Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Keri,

We are in the process of building a mobile version of the website along side of building a whole new site.

Thanks for the response.

The website has a lot of SEO issues.  I just took the contract on two weeks ago and we are in the process of rebuilding the website.

For sure we don't want to loose any of the inbound links pointing to the home page or other pages for that fact.

I agree with you as far as taking advantage of the home page and placing content on it. I will be trying to convince them to do so.

The challenge will be in changing the url's for each page without disturbing the inbound links currently pointing to url's like this one. (This is a current live url)

http://bobbyvans.com/Bobby_Vans_Steakhouse/46th_%26_Park_Avenue.html

The site currently has serious canonical and duplicate page issues.

Thanks for the answer.  I have the same mind set as you. I'm under the impression that you can rank deep pages higher than your home page.  This is a somewhat unique situation as we are trying to rank 10 locations under one sub domain.  It's not your typical one location SEO project.

With this all said I'm going to try and talk my client into adding some content on the home page.

Just a side note.  This restaurant chain has locations outside of New York City so it wouldn't be practical to have the home page Rank for "new york steak house".  Besides New York City they have locations in DC, Long Island and JFK.  Isn't the proper SEO strategy to rank the individual pages/locations?  If I'm correct in my assumption then why is the Home Page that important?

Donnie,

I agree it won't hurt.  The home page is one of many pages.  Can't you focus SEO efforts on the other pages?  Won't search engines spider and index the other pages within the website.

I realize no content on a page is bad for SEO, do search engines give more importance to home pages than other pages in a site?  Can you not focus your SEO efforts on other pages?  Why does it have to be the home page?

After all, at the end of the day is it not pages that rank?

The Home Page is just one on many pages on a website.  Can I not focus my SEO efforts on the other pages and get them to rank for chosen keywords?

This restaurant is a chain.  The plan is to setup a separate Google Places page for each individual location/page and market the locations individually.

In other words the goal is to rank individual pages within the site.  If someone does a search query for "best new york steak house" or "steak houses in new york city" why can't one or several of the interior pages rank for that term?  Does it have to be the home page? The Home Page is just one page within the site. Isn't it true that pages rank not websites per say?  Is the Home Page more important than any other page?

I guess my real question is does Google give more importance to the home page than other pages on a site?

Thanks
Gary Downey

If a home page has no content will it hurt the sites ability to rank?  The interior pages will have content but not the home page. (See attached image)

My client does not want content on the home page as he feels it will take away from the look and feel he wants to achieve.

This website is actually 10 sites or locations in one as we intend to market each location (a total of 10) separately.

In reality the home page is a doorway page to each separate location.

I'd like feedback if possible as to the necessity or not, of content on the Home Page of this or any website. Will the lack of content hurt on the Homer Page hurt with SEO?

Thanks
Gary Downey

bobby-vans.jpg

As an agency that manages multiple accounts should I have all my Google Place accounts under one account or should I create a separate account for each client with a unique username and password for every client?

Thanks,
Gary Downey

Thanks a million Miriam.  Great articles.

I now have a handle on it.

All The Best,

Gary

How does a website get listed in the satellite version of Google Maps?  I have clients that are ranking number 1 in the pack 7 with Google Places and local SEO but they don't show up on the big map.  Click on this link to see what I mean

http://connect7.biz/google-maps.jpg

I have circled the listings in red.  How are these businesses getting listed in the satellite version of Google Maps?

Thanks
Gary

I don't pay for this I use the free version, have you tried http://www.semrush.com/

Thanks Keri.  Makes sense.

I need help with my link building efforts so I have started to search around for companies and/or freelance contractors to hire.  I always ask for examples of sites they are working on.  In many cases the number of inbound links are high (9306) compared to the number of root domains that are linked to (143).  Or as in this sample (120792) inbound links compared to (157) linking domains http://www.shortsalesafe.com.  How can this be?  To me the only logical answer is "link farms" or some other form of black hat magic. Am I right in my assumption, or is there another logical answer for so many links with so few linking domains.?

Thanks

Gary

Currently I track all my clients sites under one Google Analytics account. Is this a good practice or should I setup a separate account for each client?  My concern is that if I every had a problem with one website could it effect all websites under the same account?  An example would be that one of my clients decides to start linking to some spamy websites that are sandboxed by Google.  Could this hurt my other accounts? Can one rotten apple spoil the whole bunch under the same account?

Thanks All!
Gary Downey

Wow Robert! I owe you a Pint for sure for all that information. I'm speechless but very thankful. SEO is one of those fields that the more you learn the less you know you know.  I am aware of many of the things you recommend but I guess my thought process was it didn't matter or wasn't important for Local SEO and Google places.  I can't thank you enough, this is by far the best answer to a question I've ever received on this forum.  I'm serious when I say if you are ever in New York City look me up and I'll buy you a good pint of Guinness.  Thanks again!

Thanks Robert, Great Stuff

Thanks Alan. Apparently my client was given this information by a Google Ad Words sales rep. I'm with you on this one.  I'm going to advise him not to change his url name.

Thanks

I'm with you Robert.  My client was told this by a Google Ad Words sales rep. I had never heard this before.  Thank you for your input.

