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I need to pay for some directories, but I don't know if BOTW, Business.com, Joe Ant and others are still worth it. Anybody know if this is still viable?
http://www.seomoz.org/directories
All Mozzers, can you please give me a 'thumbs up' so I can get more MozPoints? 
To optimze a webpage for my number one converting keyword in Google Adwords instead of purely going off Google Keyword Tool.
Here is the answer to all your problems! ENJOY!
You need to go to Mozcon. http://www.seomoz.org/mozcon
If you can't afford it, buy Mozcon 2011 videos http://www.seomoz.org/videos
If you are new to SEO, which sounds like you are, read this. http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
Sorry man, detailed insight is something you should pay a consultant for. That can take a few hours.
I like Akhil's response. But I need to hammer down a little more.
Page A and Page B are nearly the same thing? Merge one with the other.
Example:
Page A (Shipping Car)
Page B (Transporting Car)
Redirect page B to Page A. Include the word Transporting Car in the content. Build links to Page A with anchor text Transporting Car.
You need to watch the White Board Fridays and read this. http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
Here's your answer from an GA Ninja. Yes I took Avinash's course!
Advanced Segments > Custom Segments > New Custom Segment > Name: # of Orders Completed (or whatever you want) > Include > # of Orders Completed (Goal X Completed) > Greater than Zero. Save the segment.
The bold is going to depend on what you call this. I label mine # of Orders Completed because that's exactly what I want to know. I don't want to know about stupid percentages and I don't want to bust out the calculator every time.
Traffic Sources > Sources > All Traffic. Don't forget to have your advanced segment checked off. All the "visits" are the # of Orders Completed.
Wahla!
Mark this as good answer.
I think a new list of the top 10 or 20 would suffice for the time being while the rest are being deteremined viable or not.
I think he may have been confused. I have never heard of that. The img alt"" attribute works for SEO, but I have never heard that you needed it to <h ref="">to something in order for it to work. </h>
Don't do that. You're just creating loops.
If this senior SEO is your boss, then just link it to the regular image as it's done in WordPress. It won't hurt anything.
Go to Google Analytics > Content > Site Content > Landing Pages. Filter for your URL (/botox-for-migraines-6-things-you-need-to-know/). Click the URL. Under "Primary Dimension" click "Keyword". There you will be able to see the KWs that are generating traffic to your specific landing page.
Under "Secondary Dimension" select "Medium". You will then be able to tell if it's organic, direct, referral, CPC.
Nikos, I answered a couple of your other questions. I think you may be heading down the wrong path by trying to get links from low quality sites. It sounds like you are trying to get any link possible. I would recommend writing a blog and putting a lot of effort into writing AWESOME content. Here's why, you need to get people like James and I to link to you. One link from me would be equivalent to 500+ crappy links. There are many ways to get "FREE" quality links. Ever thought of donating your time for free and placing a link on someone's website.
DoFollow forums can work. It has worked for me, but they were relative forums in my industry. You are looking for any type of forum. Google this: your industry inurl:forum
Replace "your industry" with whatever you want. This will help build a crap link for you, but it may bring traffic too.
Tom, I use it in the SERPS to prove credibility. https://www.google.com/search?q=ship+overseas&pws=0
You can see that I wrote about my A+ rating right in the description. My competitors are too cheap to get it and don't see the value. Go to the website and you'll see it on nearly everypage. I use BBB for credibility. Once in a while I actually see that I make a sales from someone who came via BBB so it paid itself off.
It's not just a link; it's credibility.
Check to see if it's using an iFrame. If so, then it's not contributing to SEO. It's not hurting your SEO effort, but it's not giving a boost.
I use Facebook comments. Every time someone comments, the URL gets a share. How else would I get over 100+ Likes for my contact page? http://www.shipoverseas.com/us/contact-us.html
Whether you use Disqus or Facebook Comments, whether it gives you an SEO boost or not, just do it for more more interaction with your audience.
<bs>I have helped many people (probably 100s) here in the forums. My fingers are swollen and I can't answer questions right now. I want my SEOmoz t-Shirt for becoming an Authority, but I'm a few points shy. Any help would be appreciated.</bs>
Watch people give me a thumbs down. LOL
I'm in San Diego. I live in Cardiff by the Sea. I'm about 10 - 15 minutes away. Contact me. You can find my number on my site.
