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lost a lot of rankings. 2 things have happened to my site over the past 2 weeks and I am trying to establish which may be the case:

1. My site has 30.000 links from a top news site (on main bar across all pages - not for SEO, it just happened). My site lost 3,000 links from this site last week, when they were doing some cleaning up, which means I still have 25,000+ links from them.

2. My site - job site - has published another job board's jobs so I get paid per click. This means ratio of my job vs external jobs is 1 to 5. So basically, I added last week 5 times more jobs that is already live on external site to get paid per click. In other words, my own site's unique content went down big time.

Which of the 2 is more likely to cause the massive drop in rankings since last night?

I run a job site - www.hawaiijobengine.com. Last week I incorporated jobs from Indeed.com (in order to make money every time a user clicks on Indeed jobs). Before, I had around 1200 jobs posted directly on my site and with Indeed's jobs I probably have around 4,000 jobs. When users click on the Indeed jobs they are taken to the employers website, application portal or other job board.

Question: is there a good chance Google will have crushed me on my rankings due to the ratio of unique content on my site now having dropped massive with the Indeed jobs incorporated? Is there a chance Google is just temporarily dropping me due to this and in 1 weeks time the algorithm will probably have worked out what is happening and get more back to my previous rankings?

good answer, Cyrus. I think the trust factor is probably more relevant than that 1% of users that may click. Other users will scroll and see those about, faq etc links and that ads trust and I think that is key why it makes sense to keep.

My footer links are well-organized, but few and they are About, FAQ, Sitemap, Terms & Privacy, which in theory are good for users to have access to throughout my site. However, if I know less than 5% of users click on those, that means very little user value. Will it help me from an SEO perspective to keep those footer links throughout my site or is the answer a clear "no" and I should only keep if the users benefit from having those links. Again, especially on my deeper pages with low PA, I am concerned about spreading the link juice on an already weak page....

About Us, FAQ, Site Map, Terms & Privacy - I know rarely viewed by users (at least on my website), so why keep in global footer across all pages, since one could argue it will dilute some link juice to more important pages?Why not just keep on homepage only? What is argument for having links to these pages across all pages on a site? Is there any SEO value?

I feel my meta descriptions are descriptive and fairly represent the info on each page of my site. However, Google frequently includes this "20+ items" in front of the snippet. I run a job site and each page list 20 jobs. What if I include a bit of coding in the Meta Description to include "Latest Jobs Posted TODAY's DATE" - since the jobs listed on the page will include a date. On each page there is also option to "Create Email Alert" and "save Jobs" maybe I should include writing about that as well?

I have read all Google's documents on the importance of making Meta Des relevant for the page etc, so any good insight how increase my chances of getting the meta des displayed in the SERP would be appreciated.

thank you, Kristian

In a standard article with 400-500 words my site got a back-link. However, within the article there are 4 other links pointing to other external content as well (so total 5 links within articles all pointing to external sites, and 1 of the links is to my site). All links are to relevant external content that is.

Question: wouldn't it be much more valuable for my site if only my site got a back-link from the article, as less link juice is now passed to my site, since there are 4 other links pointing to various sites from this same article? Or, is the case that given the other links are pointing to quality material it actually makes the link to my site look more credible and at the end of the day have more value.

Conclusion: is it that on one hand less links in same article is better from a link juice perspective, however, from a credibility perspective it looks more convincing there are other links pointing to quality content?

thank you, Paul. Good answer. Let me make sure I understand correctly: if I get a backlink from "blog.domain/abc" or from "domain.com/abc" that would have exactly same impact and link juice assuming the page "abc" in both cases have same page authority (let us just say it is a brand new page with PA 1) - is that correctly understood?

When I go to OpenSiteExplorer and enters "blog.domain.com" or simply "domain.com" - in both cases the domain authority is the same,  though I thought it would normally be different since domain authority will refer to the sub-domain "blog".

