Hi Donna

Thanks for sharing the link to the Q+A about this question - my confusion was in the language of "site" vs "page".

"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 we are talking about one "page" with multiple links, then I can understand Google's counting one link from that page (although again, this is the first time I am hearing about it), but "site" is a harder pill to swallow for me in only counting one link - hence my confusion.

I would also ask why do you need multiple links from one page pointed to your site? To me, if that's happening multiple times across different websites, this could potentially trigger spam filters and look like a link scheme or manipulative link building, especially if linking pages are irrelevant to your content or website, or over-optimized anchor text.

Just my thoughts - good luck!

Hi Erik

There a ton of reasons for getting a manual action - bad, thin, or duplicate content, spammy link building tactics, or more - if you have one, I suggest you see what type of manual action it is, and act accordingly.

Now, for your link in the navigation, there could be potential for that link to be considered spam, although I don't see it being super likely. The reason being, it will be recorded as coming from every page that the top navigation appears on your site, and it's not topically relevant to celebrity news.

What I would do instead is link to the site through content opportunities with branded anchor text, or developing a page that is dedicated to sister sites or company websites. Although you will have to be careful and not link to 100 websites or go overboard.

You also have to consider that another website linked to in your top navigation could potentially be a bad user experience as it is inconsistent.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!

Hi there

King - if you're looking for a company to assist you in the domain name of your website, check out the Recommended List from Moz. There are a ton of great companies in that list.

While I will say that I still do not agree in making your domain keyword heavy (preferably sticking to brand and business name), I must say that you are asking a pretty loaded question for the Q+A section, as naming or renaming a business is something that is conversation for you and your team outside of Moz; it's not a question for strangers that have nothing to do with your business and how it functions - be careful!

To me, www.mmos.com seems totally fine - as long as your market the website name as such and are consistent in your business listings and citations. Again, as far as renaming, that's a question I do not want to touch, personally.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!

Hi there

I am not entirely sure I have ever heard that rule before - can you source that?

1. First, you have to figure out if the links are follow or nofollow. Follow meaning they pass value or nofollow meaning that more often than not, they don't. There's a common misconception that you only want follow links - this is simply not true. Even if a link is a nofollow link or not passing any equity, it's still potentially valuable from multiple standpoints. All links can provide value, by the way, it's not limited to just one link.

2. Yes, if where the backlink is pointing to is relevant to the content on your website. For instance, if the link is linking from a page about lawn mowers to a page on your site about toaster ovens, I wouldn't consider that a valuable link because it's not relevant. Does that make sense?

3. I suggest you read Google's stance on link schemes, as paid links are something that they have heavily cracked down on. I would suggest that you nofollow the link pointing to your website to avoid any unintended repercussions. I would also suggest you take a look at this Whiteboard Friday post to learn more about how paid media investments can have SEO value - you just have to be smart about it!

I have to say this though - don't "link build" with the intention of boosting rankings. I know that's an odd thought but you have to remember that any link you acquire should be done with the intention of adding value to that link and the user that is arriving because of it. Stay away from heavy anchor text or site-wide backlinks as you could obtain a manual action for attempting to manipulate Google's algorithm.

I also suggest you read Moz's The Beginner's Guide to Link Building - there are a ton of great resources and tactics in there that can help you stay on the right side of the track.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!

Hi Justin

I honestly do not know - I am not a web developer and can't speak to your question here. I am just going based on this looks a little odd to me and different than the best practices format.

Sorry I can't be of more help to this particular question!

Hi there

Yes, based on the location and their IP, you can redirect users to the proper webpage they are supposed to see.

I will reference a great answer from Dirk about this that you can read here. I learned a lot from this, as my answer in the thread is obviously wrong.

Another source Dirk references is this blog post from Matt Cutts - check it out.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!

Hi Justin

I would read through this resource from Moz.

I also have to ask, is there a reason why your description is at the back of your tag? Example...

name='description'>

I would check your meta description tags and make sure that they are following the proper format.

Now, I am not saying this is the issue, but I would be interested to see you try it out and see what happens after Google crawls and reindexes your site; I would also use quotations rather than apostrophes, but that's just me being OCD about sticking to the suggested formats.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi there

I don't think it will hurt you from a SEO standpoint as long as you are staying on top of comments ensuring there is no spam or off topic comments. I would make sure that all links in comments are nofollowed (but give yourself to manually remove this if the content is trustworthy) and that they are relevant to the topic.

