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I would stick with the old URL structure. If you redirect there could be some loss of anchor text on inbound links and perhaps in linkjuice. If you are making nice money and these pages have external links don't walk the tightrope just to get tidy file names.
I think that the bigger threat with UGC is that they will fill your site with spammy links.
Most people talk about blogs like they are the "Silver Bullets of SEO". However, their content is nearly worthless unless you can do one of two things: 1) write fantastic content that lots of other people want to link, like and tweet, or 2) content that is genuinely valuable to your visitors. If your content doesn't measure up then you will not get a good return on your time.
I have decided to approach all my suppliers and ask them for a link. If their site has a lower PR/DA than mine (PR4, DA43) is is it still worth asking them from a link, given the time that needs to be invested in this type of link building?
This is some of the EASIEST linkbuilding. Most suppliers should want to help you - because if they help you they will sell more to you.
If you want to save time don't bother looking at the PR/DA - just ask them if they will add you to their list of retailers!
High quality content....
is on a subject matter that attracts clicks.
holds visitors for the reading time of the article.
looks great, it has exciting graphics and is well formatted.
is rich - it is supported by video, numerous large images, data, references, links to related content or other unique resources beyond text.
has perfect grammar, spelling, capitalization.
is one of the best - if not the best - presentations on the web for its topic.
Google doesn't reveal exactly how this works. However there are more than one benefit from a link.
First you have anchor text value. That would be noted and credited to the page.
Next you have PageRank. That would flow into a page but most of that PageRank (about 85% according to the original pagerank theory) would flow out through links in that page. Those receiving pages would pass PageRank on to the pages that they link to... and this process would continue over and over and over. Some of those pages downstream would link back to the original page that received the link and strength of that page would build by small amounts as the calculation for each linkage step is done. It is very unlikely that all of these calculations are done immediately.
Other variables might also count. Such as a "trust" value for the linking domain or a value for topical relevance.
Most of us have seen a page that received a nice link move up in the SERPs a few days later. But I highly doubt that all of the benefit is immediately received. There are too many calculations involved and Google might do some of them quickly but others might be done in batch jobs at some future time.
Try the keyword research tool for google adwords.
100 ways to raise cash without going into debt. 
Most competitors don't have 100% overlap of merchandise or services. They also don't have 100% overlap of geographic areas. Competitors working together identify the areas where they really don't compete. Then they cross promote competitor good/services on related pages of their website.
This gives them advertising on a competitor's site but in a way that will not directly steal clients.
A music store near me has a fantastic selection of guitars but does not sell violins... the best place to get a violin is more into orchestra instruments and could easily partner with the guitar specialist.
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If Steven decides to build the huge Maui wedding resource on his site he could ask the florist who is the strongest content generator to produce some great articles for the various types of wedding flowers and have a photographer who specializes in product photography create the photos. The product photographer would get some attribution links and the florist would get some links too, some great visibility for his work and top billing on the florist resource page.
Remember that acquiring great content is much more valuable than giving it away (it also takes a lot less time)... so create a content acquisition plan that has strong benefits for your partner.
I never post great articles on a blog.... post them on a dedicated webpage where you have absolute control over formatting, optimization and appearance. I envision these articles each having a ton of photos with detailed captions.
Post them as pages on your website, announce them on your blog and promote them on your homepage and all across the rest of your site.
I would unite with the strongest content producers. This is a content play and you don't want a team of weenies.
I am not talking about a new site. All of that goes on your existing site.
Think about becoming the Maui Wedding Man!
Instead of three to five blog posts per week consider three to five kickass articles per month.
Great advice from Ryan... just tossing one more idea out because he mentioned the "beggar asking for handout" concept....
Something that can be very effective is for a small group of competitors entering into a cooperative effort to help one another. Three or four working together will have an enormous advantage over everyone else.
Maybe you can get a group of people to work on this site with you.?
Since you have this site you must be the expert on planning a wedding in Maui? Is that correct?