If you can share a few thoughts that would be appreciated

Will a back-link from "domain.com/abc" and "blog.domain.com/abc" have same value from an SEO perspective? Assume same article written on both sites. 
I have been told the bots look at the domain value and the only links from blogs that have less value are in case of comments. As long as the "blog.domain/abc" page includes a full article and not a blog comment then it counts fully for SEO. Is this correct?

A strong news site has an "archived.domainname" folder, where they have older articles listed. I can get a link on a page where there is a 4 year old article, which will be in this archived sub-domain. My questions:

1. Will Google view a link from a 4 year old article as less valuable. Will Google notice the article is 4 years old and find it odd why the page all of a sudden has a link to my site, and thus devalue such link

2. the sub-domain "archived" does that tell Google it is old and a link will be less valuable

thank you

thx, David. Yes, I am referring to how I may upload videos from youtube to my business page's Google+ account under the "video" tab - not as a feed. When I click the video tab there is a red "Upload New Videos" and either upload from computer or drag 'n drop option. Does not seem an option to copy paste the youtube link. If anyone knows if this is possible, let me know

I asked this question a couple of days ago. Would be great if anyone has some good insight:

I write content on my site, which I immediately share across Twitter, FB and Google+. Will Google view me as active on social media with this onsite content I distribute across social media sites (basically creating duplicate info across social media, which already is on my site) or will I be seen as less active on social media since I do not write original content on the social media sites, but rather use content from my site and distribute across social media.

I want to include videos from my youtube channel on Google+. Does this mean I have to save the video file on my PC at first and then upload it?

If I write content (small career advice quotes) on my website and I distribute across Twitter and FB I assume my site will get the full credit (from an SEO perspective) since that is where the content was originally uploaded. However, will I still get SEO credit for being active on social media, or will Google view it as duplicate content and evaluate that I am not active on social media?

thank you

1. it sounds like you think there could be downside in having this many links. Again, it is from a main tab on their homepage, and since the main tabs follow on all pages, so does my website link. I understand if the site linked to my site from different locations (main tab, in article, footer etc etc) that looks odd. But since it is from a main tab that creates thousands of links I can't understand why that could be a negative.

thank you. This does make sense and I appreciate the insight. I am still curious if anyone may have even more specific insight on the matter. It would be interesting to know how much the SEO value gets reduced in both cases

1. A site has a link to my site as one of their main tabs, which means whenever a user clicks through to another page within the site, my link - being a main tab - is there. This creates thousands of links from this site. How does Google treat this? Do we have a rough formula estimate. In other words, assume it creates 1,000 backlinks would the SEO value be around the same as if I had just 2 link total as a main tab, but on 2 different non-related sites? Or, does it actually count fully as 1,000 links?

2. Links from various sub-domains. Several .EDU's are linking to my site. Different schools within the overall same university. Example: nursing.abc.edu links to my site, but so does business.abc.edu. For SEO does that count as much as if I had links from complete non-related universities, or would Google evaluate that these links are related (since same main domain) and that will discount any links more than 1 to some extent? If discounted, then what do we estimate the discount to be?

thank yoyu

thank you. A site is linking to my video on youtube, which is a video uploading from my youtube channel. I also have the video embedded on my website. Is my website getting any SEO value from a site linking to the video on youtube? Does Google see a connection between the youtube video and my website? Can I increase the chance Google sees such connection?

thank you

how is Google evolving in terms of value for DA vs PA? Is having a link from a DA 75 + PA 25 better than having a link from a DA 50 + PA 50, assuming such 2 websites are otherwise identical? I have a couple of .EDU backlinks where DA is around 80, though PA 1. Would be DA 40 with a PA 40 be more valuable? I hear Google is placing increasing value on the domain and less on the page authority. 
Any insight appreciated

thank you

will my website get SEO credit because another website links to a youtube video which belongs to my youtube channel?

