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After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
@JCN-SBWD One way to potentially address this issue is to focus on building a strong backlink profile that reinforces your intended keyword associations. Additionally, you may want to consider adding more content to your product pages to further clarify your intended messaging and minimize the potential for negative keyword associations. Finally, it may be worth exploring alternative search engines or platforms to expand your reach and diversify your traffic sources.
Even if you manage to get a paid entry published on Wikipedia, Citizendium or Wikitia, there is no guarantee that it will remain there permanently. These websites have strict guidelines on notability, reliability and verifiability, and any content that violates these guidelines can be removed or deleted at any time.
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@IrvCo_Interactive Google's algorithms are not perfect and sometimes can misinterpret the content on a page.
In terms of strategies or best practices for writing copy on a page to avoid triggering a soft 404, one approach is to ensure that the content is unique, relevant, and provides value to the user. Make sure that the page contains substantial content that gives context and information about the event, even if it is sold out. This can include details about past events, photos, videos, or testimonials from attendees.
You can also consider using structured data markup to explicitly indicate that the event is sold out, which can help Google better understand the page's content. This can be done using the "eventStatus" property in the Schema.org markup.
Another approach is to use clear and specific language when describing the event's availability. Instead of using phrases like "no longer available," consider using language like "this event is sold out" or "tickets for this event are no longer available." This can help make it clear to both users and search engines that the page is not a soft 404.
@awilliams_kingston To answer your question, there is no option to pause Rogerbot manually. However, Rogerbot only crawls a website when a Site Crawl campaign is active and scheduled to run. If you want to pause Rogerbot, you can stop the active campaign or schedule the next crawl to start at a later time.
To schedule a Site Crawl, go to your Moz Pro account, click on "Site Crawl" in the left-hand navigation menu, and select "Add Campaign" to set up a new campaign or select an existing one. From there, you can customize your crawl settings, including the crawl frequency and start time.
If you have a scheduled maintenance window and want to prevent Rogerbot from crawling your site during that time, you can adjust the crawl frequency to avoid overlapping with your maintenance schedule. You can also use a robots.txt file to block the crawler from accessing specific pages or sections of your site.
Moz should be able to provide you with historical data for your client's website, even if you've only been using Moz for the past year.
Moz collects data on websites over time, so even if you haven't been using Moz for the entire duration of your client's website, it's possible that Moz has historical data on their website from before you started using it.
To access historical data for your client's website in Moz, you can use the "Campaigns" feature to create a new campaign for your client's website and choose the option to track historical data. This will allow you to see data from before you started using Moz for your client's website.
Alternatively, you can contact Moz support for more information on accessing historical data for your client's website.
@awilliams_kingston The 520 server error you're seeing in your Moz crawl reports is related to Cloudflare. It's a generic error, which means it could be caused by a variety of issues, including server overload or misconfigured settings.
To address this, you could check your Cloudflare firewall settings and see if there are any rules that are blocking the Moz Rogerbot crawler. If there are, try adding an exception for the Rogerbot user agent to allow it to crawl your site without being blocked.
If you know your site will be down for maintenance or undergoing significant changes, you could pause the Moz crawler during that time to prevent it from generating false 520 errors in your reports.
Finally, you could check out the troubleshooting guide in the Cloudflare documentation for more information on identifying and addressing crawl errors. Remember to work with both Moz and Cloudflare support teams to find a solution that works for your specific setup.
@awilliams_kingston The 520 server error you're seeing in your Moz crawl reports is related to Cloudflare. It's a generic error, which means it could be caused by a variety of issues, including server overload or misconfigured settings.
To address this, you could check your Cloudflare firewall settings and see if there are any rules that are blocking the Moz Rogerbot crawler. If there are, try adding an exception for the Rogerbot user agent to allow it to crawl your site without being blocked.
If you know your site will be down for maintenance or undergoing significant changes, you could pause the Moz crawler during that time to prevent it from generating false 520 errors in your reports.