Make sure you watch the part where Rand talks about over optimizing your title tag. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/6-changes-every-seo-should-make-before-the-over-optimization-penalty-hits-whiteboard-friday
Here is my rule and I think EVERYONE should remember it. 1st word in the title is the most important. 2nd word is the 2nd most important. The last word in the title tag is the least important. Anything above 65 character is wasting time. Make your title tag enticing enough that people want to click it. Put your keyword and a call to action.
Rogerbot doesn't crawl as fast as Googlebot. It takes about 3 weeks for Moz to update Mozscape. You cannot get that information faster because by the time MOZ crawls the webs AND processes the data, it takes a couple weeks.
Yes a page with PA 33 is more powerful than one with PA 1.
Here you go my friend! FB Comments. I put Facebook comments right on my Contact Us page 2 days ago and got several responses. http://www.shipoverseas.com/us/contact-us.html
Will NOT post to my business page though. You will get notified if you create an APP and become an administrator. You'll get a Moderator View on your website AND in the APP. But read the link I posted above and mark this question as answered.
The only time I think a ccTLD is worth it is if it's for marketing to a specific country. I don't think I have ever seen a .co. I have seen many .co.uk though. What country are you in and what countries are you marketing to?
Make your homepage the subject of your whole site.
Look at my site (I always use it as an example). Home page is about shipping. Categories are about types of shipping. The landing pages are for shipping to specific countries.
If I were marketing your site, I would stick to "Luxury Real Estate in Dallas" and possibly make category pages for different cities.
I think this may help you. It was a popular blog post from a few weeks ago.
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/unnatural-link-warnings-blog-networks-advice
As far as I know it does NOT affect SEO. It does increase the likelyhood of someone linking to you though. "IF" you want to know if this is worth it, look at your Google Analytics and see if people are converting on your website. Measure your FB and Twitter visits and assign a value to it.
My point here is not to focus on "will Likes and Tweets increase rankings". My point is "Do those Likes and Tweets turn into conversions".
Here is a secret of mine. Social Media does land me business, but not as much as Google Adwords. Adwords KILLS social media in my clients' industries. My clients only care about more money in the bank, not about FB Likes and Tweets.
LEARN how to use GA.
One $400 link from BBB will be better than all those put together! Spend some money on BBB, your local chamber of commerce, and Yahoo Directory. "REAL" businesses have those (well maybe not Yahoo Directory).
When I built 30 landing pages, my 1st goal was to get them indexed. Since I wanted to show my client that I was working hard, I built more quantity than quality. Once I finished building the landing pages that had average content, I went back and rewrote all 30 landing pages. I have more images, way more relative content, and the readers still love it. I wrote every landing page for the user, not necessarily for Google. I was more interested in conversions than ranking higher. When my rankings went higher, my conversions had already increased.
Write for conversions.
I think it helps. I link to my BBB page to show credibility to both Google and my users. I also link to government websites. Everything is followed.
The only links I would <nofollow>would be sites I don't particularly trust, like a new site. </nofollow>
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Advanced AuthorRank: 25 Tactics for the Individual to the Enterprise Level
Don't do it. Listen to Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team
I heard Matt Cutts talk about this in GWT youtube. He says that punctuation are looked at as spaces, with exception to the _.(underscore). So in this case, I think Google will try to match it close. For instance, I rank for the word Ship Car Overseas. I didn't optimize for the word Ship Auto Overseas, but I still rank for it. I also didn't optimize for the word Ship Vehicle Overseas, but I still rank for that too. My point is that mens and men's is closely related and that you will probably be fine either way.
Make your titles enticing. Don't keyword stuff. It's not readable anyway. Do what's best for CONVERSIONS! What you are doing is getting lost in chasing Google Algorithm. Instead do what's best for your customer. Write kick ass content.
You have to subscribe to Matt Cutts who writes the algorithm for Google. Learn his thought process.
You need a consultant. Contact Ryan Kent. There are way too many factors why you lost traffic. Ryan specializes in this area. He's #2 on SEOMOZ http://www.seomoz.org/users
Tell him Francisco Meza says hi.