You are saying: if the website does not directly link to my website (rather to a video on youtube) then my website will get zero credit for the linking, correct?

thank you

A website will include a link to a youtube video associated with my channel. Does my website also get SEO credit, even though that website isn't linking directly to my site, but rather to a video on my youtube channel. The youtube video is also uploaded to my website, but this website wants to link to the video directly on youtube.

Website is "www.hawaiijobengine.com" and youtube channel is "hawaiijobegnine.com" - how does Google know these 2 are same owner?

thank you

I own a job site and I am about to get a link from a .GOV. My site has a category called "State Jobs". Should I ask the ".Gov" to link to my homepage or to the state job page and use the anchor text "State Jobs". I understand "State Jobs" page would get a big kick by that being the anchor text and linking to that specific page, but the question I have is this: for my site as a whole (homepage and various categories) would they get around the same "push up" whether the linking is to 1) my homepage with anchor text being my site's name or 2) to the state job specific page and in this case the anchor text would be "State Jobs"?

thank you

the page has no data. It is just a Wiki page created for SEO as far as I can see. that is why I felt it was "fishy". However, if Google values all wiki pages and edu pages then it should have value.

I asked below question yesterday and got some answers, but am still looking for more justification whether such links are worthwhile getting or not. Here is the question:

An SEO expert offers my site backlinks from .edu's wrapped in wiki. Structure as follows "wiki.xxx.UNINAME.edu/etc..etc" - the pages have  authority of 1 (domain obviously high with the dot edu) but there is no relevant info on the pages and obviously wiki links are no follow. This does not sound right to me, but can anyone share some insight since it is wiki + edu combined it sounds on surface like credibility, but with page having no relevant content I feel it isn't right.

thx, Francisco.

An SEO expert offers my site backlinks from .edu's wrapped in wiki. Structure as follows "wiki.xxx.UNINAME.edu/etcetc" - the pages have  authority of 1 (domain obviously high with the dot edu) but there is no relevant info on the pages and obviously wiki links are no follow. This does not sound right to me, but can anyone share some insight since it is wiki + edu combined it sounds on surface like credibility, but with page having no relevant content I feel it isn't right.

thank you

Is there any tool available in the market where there is a ranking list of fastest growth in Domain and Page Authority? I launched a job site 8 months ago and I am curious to see what % of websites (not just job specific) have experienced faster growth in a similar time frame in Domain and Page Authority to get a sense of what may have been accomplished.

thank you very much,

thx, Geoff. Appreciate this. I was thinking on my site to have a page maybe called "Career Inspiration" and then maybe write 200 words about the objective of the page and then list the exact same quotes. Basically copy pasting. Would you recommend I have a facebook social media plugin on my site, and through the plugin users sees all the quotes? I think for SEO it is better the quotes are actually listed on my site. Let me know if this makes sense.

thank you very much

thx, Geoff. I write short career related inspirational quotes, so it isn't really possible to write a "teaser" on FB. Today's quote: "The road to success is often like an uphill battle filled with issues and obstacles on the way. Understand this, accept it, and you are better prepared for the journey up the ladder to success."

Would you say, upload to my website at first, then 3-4 weeks later upload to FB would work? As FB may improve over time, Google would probably recognize as duplicate content I imagine, so taking a long-term view, I wonder best way to deal with this.

thank you. In other words: Google may view it as duplicate content as is, but canonicalizing it will sort the issue, but that also means uploading the FB feeds on my homepage will have no real SEO value. My thinking goes: if I had written all the FB feeds directly on my website it would probably have a bigger SEO impact than writing on FB. However, now that it is written on FB, "transferring" the good feeds over to my homepage can only be done by canonilizing it. Not an issue, I am just trying to make sure I understand this right.

thank you very much

I write career advice on Facebook on a daily basis. On my homepage users can see the most recent 4-5 feeds (using FB social media plugin). I am thinking to create a page on my website where visitors can see all my previous FB feeds. Would this be considered duplicate content if I copy paste the info, but if I use a Facebook social media plugin then it is not considered duplicate content? I am working on increasing content on my website and feel incorporating FB feeds would make sense.

