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Subdomains (more effective):

In short the benefit is that Google will see each subdomain as a locally focused, independent site.

However, this is also the disadvantage of subdomains.

While they are more likely to be seen as locally focused, each subdomain will have to be managed, provided with unique content and links so it can quickly become much more effort.

Folders (more efficient):

Folders offer much more synergy as they are seen as a single site, but they are also seen as less local / independently targets than subdomains.

I'm going to take a stab in the relative dark and say this:

1. Building local links and citations should help as it would with any site.

2. It is unlikely that Google will assist you further than that. They appear to penalize broadly illegal sites, but they do not appear to get into the details beyond that. If you feel businesses are illegally offering a service, it seems like that would be more of a legal / regulatory issue than an SEO issue per-say.

Local and / or focused on your industry is best. GetListed.org has a list. I put a number in this blogpost as well as some tips on how to get rolling on citations.

Some are paid, some are not. Remember too, your local chamber of commerce and other business organizations can be highly relevant as well.

This is very common on larger sites and is very simple. Implement 301 redirects. They pass most of the juice. For maximum benefit, also, be sure they refer to the page most relevant to the topic of the links.

Note: On the PR 1 site if you feel that they are lower quality do you want the links? If not, remember the disavow tool.

Nice website. It sounds like you are thinking along the right track, but here are my thoughts based on your question:

1. If you do decide to use more keywords, be sure to use the exact phrase for which you'd like to rank in a very limited number of places, but be careful not to over do it with keyword usage. It's very easy to cross into spam-land on this with G.

2. Web design in a major metroplex like DC or statewide for VA is competitive and consistently raking highly for this if you are not will likely take some time, particularly as web firms tend to be very active online. Having said that your site is established as an analysis of your link profile could also be helpful in planning what is needed as far as anchor text and types of links.

3. The key to local SEO are citations and high quality, relevant content. Citations include the chamber of commerce and BBB, both of which you mentioned, so again you are approaching this correctly. The real key is to be thorough (go through the usual citation list an then I recommend whitespark.ca) and to start with your Google Local and Bing Local accounts as those are the lowest hanging fruit. I have not done a full analysis, so I apologize of you have already done some of these steps and I am covering them twice.

The following is a blog post on how to properly build citations (full disclosure, I am the author).

http://www.digitaldiameter.com/marketing-blog/build-local-citations/

Let me know if more detail on any of this would help,

Michael

Just like title tags, meta descriptions are not something Google 'must' use on their SERP page. Sometimes they will display different data (pick a more relevant snippet) depending on the query that drove the search results.

The most blunt answer humanly possible to this:

Here's the thing, ethics and Google rules aside (sorry Matt C.), if Google eventually catches this site selling links, they will likely penalize you for having bought one.

...so...

Google is very successful ($29 billion in 2010) and it is almost all based on the quality of their search results. If the penalties did not match the benefits, you are putting this revenue at risk (again, $29 billion). How do you think they will take that? How would you?

I would absolutely use 301s in this case as the client is, in essence, picking a new URL. Switching from .uk/uk to .org/uk could Have unintended consequences for your rankings, but this could be offset by an international bump upwards. Without knowing your traffic, it's difficult to codify the potential issues of keeping or leaving the .uk TLD.

However, it's always fun To make statements after A disclaimer, so to steal Google's own PPC targeting terminology:

• People in, searching for, or viewing pages about your targeted location <-- May go down.
• People in your targeted location <-- May go down.
• People searching for or viewing pages about your targeted location <-- May go up.

At the very least, I would be sure that regional targeting is set to within WMT to ensure that Google knows your target region, based on your audience.

• Are you being penalized or over optimized for this keyword?
• Are their links (any or all) very high quality?
• Are they more focused / content of the website pages semantically centered around this other keyword?
• Lastly, those numbers are not particularly high and can be build in a few months, so Google may be seeing this as more of an apples-to-apples comparison than you may.

I'd just use Webmaster tools for something like this. you can export the spreadsheet and if you don't have a keyword listed, you're either not ranking anywhere that matters or there is no traffic the that KW anyways.

Just like title tags, meta descriptions are not something Google 'must' use on their SERP page. Sometimes they will display different data (pick a more relevant snippet) depending on the query that drove the search results.

I would post the blog on your website but then write an eye-catching summary on G+ with a link back to each of your blog posts after you publish each one.

I would also mention them on FB and Twitter, etc. and do the same. Not only is this good for SEO, but if you have a high quality blog post, you can generate referral traffic and interest with these posts.

I'd just use Webmaster tools for something like this. you can export the spreadsheet and if you don't have a keyword listed, you're either not ranking anywhere that matters or there is no traffic the that KW anyways.

• Are you being penalized or over optimized for this keyword?
• Are their links (any or all) very high quality?
• Are they more focused / content of the website pages semantically centered around this other keyword?
• Lastly, those numbers are not particularly high and can be build in a few months, so Google may be seeing this as more of an apples-to-apples comparison than you may.

Nice website. It sounds like you are thinking along the right track, but here are my thoughts based on your question:

1. If you do decide to use more keywords, be sure to use the exact phrase for which you'd like to rank in a very limited number of places, but be careful not to over do it with keyword usage. It's very easy to cross into spam-land on this with G.

2. Web design in a major metroplex like DC or statewide for VA is competitive and consistently raking highly for this if you are not will likely take some time, particularly as web firms tend to be very active online. Having said that your site is established as an analysis of your link profile could also be helpful in planning what is needed as far as anchor text and types of links.

3. The key to local SEO are citations and high quality, relevant content. Citations include the chamber of commerce and BBB, both of which you mentioned, so again you are approaching this correctly. The real key is to be thorough (go through the usual citation list an then I recommend whitespark.ca) and to start with your Google Local and Bing Local accounts as those are the lowest hanging fruit. I have not done a full analysis, so I apologize of you have already done some of these steps and I am covering them twice.

The following is a blog post on how to properly build citations (full disclosure, I am the author).

http://www.digitaldiameter.com/marketing-blog/build-local-citations/

Let me know if more detail on any of this would help,

Michael

This question is a bit open-ended and so difficult to answer. Most Penguin fixes center around low quality links and over-optimized anchor text. I would consider either building more high quality links and/or using the WMT disavow link tool to remove any really low quality ones you already have. Also with new links stop using anchor text and just use your brand name or the URL itself for a while.

To improve local rankings, I'd start with citations, I recommend either the Moz articles on the topic, or the Digital Diameter blog on citations.

Best,

Michael

Advertisements can definitely reduce the quality of your website in Google's eyes, however, if your site as a whole is informative, 100+ pages and optimized as you described, I might take a quick look at over optimization of link anchor text or the site for competitive keywords. Definitely check WMT for any warnings from G as well and, be aware, that the Hummingbird algorithm just rolled out.

Also, are the affiliate links set to rel=no follow?

Subdomains (more effective):

In short the benefit is that Google will see each subdomain as a locally focused, independent site.

However, this is also the disadvantage of subdomains.

While they are more likely to be seen as locally focused, each subdomain will have to be managed, provided with unique content and links so it can quickly become much more effort.

Folders (more efficient):

Folders offer much more synergy as they are seen as a single site, but they are also seen as less local / independently targets than subdomains.