I use the home page as a representation of all the landing pages.
regarding your Exact Match vs Brand domain, Matt Cutts already announced that he was going to lower the weight of Exact Match domains. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for. I'm in it for the long term so I always opt to get a memorable domain (brandable).
This is the approach I use: brandname.com/abc123/
Don't do it. Instead watch Wil Reynolds MozCon presentation here. Do RCS!
I don't know what you mean by startpage. Do you mean home page?
I have many competitors that have exact match domains (EMD). I out rank them because I wrote better content for that particular keyword. Write great content and you will be rewarded by Google.
Hi Matthew,
if you haven't heard of the Penguin update, you HAVE to learn about it. It was an algorithm change on April 24 2012 that hit sites like squidoo. Many people have abuse article marketing (spinning) to try and get more rankings.
What I would recommend is to make some friends in your industry be using Followerwonk. Post on YOUR site and perhaps they can link to you. There are many blog posts on how to do this.
Also i recommend you read chapter 7 http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
Matt Cutts says those are symbols and that they are looked at as spaces.
Listen to the master Matt Cutts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMxC3wQZOyc
I recommend you read chapter 7 http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
Are those 21 micro sites selling the same things? I rank for many highly competitive keywords and to tell you the truth, I haven't built any links in 6 months! Create GREAT content and people will naturally link to you and give you Facebook likes.
What you should do is contact Ryan Kent. He's one of us mozzers. I recommend his services.
http://www.seomoz.org/users/profile/312503
I have sent him a client.
I think the most effective way is making a list of all your locations in Google Plus so that your locations come out in the local SERPs. Google Plus has now replaced Google Places for local search.
I don't think that putting the domain is going to hurt. Just make sure it's not spammy. Also, make sure you are submitting to quality directories.
csmith, you just got a great site review and FREE. Egol is right, you are competing with the savages. That's like trying to compete for the word "car insurance" or "real estate". I have a small site which ships cars overseas and I am launching a new campaign to compete in "container shipping". I am in the process of hiring our a couple link builders because I know that's a very competitive field, but not as competitive as yours.
EGOL, I'm going to watch that movie now. I can see the similarity of cannibals. Call it cut throat marketing!
WEBBY! Nice topic. Let me share something. My clients have great rankings too. Yes there is always room for improvement, but how much? Get a REAL Google Analytics report to uncover opportunity.
In addition, look at your incoming traffic. I told my clients that I have to stop being so dependent on Google because a change in their algorithm can cause a dip in traffic. I started changing focus from link building to relationship building. Some call it community building, some build their Fabebook/Twitter account. I help individuals and try getting them to grow so I can get my clients repeat business. That's the key on my end, repeat business.
Do not just copy the content. It is okay to copy the manufacture's specifications for the products. I have done this many times in the past and never had an issue. But if you are copying all the content, it will look like spam.
Hey Zeph! Hope your company is doing great.
@Ben, screaming frog is good for this. You will need to get the paid version of it. There is a video on the site http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/. Use filters to get to your real URLs.
James, I had to read your question twice. Your client has a subdomain like joe.company.com and you want to redirect to joesmith.company.com?
Don't waste your time. Build quality links and watch the rankings go up. If creating a subdomain had the effect of having an exact match boost from Google, all of us here on SEOmoz would have created spammy sites. SEOmoz will not rank for SEO Tools by creating a subdomain seotools.seomoz.org
What CMS are you using? This sounds like Magento. If so, go to your system > config and make your default site rel=canonical all the pages to the main product listing. Also drill down into all the stores and do the same thing (again if this is Magento).
Oh yeah! Even I would hit you with a penguin. You might not like my response, but you asked for it.
Keyword stuffing in the footer.
Sitewide links in your footer linking to external sites. Why aren't they on the same site? Why are you making microsites? SPAMMING?
What's that? OMG same C-Block?
http://www.creloadedpro.com/ IP 72.52.235.211
http://www.adultsextemplates.com/ IP 72.52.235.209
Sorry to be blunt, but you get my point. I found all that within 2 minutes.
Read this and bug Rand about it:
http://www.seomoz.org/q/is-this-directory-guide-by-seomoz-still-accurate