Thanks Gil!
We've made that change now. Hope it all works out. Throughly appreciate your help and advice!
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Thanks Gil!
We've made that change now. Hope it all works out. Throughly appreciate your help and advice!
Thanks Kristen!
That advice was helpful!
We have an issue in that when someone enters our new brand name "68 degrees creative" into google.com.au, the following results show:
http://postimg.org/image/8x2id4ta9/
The second result is the Linked In page for Hiroshi. This is a person that was part of our old business but is no longer part of the new business (68 degrees creative). And therefore, his LinkedIn profile should not be appearing for this search as he has nothing to do with the new brand.
In his LinkedIn profile, he has made no mention of our organisation 68 degrees creative. He also does not feature on our website: www.68degrees.com.au. We can therefore only conclude that the reason he is appearing for the search "68 degrees creative" is that Google has somehow connected him with the new organisation due to previous online ties and relationships which Google has determined by virtue of that associated him with the new organisation. We are ultimately unsure what their algorithm is in establishing this.
Is there any way in which we can change this? We don't want his LinkedIn profile appearing when our company name is searched when he has not part of the company.
Any help here would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
We have an issue with Google finding our website: (URL removed)
When we google "(keyword removed)" in google.com.au, our website doesn't come up anywhere. This is despite inserting the suitable title tag and onsite copy for SEO. We found this strange, and thought we'd investigate further.
We decided to just google the website URL in google.com.au, to see if it was being properly found. Our site appeared at the top but with this description: A description for this result is not available because of this site's robots.txt – learn more. We also can see that the incorrect title tag is appearing.
From this, we assumed that there must be an issue with the robot.txt file. We decided to put a new robot.txt file up: (URL removed)
This hasn't solved the problem though and we still have the same issue. If someone could get to the bottom of this for us, we would be most appreciative. We are thinking that there may possibly be another robot.txt file that we can't find that is causing issues, or something else we're not sure of!
We want to get to the bottom of it so that the site can be appropriately found. Any help here would be most appreciated!
We have noticed that our competitors have links with equality from sites like this: http://www.groupon.com.au/
Scoopon type sites like this can be an effective way to generate sales for a business, I'm just wondering if these types of sites also have added value for SEO as sites like these do have a strong Domain Authority?
Any thoughts on this subject would be most appreciated. Thanks!
We have a relevant external website that is linking to our site through an image.
What ideally should the alt text of this image be?
Should it just be non-commercial as generally advised with the anchor text of an external link? Or should it include where suitable relevant keywords?
Keen to know people's thoughts here! Thanks.
If managing a number of client's Instagram accounts, it seems using an app on a desktop might be more efficient than continually logging in and out of Instagram on a smartphone.
Can anyone suggest though suitable apps that actually enable this to be done effectively for multiple clients? Ideally managing all on the one platform without having to sign in and out would be ideal. Also a free app would obviously be preferred to paid, but open to both.
Does anyone know of a good tool to identify brand mentions that through outreach could possibly be converted to links?
Just wanted to clarify my understanding of this...
I'm of the understanding that if an external site has more than one link going to your site, then it is only the one link that passes value. If this is the case....
Which is the link that passes value (i.e the first link established or the link that, all factors being considered, is the most valuable for passing authority?)
If a second link established on an external website comes from and goes to a different webpage than the first (and is done for the purposes of targeting and boosting a different keyword category/theme), is this then a beneficial practice?
If multiple links on an external website all serve to generate solid referral traffic, will this boost rankings, and thereby be a sound practice?
Thanks in advance for your help in clarifying this for me!
We have a Google+ Local page, however, we are not appearing at all in Google Maps when searched for relevant keywords, such as Tax Accountant Dandenong (for google.com.au).
What can we do to make sure that our business appears on Google Maps when relevant keyword phrases are searched?
Does anyone know of a good article that lists all the things needed to get good Google local pack results?
That would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!
Thanks Ryan! Appreciate your insights here.
