says you have to manually "reclaim" each one.

Not a good solution and not the most noble of business practices, IMHO.

Now that there are better alternatives, I would use Yext only for big businesses with deep pockets. Its only advantage is its speed. If I had a reputation management client who need to push negative stuff down quickly...I might consider Yext. But that's it.