thank you

Matt, let me ask you 1 more: many of the employers posting on my site re-direct job seekers to their career websites. I have set up those external links (clients' career websites) as no-follow. This does make sense, right?

thx, Matt. Yes, rankings are pretty OK already (.7.5 months in to the project). I think you are right: focus on more content and outreach.......

what is a non-pers google.com check? I can check my ranking compared to my competitors? Let me know the site if you can

thank you

great answer, Matt. sub-pages should be indexed - they have SEO value. This is my site: www.hawaiijobengine.com. 
Mahalo as we say in Hawaii

I run a job board and some results pages may display Page 1, 2, 3 last. Should I consider making those page numbers no-follow. What about sign in and join us pages? There is nothing of relevance on those pages. I have previously posted a similar question and was advised not to no-follow pages from my own site. However, I see very successful competitors no-following very few select interlinks (like the page 1, 2, 3 scenario). This does not mean their approach is the best, but it makes me question......

thank you. I appreciate this. I run a job board and I noticed the most successful job search engine - indeed.com - no follow page numbers. Example: if run a search for "Los Angeles" jobs you get thousands of hits and at the bottom of each page the page numbers you can jump between (1,2 3, next, etc) are all set as no-follow. They have also set Sign In as no follow. I see careerbuilder also has a few no-follows. This does not mean they are right, but it is interesting for me to observe, since these are the heavyweights in my industry. I run this site by the way www.hawaiijobengine.com

thank you. I appreciate this. I run a job board and I noticed the most successful job search engine - indeed.com - no follow page numbers. Example: if run a search for "Los Angeles" jobs you get thousands of hits and at the bottom of each page the page numbers you can jump between (1,2 3, next, etc) are all set as no-follow. They have also set Sign In as no follow. I see careerbuilder also has a few no-follows. This does not mean they are right, but it is interesting for me to observe, since these are the heavyweights in my industry. I run this site by the way www.hawaiijobengine.com

Hi everyone,

In order to increase link juice for relevant interlinks, wouldn't it make sense to attribute no-follow to the following interlinks: About Us, Sign In, Join Us, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Security, Contact Us, Home (assuming brand name / logo also links to homepage), and any page where there are 2 or more links directing to the same page.

Thank you,

Kristian

thank you, very helpful.

Hi everyone,

I run a job board (job website) - www.hawaiijobengine.com - and on the homepage I have 50 job categories ("Accounting / Finance" is one another is "Admin / Clerical" etc). I write your typical 400 word article length, giving career insight. Questions:

1. should I 70% of the time try to use exact keywords in the article and link to those categories and other 30% of links should be to more specific search terms like "accountant in CITY NAME". The 50 categories already have decent rankings already and those are the once I am trying to push higher. Obviously, I also want weaker pages (more specific search terms) to rank higher too. I am writing genuine and original content, it is just a matter off whether I should adjust my keyword focus.

2. On average how many different interlinks from a 400 page article is acceptable. Range of 1-3, with 2 on average sounding about right? Most of the times I have only 1 or 2 interlinks from each article, but once in a while I want to link 6-7 places within the article. I don't know if that is appropriate.

thank you,

Kristian

thank you. I appreciate this.

Hi everyone,

My company is called "Hawaii Job Engine" - www.hawaiijobengine.com - and many sites that link to my site use my company name as anchor text "Hawaii Job Engine". I have heard Google may devalue a certain keyword phrase if used too often in anchor text. Does this mean I may, over time, get a poor ranking for the term "Hawaii Job" since that phrase is part of my company's name. Or, will search engines easily notice it is my company name and therefore it will not have a negative impact on rankings? Example: if the anchor text leading to my company's homepage is company's name 95% of the time (on authoritative sites) could this be an issue? I don't know the %, but just to establish if there may be in % levels to keep in mind.

thank you,

Kristian