I have a new client who has the letters "BB" at the start of his url name, bbzautorepair.com.  He was told by someone at Google Adwords that the letters "BB" in his url name could hurt him with Google rankings.  Reason being that Google red flags anything or website to do with firearms, guns and ammunition.  He was told that the letters "BB" could be mistaken or red flagged for "BB Gun".

Seems a bit far fetched.

Has anyone every heard of such a thing?

Thanks
Gary Downey

Fransisco,

I actually sat in on that live webinar and it was very informative.  I had already implemented many of the things Rand spoke about in that webinar.  My problem is this competitor has practically done nothing to his site and he out ranks me. I'm absolutely baffled how this happens, how a site with such low scores for on page and off page factors out ranks my clients site which out scores him in just about every department, I mean he kicks his ass yet he is getting out ranked.

The only thing I can say to myself is welcome to the world of SEO!

I have just lost the top stop on Google Places (Pack 7) for one of my clients.  The company that took it came out of nowhere to take the top stop. Now I don't mind getting out ranked when someone has worked hard to out rank me but what is frustrating is this site scores terrible across the board on just about every score that is supposed to determine on and off page ranking factors.  The only place it outscores is in the link department but the site is so new there is no data available in OSE.  The site has 0's and 1's for PA, MR and MT plus the keyword (kitchen remodeling) that it is taking the top spot for scores and F in the SEOMoz on page report card while the page that I optimized for this very same keyword scores an A.  Plus this site has zero citations according to Bright Local Data.

What Gives?

Here is a little bit of data:

Keyword: Kitchen Remodeling

My Clients website is http://www.tandmkitchens.com

Competitors website: http://www.njkitchendesigns.com

I'm kicking his butt in every category except Domain Age and inbound link total, his inbound link total is 409 but it's only from 2 domains.
Any thoughts on how this is possible would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all and Merry Christmas!
Gary

Alan, I was only talking about the on page report. Good oversight on your part.

Thanks again

Great Stuff Alan.  Thank you so much for the input. I owe you a pint!

My thoughts exactly Alan "Weird"

I'll try the 301 redirect to www.

Thanks for the help!

Why is it that when I run an "On Page Optimization Keyword Report" for my website I get a different score when using http://www.tandmkitchens.com vs http://tandmkitchens.com.

My keyword is "Kitchen Remodeling"

http://www.tandmkitchens.com scores an A

http://tandmkitchens.com scores a B

It's the same page yet one url scores higher than the other.

Any help!

Thanks
Gary

Hey Allan, is paying ($299) to be listed in the Yahoo Business Directory considered a paid link by Google?

Crystal,

Here is a couple of good videos from SEOmoz on Domain Authority, Page Authority and Page Rank.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/whiteboard-friday-domain-trust-authority

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/whiteboard-friday-whats-pagerank-got-to-do-with-it

Hope they help!

That works!

Thanks Justin!

I want to check content (Keyword Density and such) for a page before I load it to the server.  The Term Extractor Tool is great for pages already loaded on the site but what if I want to scan content before I upload it?  Is there a tool out there where I can cut and paste content from a program like word and have it scanned for keyword relevancy prior to uploading it?

Thanks
Gary

Thanks Dan!

I'm with you Bjorn everything you say and some but business directories are part of the mix and I'm looking for the most efficient and productive method.

Can anyone recommend the best or a better alternative to submitting a clients site to multiple directories than Universal Business Listing?  Is UBL the best or is there something better and/or less expensive out there?

https://ubl.org

Thanks

Hey Joshua, Do you recommend Submiteaze over a program like Universal Business Listing for submitting sites to directories? https://www.ubl.org/index.aspx

Thanks

Great stuff! Thanks a million.

Gary

Thanks Alan. To me the problem with local search is it only covers a 20 mile radius at best with Google Places.  I have one client who does kitchen remodeling.  I can get him to show up in the #1 position in his own town and a few surrounding towns but outside of that I have to move to PPC.  An example would be: if someone searches on the keyword "Kitchen Remodeling" 10 miles away his company does not show up.  The only to fix is PPC.

Thanks again for the feedback.

At the minute 12 out of my 16 clients are Local SEO clients.  I'm new to SEO Moz and still only at the low level subscription which gives me 5 campaigns.  It seems to me (and I may be wrong) that SEO Moz is more suited for my clients that want to rank nationally.  SEO Moz seems like it might be a little overkill for using up a campaign for local seo.  I'm going to stay with SEO Moz as it is great for the few clients I have that want to rank nationally.  So my question is does anyone know of a similar company to SEO Moz that focuses soley on local seo?

Does anyone have experience with Bright Local?  How about shedding some light on what reporting software is good for LOCAL SEO?

http://www.brightlocal.com/seo-tools/

Thanks
Gary

I actually run two businesses from my home and both have the same address in Google Places.  But they are completely different businesses in completely different industries with different phone numbers.  I've been running one business for 4 years and the other for two years and I do pretty well ranking locally with both businesses.  You also have the option not to show the complete address.  So my answer based on my success is yes!

I have a domain name that is in use and has a domain age of 4 years.  My question is this, will taking that domain name and promoting it under a completely new business in a completely different industry with a totally different business model hurt getting this new business to rank?

The domain name is my first and last name.  I've been promoting videos that I like under this domain name.  I would now like to use the domain name to promote my local SEO services.  Will this hurt my efforts to rank with search engines since Google and others have been indexing the site for a certain industry and topic?

Thanks
Gary