HI Brent,

Thanks for the reply.  As of last week the phone numbers were different on the rogue listings, but I just checked...and guess what...both now have MY phone number.

So it looks like I could claim them.  It was advised that the best way to deal with these listings would be to just report them to Google, opposed to claiming them.

They mentioned it was against the rules for me to have more than one listing(even if my intention was to nix the two rogue listings.)

Care to share your input?

Unfortunately, Google has taken bits and pieces of my business and combined it with non-existent businesses and other rogue information.  So now my business has 3 locations.

One proper listing that I created and manage.

One that uses my website address but nothing else is correct in the listing.

One that contains my name(incorrectly), but the address and everything else about it is incorrect.

I have reported these places many times but they continue to hang around and I am lost/confused on what to do next.

Please advise.

I would currently rate Ezinearticles extremely low on the authority of their content and links according to Google.  This is simply based on the Panda update backlash that devalued ezine and similar article databases.

While it was extremely popular in the past, the popularity and spamming of content/links is what also led to the demise and devaluing.

You time and effort would be better spent elsewhere.

Hi Marcus,

I have switched all of my websites to Yoast Wordpress SEO exclusively, and would highly suggest not using both SEO plugins at the same time.  I chatted with Joost at length via Skype about a similar situation, and I can assure you it is against your best interest to try and use both.

While I am a fan of AIOSEO, I have found the Yoast plugin does everything and more and love it.

They are not meant to work together so your time would be wasted attempting to do so.  Just make sure you are maximizing each plugin.  I would recommend working with Yoast.

As wtih everything, the size isn't what matters.  It's what you do with it.  Anywhooo...

The CSS attributes should not effect any legitimate style choices, unless the search engines detect hidden text due to size, placement, or color.

While Google might account for spelling errors, and possibly the understanding that a "z" is sometimes used as an "s", I dislike it when the "z" is used, speaking as a consumer and business owner.

While not use an "a" at the front of the domain, or "my", or "your"?  www.mykeyword-guides.com.  Or even better, without the hyphen, mykeywordguides.com?

Going back to the spelling aspect of things, I have always disliked it when a business uses a "k" for a "c", e.g. Johnny's Used Kar Lot, and the same goes with the z.

I found a relatively "ghetto" approach to silo using wordpress, since I don't have the time or technical skill to implement it perfectly.  Using a specific plugin, it will compare posts and reference a set number of related at the bottom, creating a link structure similar to a silo.  It's not perfect but it is easy.

I found a relatively "ghetto" approach to silo using wordpress, since I don't have the time or technical skill to implement it perfectly.  Using a specific plugin, it will compare posts and reference a set number of related at the bottom, creating a link structure similar to a silo.  It's not perfect but it is easy.

Agreed.

I spent some time working on a hybrid silo structure in my blog, and proper cross linking on the main area of the site thanks to the discussion here.

Ultimately,  the silo process just takes a bit of time for each new post making sure it links to another category?

I know there are plugins for wordpress that will do automatic linking based on any word you input, and it will link a set or random number of times throughout your site.

It could be worth setting up for me and just include some keyword phrases in the correct articles just to get the link process going properly.

If I am understanding Rand and Todd's opinions correctly regarding this subject:

Rand believes it doesn't matter.

Todd believes it does matter and can be beneficial.

To me that would say to err on the side of caution and choose Todd.  Not because he is correct, but because there is no harm in doing so either way according to Rand.

Hi Marcus,

I have switched all of my websites to Yoast Wordpress SEO exclusively, and would highly suggest not using both SEO plugins at the same time.  I chatted with Joost at length via Skype about a similar situation, and I can assure you it is against your best interest to try and use both.

While I am a fan of AIOSEO, I have found the Yoast plugin does everything and more and love it.

They are not meant to work together so your time would be wasted attempting to do so.  Just make sure you are maximizing each plugin.  I would recommend working with Yoast.

As wtih everything, the size isn't what matters.  It's what you do with it.  Anywhooo...

The CSS attributes should not effect any legitimate style choices, unless the search engines detect hidden text due to size, placement, or color.

Without getting into the good vs. bad conversation, my mind wanders into the necessity of giving anything away for clients to give you a review.

If a company has a strong client base, it could be as simple as asking for a review via:

• Face to Face Meetings
• Social Media
• Email
• Mailers

With a properly worded request, and an easy to follow link, many clients will give you the review without any incentive.  Simple loyalty goes a long way.

While I am sure more people might fill reviews out for a prize/gift, but is that the way a business receives accurate, non-biased reviews?

Reviews are great for a number of reasons, including SEO and placement in Google Places pages, but they also serve a different purpose.

When a person gives an honest review, positive or negative, that information can be passed on to the business owner to continue what is successful or look at the needed changes to get back on track.  This actually happened with my business recently, as there ended up with a few complaints about my staff.  I had to look long and hard for solutions to tighten up the ship, and luckily those truthful reviews didn't get lost in a bunch of ego stroking fake reviews.

Honesty is always the best policy, and false or inaccurate reviews will be found out at some point.

While Google might account for spelling errors, and possibly the understanding that a "z" is sometimes used as an "s", I dislike it when the "z" is used, speaking as a consumer and business owner.

While not use an "a" at the front of the domain, or "my", or "your"?  www.mykeyword-guides.com.  Or even better, without the hyphen, mykeywordguides.com?

Going back to the spelling aspect of things, I have always disliked it when a business uses a "k" for a "c", e.g. Johnny's Used Kar Lot, and the same goes with the z.

Utilikilts.com

I am fairly confident that Google doesn't go around slapping websites with linkfarm status unless they are certain that they are up to no good.

I would recommend doing proper navigation with appropriate subdivisions.

If you did a website about Animals, which is obviously a huge subject, you would start with:

Animals - Homepage

Aardvark - Antelope - Bears - Birds and so on

You would then follow up with the proper subdivisions sorted by species of said animal, or by color, or whatever.  There is a chance that on each subpage you may choose to not have subdivisions in the main navigation, but actually in the body of the main text for that animal.

If things are done properly how could this even be considered a link farm?

You do mention 100 links per page, so if it is appropriate that is fine, but I do not know of many subjects that are worthy of 100 links or more per page.

I really enjoy topics like this, thanks for asking such a great question.

What are the perceived negative effects, if any, of doing a silo structure?

Agreed.

I spent some time working on a hybrid silo structure in my blog, and proper cross linking on the main area of the site thanks to the discussion here.