Another quick question is that if I have a blog and don't want any blog posts to appear as sitelinks is there a way to demote an entire blog (and all posts within) instead of blog posts demoted separately?
I have applied a sitelink demotion in webmaster tools, though this same sitelink is still appearing under my Google listing.
How long does it usually take to take effect? Or is there anything I can do about this?
Also, is there a way in which I can select or channel Google to show the sitelinks I want?
Looking to link to a website from other relevant websites. However, these websites are all hosted on the same server.
We know that Google looks for diversity when it comes to varying websites in determining link value and authority, however, what about the case of diversity in the case of websites on different servers? Does this even matter?
Any insight here would be most appreciated!
A photography company I am helping to SEO is listed on google maps:
https://www.google.com/search?q=izo+photography&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
But it doesn’t appear on the generic wedding photography search....
https://www.google.com/maps/search/wedding+photography/@-31.7867741,115.7027624,12z
Can someone explain to me how Google works in this regard? What does it take to feature on the map when one is broadly looking at the locality of Perth.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Just wanting to understand the importance of clean URLs in regards to SEO effectiveness.
Currently, we have URLs for a site that reads as follows: http://www.interhampers.com.au/c/90/Corporate Gift Hampers
Should we look into modifying this so that the URL does not have % or figures?
Moosa, the post you have written is a good one, out of curiosity though, what are your thoughts on the positioning of the link in the body of a webpage? It has been said that a link at the top of the body content vs. down the bottom is more favourable? Is that something you agree with?
Samafaq, I'm a great believer that the best way to get links is through great content that is well marketed and publicised. This is not easy to achieve, but if it can be mastered and done effectively, it is usually what will produce natural links that best indicate to Google an authoritative site. See this article for more info: http://www.lunametrics.com/website-traffic/seo/link-bait/#sr=g&m=o&cp=or&ct=-tmc&st=(opu qspwjefe)&ts=1413991327
Thanks Travis.
You're ace!
Thank Travis. You're a star. Best Moz Q&A Moz response ever! I'll look to implement a site restore from a clean backup and then take it from there.
I'm currently doing some work on a website: http://www.abetterdriveway.com.au.
Upon starting, I detected a lot of spammy links going to this website and sort to remove them before submitting a disavow report.
A few months later, this site completely disappeared in the rankings, with all keywords suddenly not ranked. I realised that the test website (which was put up to view before the new site went live) was still up on another URL and Google was suddenly ranking that site instead. Hence, I ensured that test site was completely removed. 3 weeks later however, the site (www.abetterdriveway.com.au) still remains unranked for its keywords.
Upon checking Web Master Tools, I cannot see anything that stands out. There is no manual action or crawling issues that I can detect.
Would anyone know the reason for this persistent disappearance? Is it something I will just have to wait out until ranking results come back, or is there something I am missing? Help here would be much appreciated.
Usually, we will have a set of keywords of which we check rankings for a designated website... however, is there a tool that is able to find all the keywords a website is currently ranking on the top page of Google for?
Thanks for everyone's responses! Matt-Antonino, I'll look to implement that solution. Appreciate it!
Looking for a tool that allows me to scrape the websites off a page listing of Google and output a spreadsheet with the websites and their related meta-tag details (mainly title tag). Is there a tool out there that can conveniently allow me to do this?
In response to your questions....
Onsite SEO I think initially takes priority and should be the first thing you focus on.
You can get on google without any backlinks or with only a few backlinks. However, this depends on (a) What keywords you're targeting, if they are not competitive, this can be achieved (b) the quality of your backlinks if you just have a few. If they are of exceptional quality, you can be right at the top, though once again depending on the competitiveness of the keyword you're targeting.
All the best!
Thanks Prestashop and Jennita. That's crystal clear now!
Much appreciated.
Good response by James.
To add to the conversation I would also advise that you be clear about why you are wanting to get a link in a directory: is it to get traffic through those directories that will best result in an enquiry for your business? or for SEO benefits? (Though these two questions are obviously not mutually exclusive).