If it is then you should be able to prepare the very best guide to planning a wedding there. It would be a big list of all of the churches, where to get a marriage license, how to hire clergy, where to get gowns, where to get a tux, who are teh photographers, where to get flowers... you get the idea.... this will be the single best one-stop site for anyone who is having a wedding in Maui.
This will be much more than a directory... it will be a guide for how to get things done and an idea source for having a great Maui wedding. Where to have it outdoors articles, where to have the small ceremony, busy times of year, sunset/sunrise.. .. each of these is an article or a series of articles. Lots of photos of chapels, outdoor locations, maps, flowers, etc... venues and photographers should cut deals with you for this type of featuring.
That big resource alone should get some links but you can probably figure out a way to get the feature photographers, flower shops, bridal shops, etc. linking to this incredible guide. You can probably also get some interviews with the media to announce your great website.
This will be a huge amount of work... are you up for it?
Thanks Alan... I am surprised to learn about this "original source" information. There must not have been a lot of talk about it when it was released or I would have seen it.
Google recently started encouraging people to use the rel="author" attribute. I am going to use that on my site... now I am wondering if I should be using "original source" too.
Are you recommending rel="author"?
Also, reading that full post there is a section added at the end recommending rel="canonical"
For a single word query, I believe that google wants an article in the #1 position that is the first document that a person should read about that subject. That article should be comprehensive.
Is the content comprehensive?
If you are writing an article about widgets, google knows what everybody is asking about them.... people want to know about brass widgets, the cost of widgets, widget inventor, the first widget, number of widgets made annually.... google knows this from search queries.
If you are trying to rank for the word "widgets" google could assess your article and determine if you are comprehensive - that means you are addressing all of the subjects that everybody is asking about - or at least the ones that are most frequently asked about.
Incorporating this into your writing has many benefits. One is that you have what visitors want to know and second it puts your page into relevancy for lots of long tail queries.
Anybody can write an article about widgets... but the savvy writer knows what people want to know about them and has the expertise to address all of those details.
In addition to visitor "Reactions", I would like to think that visitor "Interactions" are important.
Google might be able to collect "interactions" information from the SERPs logs, Google Toolbar and Chrome browser to determine... just speculating....
--- how long a visitor stays on the page
--- how much a visitor scrolls
--- does the visitor click
--- does the visitor print or bookmark
I don't know if these are used or if google can even detect them. However, I think that they would be valuable information for determining content qualilty or at least how much visitors interact with it.
If a site is making good money, clearly the right choice is to hire a SEO.
I agree.
I recognize your concerns are legitimate, but have you ever heard of that happening this year on SEOmoz?
No, not this year on SEOmoz. But I know for a fact that forum posts sometimes attract very strong competitors and very aggressive scrapers. And, I know for a fact how badly your income can be damaged.
Is there a risk to my blog if I allow off-topic links in guest posts?
Why would someone want off-topic links with anchor text for any reason other than manipulation?
If you allow people to do this your blog will attract spammers and manipulative link contractors like bugs to a Georgia porchlight!
I can smell the bad odor already!
Ryan, do you know if redirected links are visible in Linkscape? I am guessing that they are not.
They can effectively rank better then other sites which do not use proper SEO practices.
This is a very valid point... and at the same time it is good news if you know more effective methods.
Think very very carefully about exposing a site - especially if it is a good one making money. Lots of young testosterone and old weasels hang out in SEO forums just looking for opportunity.
Your most dangerous competitor is the one who has not yet arrived. A lot of people could put a few pages of new content on their website tonight and be at the top of your SERPs by morning.
Dropping by just two positions could cost you a pile of dough - every month.
It's frustrating for me staying white hat and getting legitimate links and then these competitors come in and out rank me after only a few months with this scheme.
You should be praising God that they are wasting their time with all of this domain buying, credit card charging, alias creating, linking back and forth bullcrap. When they start doing something really effective you are in big trouble.
They have no other outside links other than the links from the domains that they own.
Are you sure about this? If they have no links from outside of their own network of sites then links from these domains should be close to zero value. And, if they do have these links from outside of their own niche they would be more effectively used directed to a smaller number of sites - perhaps only their main site.
