Could it just be seasonality? Is the total search volume for your key terms likely to drop at this time of year? I always see about a 35% reduction in traffic from Thanksgiving to February. No one typically buys my products in the winter months. Is that a possibility?
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Posts made by MonicaOConnor
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RE: Massive drop in traffic, recently.
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RE: Is it better to find a page without the desired content, or not find the page?
I can't think of a study off of the top of my head that could help you. What I can tell you is that if you are directing traffic to a page on your site, the content should be relevant to the search term. For example, you don't want to have a page for blue widgets attracting traffic for pink teddy bears. This will create an awful user experience, high bounce rate and decrease in traffic over time. As the engines see your page as less and less relevant and that it provides a bad user experience you will start to lose rankings.
However, there are exceptions to that logic. For example, I have a page on my site that is the landing page for a very popular product. The manufacturer discontinued the product and I didn't want to give up the value of the page, so I left the relevant content, added the discontinued text and then offered replacement models closer to the top of the page. If anyone happened to land on that page, I wouldn't lose the traffic, but instead give them relevant options. If I had changed the status to 404 or 410, then there would be no possibility of capturing or converting the traffic. Here is a page: http://www.apelectric.com/6241-Generac-Guardian-Series-14kW-p/6241.htm
I have also talked to lots of people who have websites with pages for events, community activities, concert pages and things of that nature. After the shows or events, the page doesn't necessarily have "purpose". The page can be used to aggregate reviews of bands or performers, community fairs. It can be used as a community forum, or it can simply be updated to offer upcoming schedules.
As far as out of stock products go, I wouldn't 404 or take down a page with an "out of stock" product. I don't know what platform you use, but Big Commerce gives me the option to add a "Pre-Order" button to a product when it goes out of stock. It would be optimal if your customers could still order a product if it is coming back into stock in the future. I would add a message near the add to cart button saying the item is temporarily out of stock, but you can order for shipment in the next 2-3 weeks, or however long the window of time is. The more information you give your searcher the more opportunity you are creating for engagement and conversions. 404ing the pages is not the answer to a short term inventory shortage. When you 404 or 410 a page you are running the risk of losing your ranking on that page, so when you enable the page again you will have to start ranking again. It could take time depending on the competition of the product.
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RE: Discontinued Products
I do use it. Whether or not it is a good or bad thing I can't really tell you. In my opinion, it is the best practice because it gives both the searcher and the engine the optimal information and provides the best experience for both. I use the discontinued tag on the pages that I don't 404.
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RE: Moving to https - Webmaster Tools
I just converted a site to HTTPS as well. The easiest thing for me to do was create a new property altogether. The change of address process takes forever and is a pain in the butt all the way around. I had no issues creating a new property. As all of the 301 redirects start working, the old site will begin to "disappear".
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RE: What the secret for Bing and Yahoo
I did, I am so excited for you. I followed you back too.
Most of the time IE is set with Bing as the homepage. So if the user doesn't change it, then I would suspect the a good percentage of users in IE come from Bing. But you can check that in GA.
I think my target demographic is just older, it can't hurt to submit to Bing. You want to get traffic from everywhere possible. I doubt that some of my customers know how to restart their computers, let alone update their browser. I get about 50 sessions per month from IE 6 even. It makes me chuckle.
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RE: Penguin Hops
I have noticed this with a site I am working on. The Penguin update had an overall positive affect on my site, the downfall being some of the rankings were hopping around, like you said.
I worked with the key terms on page a little, and made sure I had some strong links pointing to the corresponding pages and have noticed that the last couple of weeks the rankings have started to even out. There has been some speculation that the 3.0 update is still rolling out too. I am not sure how accurate that is, but it is a possibility.
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RE: Does Not listing the prices on my website hurt?
It is definitely better to advertise with the prices. It is suspicious when sites don't have their prices up and extremely frustrating for the searcher. What is good for the searcher is good for the search engine.
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RE: What the secret for Bing and Yahoo
Generally, what is good for Google is also good for Bing and Yahoo. Since Firefox has adapted Yahoo as its primary search engine and IE uses Bing it really depends on where your traffic comes from. Believe it or not, I get the same amount of traffic from Bing that I do from Google. My target demographic is older than your average shopper however. To explain that more thoroughly, I still get 28% of my traffic from IE 7.... I die a little inside every time I tell someone that.