If it is to get traffic that will potentially lead to an enquiry, seek to find the popular directories either in (1) your industry (2) your locality. Being in nail art your industry may be something along the lines of beauty services.
I would proceed to go to what I think is the best link finding tool which is Google itself. To find good directories, you could possibly type in "beauty services directory + [your country]" and see what you get. This would result in niche directories that I think would best allow to achieve your purposes. Not all of them will be free, so you will have to sort the free from the paid. You will also have to enter in different search terms potentially to yield more directories of which you have an opportunity to submit a link.
If your main goal is to get better rankings by directory submissions, you want to also ensure that the directory has good metrics (i.e. Domain authority). Implementing the Moz Bar will help with that. You also want to make sure that the directory doesn't look dodgy and established for the sole purpose of just building links.
All the best!
Does anyone know how to check if a link is a do-follow or no-follow using the Moz bar?
I believe there's a function that highlights and color codes the link so as to tell? Can't seem to turn this function on in my Moz Bar settings. Am I missing something completely obvious?
Just changed a Google+ Local address, however realise that its not changing.
Does it usually take time for a Google+ address to change once submitted? Would like to know the process here so that this address can change so as to ensure NAP consistency.
What is the best tool or way to clean up old citations? I've been using the BrightLocal tool but am finding limitations in identifying inconsistent citations.
Any help on this topic would be appreciated.
Thanks Sam and Matt,
Great responses and I'll now get going on disavowing the project I'm working on.
Much appreciated.
If you are working on a website which has a history spammy links, but no manual penalty by Google... is it still worthwhile to still go through the link removal and disavow process?
Thoughts appreciated.
Thanks for your help Phil and Egol!
Much appreciated. Will look to try both those social share bars and see how they fair.
I'm looking to get hold of a really good social media share bar for a Wordpress website so that blog posts can be easily liked and shared. Any plugins to achieve this would be appreciated.
Ideally, something like the floating social share bar that Social Media Examiner has would be great: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-roi-tips/#more-56153
I'm currently working on a website that has had a load of spammy links built in the past.
From what I can see, it would be most efficient and effective to disavow everything that's there as all work performed previously is low quality, except for some local directory submissions.
These local directory submissions are likely "no follow" and therefore, I'm wondering is it OK to disavow everything including these local directory submissions, seeing they are no follow anyway?
We're currently looking to do some reporting for Social Media.
Anyone know the best place (possibly that's free) that can easily provide the following basic metrics for a social media campaign over a previous month period?
Whether it covers these and/or other social media metrics, any good reporting tools out there that you know work really well would be appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks everyone who has contributed to answering this question of mine.
Samuel, great article and something that definitely makes us think what we are doing to better improve our PR for sites.
Thanks Jane for your comments and making clear the possibilities as too recommendations of routes to go down!
Am currently struggling with the link prospecting process for guest blogging.
Right now, I've been using link prospector or just plain old Google to do link prospecting, However, this can be a really tedious process and finding the right opportunities to pursue for outreach seems to be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Is there anyway in which to make this process much, much more easy and efficient, so that high quality and relevant opportunities can be found in quick timing?
Also open to tips/advice on a completely different approach, for example trying out guest blog networks (e.g http://myblogguest.com) or something similar to attain sound opportunities.
Much appreciated!
I've recently started to work on a website that has been previously targeting sub domain pages on its site for its SEO and has some ok rankings.
To better explain, let me give an example...A site is called domainname.com. And has subdomains that they are targeted for seo (i.e. pageone.domainname.com, pagetwo.domainname.com, pagethree.domianname.com). The site is going through a site re-development and can reorganise its pages to another URL.
What would be best way to approach this situation for SEO? Ideally, I'm tempted to recommend that new targeted pages be created - domainname.com/pageone, domainname.com/pagetwo, domainname.com/pagethree, etc - and to perform a 301 redirect from the old pages.