Finally, you could check out the troubleshooting guide in the Cloudflare documentation for more information on identifying and addressing crawl errors. Remember to work with both Moz and Cloudflare support teams to find a solution that works for your specific setup.
Yes, you can keep your current URL for branding purposes and still improve your product catalog's organization. It sounds like your agency is recommending that you implement a parent/child relationship for your product catalog to improve the findability of your products. This is a common approach for eCommerce websites that have a large number of variations for each product.
If you choose to implement this approach, you will need to make changes to your website's information architecture, including your site search, categorization, and facets. You may also need to update your product pages to reflect the new structure of your catalog.
Regarding your question about deleting all pages and creating new ones with 301 redirects, this is possible, but it can be risky. If you do not set up the redirects correctly, you could lose traffic and rankings for your website. It's essential to ensure that all of your old URLs redirect to the corresponding new URLs correctly. It's also important to note that it may take some time for search engines to crawl and index your new pages, so you may experience some fluctuations in your traffic and rankings during this period.
Overall, implementing a parent/child relationship for your product catalog is a good approach to improve the findability of your products. However, it's important to proceed with caution when making significant changes to your website's information architecture.
@fourwhitesocks In your scenario, having a separate blog site on a different domain related to one portion of the content on the main site should not negatively affect the rankings as long as both sites provide unique and valuable content. As you mentioned, linking back and forth between the sites can also be beneficial. However, it's important to avoid duplicate content issues by ensuring that the content on each site is substantially different.
If you're referring to Moz's Link Explorer tool, you can use it to check outbound links from a website without purchasing the Moz Pro method. Here's how you can do it:
Here you can see a list of all the outbound links from the website, along with other details like their Domain Authority and Page Authority.
You can use Moz's Link Explorer for free with some limitations on the number of queries you can make per month. However, if you need to perform more in-depth analysis and access advanced features, you may need to consider purchasing the Moz Pro method.
@ClippingOutsources To update your new campaign in Moz, you can follow these steps:
Log in to your Moz account.
Navigate to the Moz Pro Campaigns dashboard.
Find the campaign you want to update and click on it.
Once you're in the campaign, you can make any necessary updates to your campaign settings.
If you've made changes to your campaign, be sure to save your changes before leaving the page.
If you're facing a problem when you solve any issue in your running campaign, you can use Moz's Campaign Settings to check if the changes you've made have been reflected in your campaign.
Here's how you can do it:
Log in to your Moz account.
Navigate to the Moz Pro Campaigns dashboard.
Find the campaign you want to check and click on it.
Once you're in the campaign, navigate to the "Issues" tab.
Find the issue you've fixed and click on it.
Check the status of the issue to see if it has been resolved.
If successful, you should see a green checkmark next to it.
Please note that it may take some time for Moz to re-crawl your site and update your campaign with the changes you've made. Therefore, you may not see the changes reflected in your campaign immediately after fixing an issue.
No, managed WordPress hosting is not inherently bad for SEO. In fact, many managed WordPress hosting providers offer features and optimizations that can help improve a website's SEO performance, such as fast page loading speeds, security measures, and easy integration with SEO plugins.
However, it's important to note that SEO is a complex and multi-faceted process that involves a variety of factors, including content quality, keyword optimization, backlinks, and user experience. While managed WordPress hosting can provide a strong foundation for SEO, it's ultimately up to the website owner to create high-quality, relevant content and optimize their site for search engines.
Additionally, it's important to choose a reputable and reliable managed WordPress hosting provider that offers quality support, uptime guarantees, and regular software updates. A poorly managed hosting environment with frequent downtime, slow loading speeds, or security vulnerabilities could negatively impact a website's SEO performance.
@ExclusiveCS Make sure your website is optimized for local search by including your city and region in your page titles, meta descriptions, and other on-page elements. Make it easy for potential customers to contact you by displaying your phone number and email address.