These sorts of things can potentially trip spam filters in algorithms, so too much of these items happening could hurt your SEO. As long as you are top of it, you should be fine - if anything, it will show you have integrity in making sure your site is providing a valuable experience.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi again

If you want to focus more on the Australian site and the NZ site isn't where you want to place efforts, then you can redirect it - but I would URL map it properly so that pages on the NZ site find their corresponding pages on the AUS site.

But that is ultimately up to you to decide - if the return is not there and you want to focus on one site, then redirect and make sure all pages find their new home. I would also update relevant citations and back links.

I would personally optimize both and put efforts in if you think potential is there - it's just a better user experience - especially for different regions, local search, and audiences.

Hope this helps!

Hi there

I would keep both if you serve two separate regions - that way you can build content and have sites directed to that target audience.

I would take a look at hreflang tags for Google and language tags for Bing. You are also able to country target for both Google and Bing Webmaster Tools if you have separate profiles set up for your sites (which you should!) You should also look into local citations for these websites - I like Whitespark, and it works for both Australia and New Zealand.

Another couple resources for your to check out:
International SEO (Moz)
The International SEO Checklist (Moz)
5 Dos and Don'ts of International SEO (Moz)

There is a lot of information here but it will definitely help you. If you have two regions that you do business for and have unique value to add to each, then I suggest keeping both variations and making a targeted marketing strategy for both - this will help you rather than redirecting your New Zealand audience to an Australian site where it's targeted to Austrailians.

That's my two cents - I hope this all helps! Good luck!

Hi Bob

If you legitimately do international business and have partnerships across the world, I would imagine they don't have an issue with it as long as your are staying relevant and on topic with your listings.

I would check these out:
International SEO (Moz)
The International SEO Checklist (Moz)

Hope this helps! Good luck!

^ VERY nice, Dirk!

Hi there

1. Here are a couple of resources: Moz and HotDesign 2. Pure Spam: What Are Google Penalties & What to Do to Recover from Search Engine Watch and this Q+A thread from Moz
3. I would go through your subdomains - find the ones that are blatant spam or thin with content and remove them. I would then make sure that they are blocked in your robots.txt.
4. I would say because Wordpress is the top used CMS in the world and a lot of reputable websites use it.

I would really work on the spam features for your product - looking for IPs that continually create websites, thin content, cloaking, off topic websites, link farms, etc. It's your duty as a CMS to watch how your users use the product. Not only will it keep your product's reputation clean, it will also show that you are taking steps to run a product with integrity.

Hope this all helps - good luck!

Hi Bob

Take a look at Whitespark. According to their FAQ page, they do citations for Holland.

I would also take a look at competitors and also see what kind of opportunities or partnerships that they are taking advantage of. You can use this resource from Moz on the subject.

Here are some other helpful resources:
How to Have a Successful Local SEO Campaign in 2015 (Moz)
The 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors (Moz)
How to Perform the Ultimate Local SEO Audit (Moz)

Hope this all helps! Good luck!

I updated my first answer to point out my error - thanks again!

Hi everyone

Oh wow! I can't believe I missed that! I stand 100% corrected - thanks so much guys, I am sorry about that!

Looks like you should be all good then!

Thanks again for pointing this out - cheers everyone

Hi there

Are you saying that your hreflang tags are in your sitemap? If that's the case, that's not the proper implementation. THIS IS IN FACT NOT CORRECT AS POINTED OUT BY ahyde & MattAntonino BELOW

These tags are supposed to live in the tag of the page(s) which are region and language targeted.

I would read into hreflang tags and make sure that you have the proper implementation. You should also look at language tags for Bing.

I would also take a look at this chart for guidance and make sure that your international pages have language/region specific content - if you're not changing the language, then the tag isn't really necessary. I would instead focus on canonical tags, setting up Webmaster Tools accounts for each region variation directory or subdomain, and country targeting those profiles to their separate regions in Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.

I would also take a look at the following resources as well:
International SEO (Moz)
The International SEO Checklist (Moz)

Let me know if this helps - I hope I am understanding - good luck!