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In my experience, the best return you get is when you send your press release to individual editors/influencers. I have used PR Web, but have not found nearly as much value as actually contacting individual editors. Time consuming? Yes. But we've gotten some great press/links back.

I agree with Loren. We need more information, as I've never heard of a product page dropping quickly out of the rankings because of an "out of stock" message.

Perhaps the issue is more on the logistical side. Is there a way to make sure the product stays in stock? Or perhaps a preorder/backorder option in case a searcher wants to order the item anyway?

I agree that there is probably next to no SEO value for using the **tag here. What I do like is that it works from a usability standpoint. To me it is natural for that line to be bolded because it is the name of the product. It makes the name stand out a bit and makes it easier for the user to know what they are looking at. For that, +1. **

I agree with Bryce that it probably doesn't affect Google's perception of the page at all.

However, from a user standpoint an "outdated" copyright could work against you. I see it as a sort of trust signal. I was on a page earlier that said "Copyright 2001" and I just couldn't get over it. If they can't bother to update the date on their site, why would they bother with having me as a customer?

Just something to think about. Great question.

I usually don't use shortcuts when I research Mommy Blogs. The quality ones get a ton of requests for reviews and giveaways. You have to find a way to stick out from the bunch. I usually read a handful of posts and the "About Me" page before sending an email. That way I can personalize it, and possibly even find a good pitch (ie - if they do a product of the week, etc). Most good Mommy Blogs have a page devoted to PR or you can just use their contact form.

I haven't used them so I can't vouch personally, but http://momsparkmedia.com/ might be a good option for you. Looks like they act as a liaison between bloggers and companies.

I hope that helps!

You might find some useful information from Google Analytics. If your client already has a Facebook fan page there is some useful information in the Insights.

If they have an ecommerce site, they could add questions to the checkout process in order to learn more about who is ordering (just be careful not to interfere with the user experience.

I haven't personally used it, but Quantcast might be another option.

Hi Paul,

It is important to note that I am talking about getting the links that link to your competitors' sites - not links from the competitors' sites themselves (though if you can get those by all means). These sites are already linking to a site with a similar topic to yours so the thought is they may be easier to get.

For instance, if you sell a product and find a blog has reviewed a competitors' product, write to them and see if they would be interested in trying out your product. Chances are, they will be willing to give it a try. If not, no biggie - move on to the next.

You may also find relevant (quality) directories and publications this way.

Bonus: You may learn something you didn't know about your competitors.

Does that make sense?

Jake's approach is right on. Key is building that relationship and reaching out in a personalized way.

Some people on the SEOMoz forum disagree with this tactic, but I also check who is linking to my competitors for the keywords I want to target. You can use OSE for this. It's a great way to find relevant linking opportunities. Some would argue that getting the same links as your competitors is fruitless. I agree if that is all you are doing. Combine it with Jake's strategy and you will be on the right path.

Greg - That actually is a great suggestion. We've used FB questions in the past for feedback on flavors and recipes. It is my fall back solution if I cannot find an apps that

a) Allows photos

b) Allows a link to individual "recipe" pages

Unfortunately, for now FB questions doesn't offer this sort of functionality. Thanks for the suggestion though!

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a "voting" app on Facebook. We have some user-generated recipes that we want to post and allow our fans to vote for their favorite.

Similar to this: http://www.facebook.com/New7WondersofNature#!/New7WondersofNature?sk=app_114026852036251

I've contacted Woobox but they only allow users to choose between 2 options and we would need 5.

Any thoughts?Thanks!

Thanks, Benjamin. That's a great way of looking at it. All of the images I looked at did have "golden retriever" in the beginning of the file name.

Plus bonus points because I got to look at puppies.

You've gotten some great responses here. I just wanted to add my gut reaction to your question.

If a keyword ranks #1 but no one is around to click on it does it really matter?

My advice would be to take a look at the keywords again and determine if they are the most valuable words you should be ranking for.

Sometimes the best targeted words don't bring the traffic and the best trafficked words don't bring the qualified visits.

Thanks for everyone's responses! I believe I have solved the mystery.

I went into my analytics and found that traffic had been sent from cnn.com, edition.cnn.com and weather.cnn.com. EGOL had mentioned the widgets that news sites will often use to link to relevant stories. Turns out I found a widget on the weather page that is administered by outside.in - a service that localizes content. I added our blog's feed to outside.in months ago and completely forgot about it. So, I'm assuming, someone who was searching weather or news in the Portland area perhaps would see our most recent post on Portland food carts.

I'm assuming these widgets don't pass any link juice, but I'm so glad to have the traffic and exposure. I suggest anyone who ever writes localized content should sign up for outside.in - your post might just show up on cnn.com.  

I agree with Syed. If I'm understanding the situation correctly, you are worried about a single page linking to a different page multiple times. This should not be a problem at all. Google will not penalize.

I have a feeling you would do well with Mommy bloggers. Offer a giveaway to their readers or send them product for review. It's an excellent way to get exposure and links back.

Not sure where to start? I suggest finding those sites that rank well for the keywords you want and see who links to them. You may find a lot of great opportunities there.

If it is a small local business I'd definitely invest a few of those hours in getting local profiles set up. Taking the time to do consistent, quality listings can prove invaluable for a local business. Here is a great list of local business directories:

http://websuccessdiva.com/blog/local-business-directories/

Other than that I agree with Ryan that project mapping is very important. But that is assuming you will eventually have more than 8 hours to work on the project.

Not an unintellegent question at all. You are right that you can't message a fan page (as far as I know!) and that someone must follow you in order to DM on Twitter. However, don't be shy about reaching out. Post on the fan wall or @username message the site owner on Twitter. You don't have to spell out that you are looking for a link, just say something like "@username Hey, Have a question about your site - can you DM me?"

I'd think most webmasters wouldn't mind this sort of communication. Social media is all about communication, afterall.

Hope that helps and good luck with the link.

Usually about 6 weeks. The last update was at the beginning of June and the next one is scheduled for next Monday.

I think "success" in social media is determined by different variables for different companies. I work for a food manufacturing company and for us the most important variable is credibility. We implemented FB last July and now have over 18000 fans. Have our consumer sales gone up tremendously? No, but now we can show big stores that we pitch to that our product is so popular we have over 18000 fans. It's all about perception. It even got us on Groupon's radar, who had intitially turned us down for a national campaign because we were "too small". Our company is the same size now, we just have the ability to show off our 18000 fans.

Point is, you may want to step back and consider variables other than sales. Some would argue that using social media to leverage brand awareness and credibility may pay off more in the long run than an X% sales increase.

Another good indication is whether or not they link to your competitor. I mostly find directories from looking at competitors' back link profiles. Most of them are industry specific and, assuming they are still maintained, worth the couple of minutes it takes to submit.