Does a subdomain page structure (e.g. pageone.domainname.com) have any negative effects on SEO? Also, is there a good way to track rankings? I find that a lot of rank checkers don't pick up subdomains.
Any tips on the best approach to take here would be appreciated. Hope I've made sense!
It seems like it was a while ago now that Matt Cutts made his announcement "that guest posts are dead", however, does anyone know if Google has acted on this? Most particularly, for those that are targeting guest posts on high-quality sites, what has so far been the effect since the announcement on rankings? Anyone seen a dip in rankings from their high-quality blog post strategy?
Does anyone know what is the best way or plugin to use to easily get title tags inserted for a Joomla website?
Thanks!
Would second the answers of all responses here, particularly Anthony's.
At the the end of the day, a do-follow link will not hurt your client's site, especially done for reasons such as yours. If that were the case, a lot of sites would be in trouble... as too Google's system.
For client 2, are they based in the addresses that is listed on each of the 3 Google profiles? If that is the case, you should be able to claim them by getting Google to send a PIN verification to the post box of each address.
If they are not based in those locations listed, then you perhaps shouldn't worry about claiming them. I would just create new profiles for their new locations.
Whether they have the same or individual email accounts for different locations I personally think does not matter. However, there are some though that will claim its best practice and most valuable to have a different email for each location, just as each should ideally have a different phone number. To be really safe, it does not hurt to therefore have a separate email for each location.
Interesting question.
I think that most people, as in your case, link to open to a new tab if they are linking to another page and don't want a user to be taken too far away from the existing webpage. This applies for both external and also internal webpages. I find in a lot of cases though, external links particularly don't go to a new tab just because people simply forget to put in the code!
There is no existing research and evidence out there to suggest that opening a link in a new tab will have any value on SEO. The key question for me to is to ask why would Google (or any other search engine) attribute more/less value to a link that opens in a new tab? If this question can't be answered in a way that is sound and sensical, then it's safe to say that opening a link in a new tab has no effect on SEO.
For me there is no sound or sensical way to answer that question, and so along with no empirical evidence suggesting otherwise, its safe to say that a link opening in a new tab has no SEO effect.
Totally fine to delete page A and put new content on page B. Google will have no problems with that even if is the exact same content.
Will page B get the same ranking results as page A? That is a question that depends on a lot of variables, the key one being have a lot of links gone to page A from other sites? I would use Moz's Open Site Explorer to check that one and see what links have in fact gone to page A.
In any case, if you're set on transferring to page B, a 301 redirect has alluded to would be a good move that wouldn't do any harm at very least, and offer some SEO to the new page otherwise.
Hi Oliver,
If Google has penalised the site for duplicate content it will appear in Google Webmaster Tools under a section called Manual Actions on the left hand side.
Configure Google Webmaster Tools to the site and once installed that is the place to log into and take a look!
Good luck!
A really commonly referenced blog post for link building because it is quite epic is: http://pointblankseo.com/link-building-strategies
This may start to get you thinking about some ideas that you may be missing out on to getting links.
From what you're saying, it seems like you've got great content on your site, what may be missing are possibly the relationships. My suggestion to you would be to develop relationships with high profile bloggers in your industry and look to service them my serving their readership. Look to develop an organic relationship with these bloggers, understand how you can genuinely help them and what their audience is wanting. If you're content really is awesome and meets what their readers are wanting, and if you really have developed a real and meaningful relationship with bloggers that goes beyond just getting a link, they'll happily link to you.
Is it worth building citations if one is targeting a national campaign with NO local keywords? Even if they have some effect, are they really worth the time, effort and costs?
If there are no Google Places / Local listing for a keyword search term, for example... "web design vancouver", do building citations still help in enabling websites to move up the organic rankings?
With most blog comments being no-follow, I was just wondering whether blog commenting for an SEO campaign these days was actually a worthwhile practice. Would love to get some insight on this.