Use local search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to improve your visibility in local search results. This can include creating local business listings on Google My Business, Yelp, and other directories.
Leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to connect with potential customers and promote your services. Share industry news, thought leadership articles, and updates about your business.
Create valuable content such as blog posts, whitepapers, and case studies demonstrating your expertise and providing value to potential customers.
Use email marketing to keep in touch with current customers and nurture leads. Send newsletters, special offers, and other relevant content to engage them.
Attend local events and conferences where your target audience will likely be. This is an excellent opportunity to network and build relationships with potential customers.
Partner with other businesses. This can include co-marketing efforts, referrals, or joint events.
@mupetra Having duplicate content indexed on search engines can harm your website's SEO. It can confuse search engines and users, negatively impacting your rankings.
There are several ways to fix this issue:
@Hermski If you're manually adding hreflang tags to your website and not using automation plugins, using unencoded URLs is acceptable. Hreflang checkers usually don't have issues with unencoded tags, and many websites use both encoded and unencoded hreflang variants.
Encoded URLs help avoid potential issues with special characters or encoding errors. However, if you're comfortable using unencoded URLs and your hreflang tags are being properly recognized by search engines, there's no inherent conflict or best practice that dictates one approach over the other.
@SoyGabi It’s possible that Moz’s crawlers haven’t picked up on all the new links yet. It can happen if they haven’t had a chance to re-crawl the pages that are linking to your site. Here is what you can do:
@salliWW It sounds like you have a few different campaigns and ad groups for your Google AdWords account targeting various areas and keywords related to rubbish removal. As you've mentioned, Google's exact match algorithm has been changing, so it may be worth reviewing your current campaign structure to see if there are opportunities to optimize your account and reduce costs.
Here are a few things you could consider:
Consolidate campaigns and ad groups: If you have similar keywords that trigger similar phrases, consolidate them into one campaign with separate ad groups. It can simplify your account structure and make managing your bids and budgets easier.
Use broad match modified keywords: Consider using broad match modified keywords instead of exact match or phrase match. It can help you capture more relevant search queries and reduce the number of campaigns and ad groups you need to manage.
Use negative keywords: Negative keywords can help you exclude irrelevant search queries and reduce costs. For example, you could use "free" or "DIY" as negative keywords to exclude searches for free or do-it-yourself rubbish removal.
Monitor your campaigns regularly: Analyze your campaigns and adjust your bids and budgets as needed to maintain your ad position and achieve your advertising goals. Consider using automated bidding strategies to help you optimize your bids and save time.
@Femamedia It's understandable that you're concerned about your competitor's seemingly questionable link-building tactics. Here are some answers to your questions:
• Reporting the issue: Yes, it's possible to report these practices to Google. You can do this through the Google Search Console's Spam Report tool or by filling out a Webspam Report form. However, be aware that it can take time for Google to investigate and take action on reported issues.
• Natural link building: It's commendable that you aim to obtain links honestly. Keep in mind that it's not always about quantity but quality. You can try to build relationships with other websites in your niche, create high-quality content that others would want to link to, and promote your content on social media platforms.
• Old website acquisition: While your competitor's strategy may have worked in the short term, it's not a sustainable long-term solution. As you mentioned, it's against Google's guidelines, and if caught, they could face penalties. Focus on building a strong and trustworthy website with quality content, and you'll likely see improvements in your rankings over time.
To increase your Domain Authority (DA), you can try the following strategies:
Create high-quality content: Publish informative, engaging, and original content on your website. This will increase the chances of other websites linking back to your site, which can help improve your DA.
Build high-quality backlinks: Focus on building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites in your industry or niche. You can achieve this by reaching out to other websites and asking for a link or by creating guest posts on other websites with a link back to your site.
Optimize your website: Make sure your website is well-optimized for search engines by using relevant keywords, optimizing your page titles and meta descriptions, and improving your site's overall user experience.
Promote your content: Use social media and other digital marketing channels to promote your content and drive traffic to your website. This can help improve your website's visibility and authority.