Is this a common practice to rank highly for certain key phrases?
Its a common practice... but there are better methods of ranking highly.
Is this a good idea?
I think its a good idea to sell to your competitor.
(I know that a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this.... that's OK. 
Comments on a separate page is a PITA.
**....especially as extra pages add extra pagerank... ** Extra pages have nothing to do with adding pagerank. In fact the more pages you have the less pagerank any single page on your site has.
Here is how I operate...
All of the content that I produce is posted on my own site. I never syndicate articles, never use press releases, never do guest blog posts. I believe that those activities feed existing competitors and create new competitors.
I mentioned reddit, slashdot, digg and stumble because only a snippet about my content is posted there. Anybody who wants to see it comes to my own site.
Rewording one of your questions.....
Q: What would I do when an article on my own site does not rank as high as I hope it will immediately after publishing it.
A: I immediately start writing a new article on another subject. In other words I do nothing... or I wait.... and when I check back a few months later that article is usually higher in the SERPs... a year or so later it is often ranking really well.
If you can create best-on-the-web content it can succeed without SEO.
These are not articles that you write in an hour, or a morning or even a day. I might spend a week or more with help from a graphics person making illustrations and taking photos, and with some help from a researcher.
Q: What if, the articles are not high quality and you just want some backlinks...
A: I don't want low quality articles, even as press releases. They would be more valuable to me representing my competitor.
Don't waste it on a subdomain.. if www.abc.com has good authority then place it on www.abc.com/service1
If you have that amazing content just toss it out to sites like reddit, slashdot, digg, stumbleupon. If its amazing that should be like throwing gasoline on a fire and result in some likes, links, tweets, etc. Amazing content does that.
I have a couple of friends who started on blogspot and when their blogs became successful moved them to a new domain. I think that they did the right thing because they will be running those blogs for years into the future.
They moved all of their content but made very obvious annoucement on every page of the old blog about the move and made links to help visitors get there easily.
I'm in disagreement with my partner over....
I love this type of question.
My homepage is huge... huge... something like the LATimes. EVERYONE tells me that it is waaaaaaaay too freeking big. What am I thinking?
My homepage wasn't always that way. It used to fit all above the fold and have a few links. However, as I added more content and more options, visitor engagement went up. Bounce rate went down, pageviews went up, time on site went up, income went up.
Making my homepage huge was one of the best things that I have ever done.
But I am not going to say that it will work the same way for you.
I will say that both you and your partner should shaddup and listen to your visitors. Put out a small homepage and see what visitors do... make it a little bigger and see what visitors do... bigger still and see what happens.
Test different approaches and base your decision upon visitor data. Use Google Analytics and Crazy Egg.
I am a 60-year-old white guy who has lived rural all of his life and spent most of his life working in institutions. It would be pretty darn arrogant of me to say that I know what a diversity of visitors from all parts of the world are looking for when they visit my website.
I've found that experimenting and watching the actions of my visitors is the most valuable way to improve a website..... because my intuition is usually waaaay wrong.
A What?
Ask your developers... Maybe you need new developers?
lol.... Thank you Keri and Ryan
I agree. I would spend that time on content. "Landing page with limited content" got my attention right away.
Also.... bookmark the hell out of those blog posts... that's how you put a really bad odor on your site.
Ryan has given a great answer. I have left hosting services because of speed issues. They had way to many sites on the server.
Then I found a really good host and never had a speed issue running lots of sites on several of their servers. My movement through their various plan levels and on to dedicated hosting was mainly the need for bandwidth. Speed was not an issue when I moved to dedicated but that gave me the ability to select processors and add memory which got my site really fast.
People who really know what they are doing create lots of landing pages of nearly identical content that are optimized for the EXACT keywords or advertising creatives that deliver traffic.
For example, if you are selling really big widgets you might target "Huge Widgets" and "Giant Widgets" in your Adwords campaign. To keep the searchers mind in gear you can have separate landing pages for each of those search terms. These unique landing pages usually have higher conversion rates and higher Adwords quality scores. The financial difference can be enormous.