If you want to rank well in Bing and Yahoo, then do what you need to do in Google. Follow the best practice SEO. Bing Webmaster tools isn't nearly as thorough as GWT, but it can give you some insight to what you might be missing link wise. I would check that out. I find that a more analytical, technical group comes from Bing. Since you are in Software you might find some success with traffic from Bing.
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RE: How to Find Related Keywords in Moz.com
There are keyword suggestions in your campaign. If you go to Search - Keyword Rankings - then opportunities.
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RE: Duplicate product description ranking problems (off-site duplicate content)
The reason your competitor is ranking better could be the value of their DA and their PA. Without looking specifically it would be hard to say. Google isn't going to show two pages that are exactly the same, which is why they say similar pages have been omitted.
I would not suggest using a link farm. This can only bring you disaster in the long run.
Have you thought about getting customer reviews on page? Using a program that will put customer reviews on page, so that you can see them in the source code is a good way to start leveling the duplicate content out of the equation. You should also put some focus into building quality links. It isn't the quantity of links that you have, but the quality.
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RE: The etiquette of reproducing someone else's content
Hi there,
Here are my thoughts, if what you have on site A is the same as site B, my thoughts are that only one of those pages will be ranking in the SERPs. If the two pages are about the exact same thing, with just paraphrasing, it is still duplicate content. The site C linking sounds ok to me, as it isn't duplicate content. Since site B owns it, and they are probably hosted in the same place, it would be better to link C to A if they are hosted separately. You will get better link juice that way.
As far as doing anything wrong, technically, no. It would be best practice to have original content where ever you could.
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RE: Blog On Subdomain - Do backlinks to the blog posts on Subdomain count as links for main site?
I actually prefer the blog be on a subdomain if there are going to be several back links on it. It is a way of protecting your root domain from a link that might have seemed good, but has a spammy link neighborhood or turns out to be negative. It is my personal preference. The downfall is that the traffic isn't going to your site, it is going to your subdomain which is why the best practice is to use /blog.
I would double check with your site developer/IT person to find out if it is really necessary to use the subdomain. Is this by change a WP plugin? It is my understanding that there are several eCommerce platforms with no integrated blog and the WP plugin is only compatible on a subdomain.
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RE: Old Spammy Backlinks but No Manual Penalty...No Results
Without looking at the links specifically it is hard to speculate. Realistically the site made it through all Penguin updates unharmed. That has to say something. Disavowing the links will have a negative affect on SEO. It will take time to come back from it. It is expensive and time consuming. I would pose the options to your client and see what they decide. Pros and Cons of both options and let them decide.
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RE: Old Spammy Backlinks but No Manual Penalty...No Results
Have you reached out to the Webmasters first? I know it seems silly, but it would be better than a disavow action. Refreshing the link profile would be really helpful too, like Sheena said, having high quality links from content.
I would not recommend a disavow action be the first step. I would try to remove the links first, because you can't be 100% certain that is what is causing the ranking problems for the site.
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RE: 2 clients. 2 websites. Same City. Both bankruptcy attorneys. How to make sure Google doesn't penalize...
If you were planning to use these sites as linking sources for each other, then you would definitely want different hosts for their sites. It will increase the value of the links.
The most important thing is giving them each quality, unique content. If the content is considered duplicate by Google only one of the sites will rank. It is really the only thing that can separate two sites that are so similar, aside from diverse link profiles.
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RE: How to recover search volume after domain name change?
I think you need to wait a little bit. The decrease in traffic could just be because of the 301 redirects that are looping around. Don't make to many changes at one time. Once the 301 redirects settle, the links from your old site should start to drop. You are telling Google that the site has moved, and if the back links aren't connected to the new domain, aside from the 301, they will start to fall off naturally.
A disavow action at this point would hurt more than help. Just be patient and give it a couple of weeks.
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RE: Moz have any keyword Suggestion tools or any best tools
There is a tab for opportunities if you are tracking key words in a campaign. See the image below.
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RE: Mini Knowledge Graph?