Monitor your progress: Keep track of your website's DA using tools like Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush. This will help you understand which strategies are working and which ones need to be improved or modified.
@Redooo Using a code at the end of a URL is a common practice to track the traffic source and provide analytics to website owners. It should not have negative SEO implications, as long as the code is not used to manipulate search engine rankings. However, ensure that the URLs with codes are canonicalized to their non-coded versions to avoid duplicate content issues. Use a consistent URL structure across the website for better user experience and SEO performance.
No, Expires headers are not detrimental to SEO health. In fact, they can have a positive impact on website performance and user experience, which can indirectly affect SEO.
Expires headers are used to instruct the browser to cache specific resources, such as images, stylesheets, and scripts, for a certain period of time. This can significantly reduce page load time and improve website performance, which can in turn improve user experience and engagement.
When users have a good experience on your site, they are more likely to stay longer, share your content, and return in the future. These positive user signals can indirectly impact your SEO rankings by signaling to search engines that your site is valuable and relevant to users.
Therefore, using Expires headers can actually be beneficial to your site's SEO health, as long as they are implemented correctly and not set for too long of a period.
@Redooo Appending a code to the end of a URL is called a URL parameter, and it is a common practice in website development to pass information from one page to another. In the case of real estate or news companies, the code appended to the end of the URL likely identifies a specific property or article.
Using URL parameters does not inherently have negative SEO implications. However, if used incorrectly or excessively, they can cause issues for search engines trying to crawl and index your website.
For example, if multiple versions of the same page have different URL parameters, search engines may see them as duplicate content and penalize your website. Additionally, if the URL parameters do not provide valuable information to users or search engines, it may be considered "thin content," which can also harm your SEO.
It's important to use URL parameters judiciously and ensure they provide valuable information to users and search engines. If you need clarification about the SEO implications of using URL parameters on your website, it may be worth consulting with an experienced SEO professional.
There could be several reasons why only 25 out of approximately 10,000 links have been indexed by Google, despite successfully submitting your sitemap through Google Search Console:
Timing: It is not uncommon for indexing to take some time, especially for larger sites with many pages. Although your sitemap has been submitted, it may take several days or even weeks for Google to crawl and index all of your pages. It's worth noting that not all pages on a site may be considered important or relevant enough to be indexed by Google.
Quality of Content: Google may not index pages that it considers low-quality, thin or duplicate content. If a significant number of your product pages have similar or duplicate content, they may not be indexed. To avoid this issue, make sure your product pages have unique, high-quality content that provides value to users.
Technical issues: Your site may have technical issues that are preventing Google from crawling and indexing your pages. These issues could include problems with your site's architecture, duplicate content, or other issues that may impact crawling and indexing.
Inaccurate Sitemap: There is also a possibility that there are errors in the sitemap you submitted to Google. Check the sitemap to ensure that all the URLs are valid, the sitemap is up to date and correctly formatted.
To troubleshoot this issue, you can check your site's coverage report on Google Search Console, which will show you which pages have been indexed and which ones haven't. You can also check your site's crawl report to see if there are any technical issues that may be preventing Google from crawling your pages. Finally, you can also run a site audit to identify and fix any technical issues that may be impacting indexing.
@Vallerinspects Adding "dog bed" to the negative keyword list prevents the ad from showing for searches including this term. However, it can still potentially appear in searches that include the word "dog" but not "dog bed," such as "dog toys" or "dog food." To prevent ads from showing for all dog-related searches, add "dog" as a negative keyword. But keep in mind that it will work with any inquiry with the word "dog," regardless of the context. So be careful about using this strategy.
@SimpleSearch First, you can set the target country in Google Search Console for your US subdomain as the United States. Go to the "Settings" section in your Google Search Console account and select "International Targeting". Then, choose the country you want to target for your US subdomain (in this case, the United States) and submit the changes. This tells Google that your site is intended for US users.