Some sites have hundreds of landing pages for a single product - each identically matched for specific search queries. These pages are often generated by using a program to place each of the keywords in the cookie-cutter template.
Although these pages will be on your domain they are not part of your indexed website and may be blocked from accidental indexing by robots.txt.
I don't remember ever seeing one of those sites above mine in the search engines... so this was simply like Google tossing a shovel of manure out the back of the barn.
PR is indexed based upon the total number of links on the web - something like the inflation index of money in reverse.
So, if your site gains links at a slower rate than the web in general your PR will go down... this can also happen if you lost links or the people who link to you have lost links.
I don't know of any studies but a great way to learn is to make a LOT of adwords ads for the same product that will be displayed for a specific keyword.
You can do this to determine the CTR of various ad wordings but more important you can measure the impact of the ad on the conversion rate of your visitors.
CTR might not be a good metric because my title tag can be powerful hype that elicits clicks but does not convert. Certain types of people are sucked in by hype and the buyer population might detect the odor.
Sometimes CNN and other news sites have widgets that link out to relevant sites or sites that have linked to one of their stories. Often the text within these widgets is not crawled by search engines - making it very hard to locate.
Also, you might have been mentioned with a link in the comments under a story.
You know that cnn.com is the domain sending the traffic... does your analytics have a way to detect the full URL? If you have daily log files you could run one through a log analysis program such as WebLogExpert looking for all cnn.com referral pages.
It sounds like you are talkin' more about taxes than about your products.
I don't think you are going to get good advice with such skimpy information about the links and the prices.
I think that I would just avoid the paid links and spend that money on content or beer.
whispering
I think that this is an academic question... and academic questions usually do not produce revenue. Just an opinion. I would work on content instead.
Without maybe using numbers after i.e Bride & Groom at The Alter, Bride & Groom At The Alter 2.
These people have names, were married on a specific date, the photo is at a specific venue, taken with a certain type of camera, could be that filters were used, who was photographer.
This photographer should know these two important facts....
- every picture tells a story
- every picture is worth a thousand words
If photographer wants to be lazy and not put text on the page then don't expect the benefit. There is a lot of search for people by name, lots of search for venues, lots of search for different types of stories.
Most people dont want to read the text especially when looking at a large number of images they just want to browse the images.
This is an assumption. I think that it is wrong. I bet lots of people would read lots of the words on these pages. Mothers, friends, and others are interested in these people.
Content is very limited on a gallery / images.
I would find a way to get more content. People want to know what they are looking at. The photographer can communicate type of camera, filters, image processing, etc.
there isn't a way of funneling the "link juice" from the blog to more appropiate pages of the site?
Add a ton of links to every blog page hitting other pages on the site that are outside of the blog. And, limit the number of links on all pages of the site that hit pages within the blog.
However, if this was my site I would not try to strangle the pagerank out of the blog. The blog is working so I would be feeding it and figuring out how to get traffic onto other pages of the site. This is a design problem where you need interesting thumbnails and descriptions that click to the main site.
Capitalize on the blog. I would put more effort into it if this was my site.
However I find that the blog ranks higher than the actual website and I dont want that to occur the website is the one that generates the bookings.
Google is being good to the blog.... you should be rejoicing! Yay!
I would get to work improving the other parts of the site if you want them to rank better. Improve content, sharpen optimization, get more links.
If you have a following of very interested people on twitter and facebook, you are distributing your content. If you content is great they might pass it on. However, if it is best-on-the-web the chance is much higher. Some sites have high enough content that FB and TW announcements are enough to generate links and propel their rankings with zero time spent on link hunting.
Perhaps instead of doing a daily post, work on your content for an entire week and publish something phenomenal. Look at the SEOMoz blog posts how they have many images, data, references, quotations and much more. They are not trivial content. They are kickass documents.
On a site like this I would have several pages about "brass widgets". Maybe news, history, sales, styles, manufacturing.... Each of those pages would have a "brass widgets" menu that links to all other brass widgets pages.