Google updates the information from sources around the web. They have a mini algo to pull that data as far as I understand.
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RE: Is there a functional difference between the "google +1" button and the "G+"? Has there been any conclusive research done regarding their affect on SEO?
If you have a lot of people in your circles, the +1s they have given can have some affect on the search results you see when you are signed into Gmal. It is part of how Google personalizes your search results. There truly isn't a huge difference, but you could see a different result if you are signed in as opposed to not being signed in.
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RE: Spot.im
It looks like a pretty cool tool. I don't know what kind of affect it will have on your DA or the value of your content. I would imagine the increase in social signals would help, not hurt.
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RE: Description on Google+ & ALL Citations the same or?
Really it is only the name, address and phone number that needs to be consistent. The description should be tailored to the potential audience of that directory.
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RE: How i can make this page more valuable from SEO perspective ???? any suggestion ?
This page needs content, it needs a purpose. I get the theme and goal you are attempting to reach here, it is like a display all categories page. If you want this to rank for something it needs a keyword targeted title tag, a keyword targeted meta description, and keyword targeted content. If someone happens to land on this page from the engine, chances are they are going to bounce right off because it appears really spammy. It doesn't look like anything other than a mini directory, like ask.com or something like that. You have to pick a key term, and target it with the SEO basics, meta data, content, images and some authoritative links.
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RE: Should you allow an auto dealer's inventory to be indexed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZY7EmjbMA - Here is a video on how duplicate content is handled by Google.
Here are my thoughts, it would be better for you because the searcher who types in the specific make and model in your inventory will be able to find it quickly, as opposed to having to click through a site. Theoretically, that is the benefit. It could also be that pages don't rank because all of the content is viewed as duplicate.
I would make the decision based on what is best for the searcher, which would be to have an organic SERP with exactly what they are looking for.
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RE: Duplicate page content
duplicate content can't hurt you in the traditional penalty form. However, it can prevent pages from ranking because Google will only display one page when there are two that look the same. Here is a video from Matt Cutts at Google on how exactly they handle duplicate content.
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RE: Page Name Tracking - Without UTM links
You can set the link for the video or the light box up as a conversion. It doesn't have to be an event conversion. I would use the destination goal instead.
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RE: How do you find out all the keywords Google is ranking you for?
Have you looked at your landing pages report in Google Analytics? I would also check your high performing keywords in AdWords if you have an account with them. You can go into Webmaster tools, into search queries. It will show you how many impressions and clicks you have for terms as well as your average position.
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RE: No Data in Custom Report set to 'Hit' Scope
Did you set it up as an explorer or flat table? Unfortunately setting up the custom reports is a little tricky in GA. Did you look at importing an existing template from the gallery maybe?
If you are using the flat table layout it will decrease your options, but if you use the explorer version you will have to keep clicking to drill down to specifics.
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RE: Can we export Historical Campaign Data
Thanks. I figured as much. I was just recently asked if I could track some of the domain authority changes and I for some reason didn't start exporting my dashboards until October. Thanks for answering!
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RE: PDFs and SEO
It is easier for the user mainly. Secondly, it offers better tracking for analytical purposes.
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RE: PDFs and SEO
Do you also have the PDF available as a form they can fill out on the site and submit without printing it or anything like that? I would create the online form with the option to download a printable version.
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RE: No Data in Custom Report set to 'Hit' Scope
Is this a custom report in Moz or GA?
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RE: PDFs and SEO
It is better to have the content on page as opposed to in a link that has to be clicked to get to. If there are a lot of people who have the same PDF on their site, it is duplicate content and not doing any good anyway.
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RE: Hidden text for Mobile
I really think that it is debatable. You want to have a good user experience so you want to display the text to them in an aesthetically pleasing way, but you don't necessarily want to hide it because that is no good for the engine. When choosing between good for the searcher or good for the engine, I would pick whatever is good for the searcher. Can you add some coding to display it differently on a mobile device, perhaps add the content below the image instead?
As far as penalized, it is hard to say. How is the rest of your content on page? Is it quality? On the grand scheme of things, this could be really small in your overall SEO success. You have to make the decision on what is more important to you, customer or engine.