You can also use hreflang tags to indicate your content's language and country/region. This helps Google understand which version of your site to show to users in different countries.
Another option is to add a canonical tag on your US subdomain pages that specifies the US subdomain as the primary version. This helps Google understand which version of the content to display in search results.
Finally, improving the quality and relevance of your content on the US subdomain, as well as building high-quality backlinks from US-based websites, can help improve the visibility of the US subdomain in US search results.
Be patient, as changes may take time to take effect. If the issue persists, consult an SEO specialist.
There are several places where you can find quality freelance writers. Here are some options to consider:
Freelance marketplaces: Websites such as Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr allow you to post job listings and review profiles of freelancers. These platforms offer a wide variety of writers with different levels of experience, skills, and rates.
Freelance writing job boards: Websites like ProBlogger, BloggingPro, and Freelance Writing Jobs post job listings specifically for freelance writers. These sites may require a membership or subscription fee to access their job board.
Social media: You can search for freelance writers on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Many writers promote their services on these platforms and you can review their portfolio and past work.
Referrals: If you know someone who has worked with a freelance writer before, ask for a referral. Personal recommendations can help you find writers who are reliable and produce high-quality work.
Freelance writing agencies: Some companies specialize in connecting businesses with freelance writers. They can help you find writers who match your needs and requirements.
Ultimately, the best place to find quality freelance writers will depend on your specific needs and budget. It's important to do your research, review samples of their work, and communicate your expectations clearly before hiring a writer.
site to promote UGC and would it have a positive income on SEO
There are several ways for users to upload their images to your WordPress site to promote user-generated content (UGC). Here are some options:
Use a plugin: You can use a plugin like NextGEN Gallery or WPForms to allow users to upload images to your site. These plugins allow you to create custom forms with fields for image uploads.
Use the WordPress Media Library: You can also allow users to upload images using the built-in WordPress Media Library. To do this, you'll need to create a new post or page and enable the "Featured Image" option. Users can then upload their image as the featured image for the post or page.
Use social media: You can encourage users to upload their images to social media (e.g. Instagram) and use a hashtag that you monitor. You can then feature the best images on your site.
In terms of the impact on SEO, user-generated content can have a positive impact if it is high-quality and relevant to your site's topic. Google and other search engines value fresh, original content, and UGC can help you achieve that. However, it's important to moderate UGC to ensure that it meets your quality standards and doesn't contain spam or inappropriate content. You should also ensure that any UGC you feature on your site is properly attributed to the original creator.
Google doesn't have a specific policy on using AI-generated content like ChatGPT for SEO purposes. However, Google's guidelines emphasize providing users with original, high-quality, and valuable content. It constantly adapts, so upcoming updates may include something about AI-generated texts. Remember that such tools don't create new information but rely on already crawled content. That's why it's a helping hand for extracting ideas. You should write unique and innovative posts based on real-life experience.
There could be many reasons why Google would index your website while Bing wouldn't. Here are a few possible explanations:
Crawling and indexing algorithms: Google and Bing have different algorithms that they use to crawl and index websites. Google's algorithm may have found your website to be more relevant and valuable to users, while Bing's algorithm may have found it less so.
Content quality: It's possible that Google views your website's content as being of higher quality than Bing does. This could be due to factors like the relevance and uniqueness of your content, the depth and comprehensiveness of your articles, or the overall user experience of your site.
Technical issues: There may be technical issues with your website that are preventing Bing from indexing it properly. For example, if your site has broken links or errors in its HTML code, Bing's crawler may not be able to navigate it effectively.
Backlinks: Backlinks are links from other websites to your site, and they are an important factor in how search engines rank websites. It's possible that your website has more backlinks from sites that Google values highly, but fewer from sites that Bing values.
@davidevans_seo Maybe, the pages are not set up as landing pages in your tracking software. Another reason may be that the tracking code is not installed correctly on those pages. It's also worth checking if the pages are excluded from your tracking settings. If none of these explanations seem to fit, it's worth reaching out to your tracking software support team for further assistance.
