I see 6000 pdfs as an amazing opportunity.  Get links on those pages and it will funnel a lot of power through your site.

If that was my site, we would be on that job immediately.  Could be a huge gain for some easy work.

If they are kickass quality articles then post them on your own website.

If they are crappy then give them to your competitors.

If they are in between then improve them to kickass quality.

I have read arguments that putting your cart within a sub domain is not a good idea because any clout of the pre-existing domain will not be shared with the  sub domain; that they will be treated as two separate sites.

I agree with this.  All of my sites are done this way.

I have also read that using a sub domain is a good idea being that the content focus of the main domain (marketing and blogs) is different form the focus of the sub domain (product sales), and that the two components would benefit form earning their own rankings undiluted by the other.

This is BS from an SEO viewpoint.  Although some snooty marketing people might recommend it.

You can have unique banners for the store and promote it in tasteful ways that make this distinction for your  visitors.

It's not about how it is hosted (subdomain vs folders)... it's how your navigation presents it to visitors and search engines.

And, I have also read that search engines are getting good at being able to deduce that an eCommerce sub domain is legitimate extension of a content intensive main domain, and that they treat the two components as a combined whole.

Where are you reading this stuff?

Have the cart as a sub domain of my main site, or move my existing domain name to be hosted by the cart provider...

The day that my sites get hosted by a shopping cart provider is a day that you can bet big money that I am dead and under.

I want my pages to be finely crafted arrows.  I don't know if I am going to get that from a shopping cart system.

Someday you will probably decide to leave that shopping cart provider... it will be a lot easier to make that decision if you are not completely married to them.

Need to do what I can myself so I can invest in services that add the highest value.

Right,.  I agree.

Is this out of the league of someone who is not an SEO pro but is tech savvy?

If I think that the job is important to do and it is something that only needs to be done one time, then I would hire someone to save me the time of learning and the risk of doing it wrong.  If it is a job that will be done many times then I would learn how to do it and save money like you want to do.

But, if this company is simply saying... "you should have your links cleaned"... then I would be skeptical about doing that work because every site that I own that has never had any linkbuilding done by anyone still has a lot of crap links.  Those links have come from scrapers and spammers publishing mashup sites, cobbled directories and other crap that they produce.

First, nice work on getting a new website with metrics that might be better.

Since you only have a few days of data, and its over the Christmas holiday, don't bet on the new metrics yet.  They might simply be a result of return visitors stumbling around the site trying to find things that they were returning to see, or snooping around for something different.  Your metrics will probably be improved, but don't take it to the bank yet.

If you get improved metrics, will it increase your rankings?  In my opinion, it will depend more on how those metrics were obtained more than the metrics themselves.  If your new metrics are a result of people being more pleased with your site and that is what caused them to explore more then you might get a rankings increase.  If the new metrics are a result of it being more difficult for people to find they want then you might get a rankings decrease.

Will it change moz authority?  I don't know the answer to that question, and I would not give it a single wit of thought.  Why?  Moz authority has nothing to do with how Google ranks your website, how much money you are going to make, and what people think of your website.

I usually go to Google.com and do a few searches.  That usually reveals what variants of the query are being used by people in their content and how Google will respond to the different variants.

In the case of "woodscrews"... Google says....

**About 3,990,000 results (0.54 seconds) **

Did you mean: wood screws

Now, I know what most vendors are using and see that Google will offer "wood screws" as the preferred variant.   So, I would write all of my content using that variant.   I usually agree with Google's preferred variant from my personal experience.  However, if their preferred variant was an incorrect usage or an ignorant usage, then I will think about how that would fit into my website.  But, since my websites are written in a formal context, I almost always go with proper, formal language.

I can see cases for using the .edu domain.

If you are in the business of educating people at your facility, at their facility, or on a website  then I would definitely start using the .edu domain.

If you are a publisher of academic content that is really good content and recommended by professors and used by students then I would use the .edu domain.

There are many domains that clearly communicate the business of the organization.   They bring "credibility even if undeserved"... and if you really deserve it then the .edu domain could be like throwing gasoline onto a fire in terms of attracting natural links and pulling clicks in the SERPs.

Which domain would you click (or type in) if you were looking for an educational organization named "wilson"?   Which one would you be more inclined to link to?

Wilson.com or Wilson.edu

There are .edu domains being used by organizations that are in the business of education, but most of their activities would be considered to be something other than students and teaching.  Smithsonian.edu, Getty.edu, GIA.edu.

Have you ever sent a link request to a website suggesting that they link to the most valuable page in the internet for a topic and they write back.... Wow!  That's a fantastic article, but we don't link to commercial websites?

If you have a website on wilson.com and send a link recommendation to loc.gov or nasa.gov, what are your chances of getting a link?   Does that change if your website is on wilson.edu?