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RE: Optimizing Product Keywords (that are similar)
Awww, thanks. Glad I could help!
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Can we export Historical Campaign Data
I want to know if there is a way to export data from my campaigns from more than a month ago. My campaigns started in August. I would like to be able to export a PDF of my dashboard for Aug and September. I have Oct and Nov.
Any idea if this is possible?
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RE: What if page exists for desktop but not mobile?
If a URL is labeled a 404 it will not be crawled again unless there is a reason to, you mark it as fixed, or you edit the link in some form or fashion. Mark it as fixed and see if the error comes back. There is no harm in doing this.
Can you get to the page on your mobile device just by clicking through your site? If you can, that is good, it will eventually encourage a mobile bot to crawl it. If you can fetch and render as google, then I would just give it some time. I am not sure if there is a string of code you can add to the head of that page telling the robots that it is a mobile only page. I don't know how that works.
I would just mark it as fixed right now and see what happens over the next couple of days.
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RE: Optimizing Product Keywords (that are similar)
I have a keyword that applies to 18 of my products. 20kW generator. I target this keyterm on all 18 pages in no different variation. The only unique factor on these pages is the brand name. Generac 20kW generator, Cummins 20kW generator and so on.
I don't think you need the slight variation at all. If you want to target both variations of the keyword you can without fear of penalty. If you want to target the same keyword on both pages you can also do that without fear of penalty. Does that make sense?
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RE: Optimizing Product Keywords (that are similar)
As long as the content is unique on both pages I don't see anything wrong with this technically. Do you have two different brands of brown hooded jackets?
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RE: Is tabbed content bad for SEO?
True, but if content in tabs aren't crawled neither are links in tabs. You would want those links crawled. I believe they will be crawled, but I also agree with you that the content should stay on one page.
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RE: Optimizing Product Keywords (that are similar)
What you could get penalized for is having duplicate content that isn't seen as relevant. Keep your copy fresh, unique and informative.
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RE: Optimizing Product Keywords (that are similar)
No, I can't think of penalty that would exist for this.
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RE: Is tabbed content bad for SEO?
Take a look at this discussion:
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RE: Content in Tabs
That video is from 2011 and talks about hiding spammy, hidden text. All it is saying is make it natural.
Anything that isn't done correctly will not be rewarded. That is so important to remember. Keep things natural and don't hide the important stuff. Drop down menus and "read more" links are used on a ton of websites. It isn't something that should be abused, it is a tool to help organize a page and make it look appealing. It isn't supposed to be a way to keyword stuff an area in hopes to rank better.
That is what both this video and this article say. Like any SEO tool, don't abuse it.
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RE: Content in Tabs
Google does recognize that tabbed content can be hidden and doesn't penalize you for it or count it against you in anyway. The content is in the source code, the content is crawled.
Most every responsive design out there has tabs and clickable, expandable content. The important thing is to make sure the content is unique and informative. It shouldn't be given such a negative connotation just because it is called "hiding". The kind of hidden content that doesn't get indexed is keyword stuffed, duplicate and spammy content. That is what gets penalized, not good content that is merely organized to provide an aesthetically pleasing website.
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RE: What if page exists for desktop but not mobile?
Did you look at your Mobile 404 errors? Google uses a different bot for mobile sites and anything related to that mobile page. Chances are, if it isn't reflecting a 404 in the Mobile errors in GWT, it is being indexed properly.
Check it out from you phone. Google the exact keyword and your company name. See if you can get to the page and if it is in fact the correct page.
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RE: Rankings drop - we've added user reviews, are they causing over optimisation on page?
I think that over the past few weeks search traffic itself has declined a little, that is what I meant.
I don't think the age will matter. It will help in the users eyes to show longevity. I have reviews from 1999 on my site
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RE: Move to new domain with new design and url
Usually, the 301 redirect would be set up in the HTAccess file to make sure that the product pages point to the corresponding product pages. It sounds like everything might be pointed to the home page. You don't necessarily want to create duplicate 301s.
Do you think that it would be impossible for the site to rank without the 301 redirects? If they cannot be done correctly I would say don't do them at all. I know that sounds crazy, but with a complete change in domain and having no control over the 301 redirects it might do more harm than good.