@David_Fisher When retiring an old enterprise blog with many outdated posts, simply archiving them in a subdirectory may not be enough to prevent Google from indexing them. Redirecting all the old posts to the new blog's homepage without any relevant content could be seen as a soft-404 by Google.
The best approach would be to repurpose or update any relevant posts for the new blog and redirect only those specific posts. For the rest, create a custom 404 page that provides links to the new blog's homepage and other relevant content. This approach ensures a positive user experience and maintains SEO authority.
There are several ways to find the list of missing alt attributes on your website:
Use a website audit tool: There are several website audit tools available online, such as Screaming Frog, SEMrush, or Ahrefs. These tools can scan your website and generate a report that highlights any missing or incomplete alt attributes.
Check your website's HTML code: You can manually check the HTML code of your website to find any missing alt attributes. Look for the "img" tag and check if it has an alt attribute. If not, then the alt attribute is missing.
Use a browser extension: There are browser extensions available that can help you identify missing alt attributes. For example, the "Web Developer" extension for Chrome and Firefox includes a tool that allows you to highlight all images on a page that are missing alt attributes.
Check your website's accessibility report: If you have an accessibility report for your website, it should include a section that identifies any missing alt attributes. This report may be generated by your website platform or a third-party tool.
@amyyoungblood The error message means that the domain name in the SSL/TLS certificate doesn't match the hostname used to access the website. To fix this, you need to update your SSL/TLS certificate and DNS configuration. Contact Shopify support for help.
To create a Google redirect link, you can follow these steps:
That's it! Now you have a Google redirect link that you can use to redirect to the longer URL. When someone clicks on the Google redirect link, they will be redirected to the longer URL that you specified.
Domain forwarding and 301 redirects are different. Forwarding involves moving an entire domain to a new one, while 301s are about individual pages. To maintain SEO authority:
@Ben-R said in Best practices for publishing sponsored content:
Our website hosts sponsored content from different brands. Should we be listing the sponsor either on the frontend and/or through markup? - Would either way have any sort of an impact?
Yes, it is recommended to list the sponsor of sponsored content on the frontend and/or through markup. This is important for transparency and to avoid misleading readers into thinking that the content is impartial when it is not.
Listing the sponsor on the frontend can be done through a clear and conspicuous disclosure, such as a statement like "Sponsored by [Brand Name]" or "Paid partnership with [Brand Name]" placed prominently near the content. This can help readers understand the nature of the content and the relationship between the brand and the website.
Using markup, such as the Schema.org markup for sponsored content, can also provide additional context and help search engines understand the nature of the content. This can potentially impact search engine rankings and visibility, as search engines are increasingly placing importance on transparency and trustworthiness.
Overall, clearly disclosing the sponsor of sponsored content can have a positive impact on reader trust and can help maintain ethical standards in content marketing.
Sure! Backlinks are essential for improving a website's visibility in search engines.
While having a strong domain link is good, individual pages can benefit from having their own backlinks pointing to them.
However, creating high-quality content should always come first. When you develop great content, people are more likely to naturally link to it, which can improve your website's authority over time.
Just remember to focus on creating various backlinks from trustworthy sources and balance your efforts between creating great content and actively building backlinks.
Identify main topics: Let's say your page is about yoga. Your main topics could be "yoga for beginners" and "yoga poses."
Use keyword research: Using a tool like Google Keyword Planner, you might find that "yoga for flexibility" and "yoga for stress relief" are popular related keywords.
Choose relevant and specific keywords: For a title tag, you might choose "Yoga for Beginners: Poses for Flexibility and Stress Relief" to accurately describe your content.
Keep your title tag short: The example title tag is 58 characters, which is within the recommended 60-character limit.
Avoid keyword stuffing: Don't try to cram too many keywords into your title tag. Instead, use them in a way that accurately describes your content and helps potential visitors find your page.