NYC-SEO

Personally, I like being listed in ODP/dmoz and believe it is a valuable link. Like anything, you cannot look at it in a vacuum. If this were the only link, it might not be as good as others with authority and less links to you. But, it is recognized as a good link and it cannot be bought. You have to have it submitted (to speed up the process if possible - they do get listed without you submitting) and then hopefully an editor will approve and you get a listing at some point.

We always submit a site after its been up three to six months or with a newer client and an older site, etc. Sometime they end up listed, sometimes they don't. When they do, I think the link is good.

On the paid side, Yahoo Directory is a similar link IMO.

Best,

Robert

Bozzie311

They are tld's with no more or less "weight" than any other. Yes, they are used by professionals to some degree, but they won't outrank a .com of Dr. Jones or vice versa on the tld alone. 
There are currently over 100K registered .pro domains. Most (about half) in US - all from Wikipedia.

As with any of the tld's, it will or won't rank based on other factors.

We handle various professional practices and we have zero .pro domains simply because most had a domain prior to engagement.

Best,

While I woud love to tell you it's easy it is not. You can do all Tom has here and, unless your content is smoking with views, nothing will change. Unfortunately, the ads are there and that is one reason where possible, we do not use YouTube if at all possible. We use Vimeo, etc. depending on the circumstance for the client.

Best

Andrew,

I can understand that you are concerned re the bounce rate, but you are likely over-concerned where you do not need to be. The reason is no site is losing ranking to bounce rate. Yes, there is a very low amount of debate on this, but I do not see it in the day to day and I look over a lot of sites. First, with your WMT settings as you have them, Google knows where your market is.

So, to help you feel better, do this: Take a look at your non UK traffic. Is the high bounce rate coming from there? If so and if the algorithm takes it into account (it does not), then the algorithm also takes into account the bounce is from other than your proclaimed market. (The increase in BR).

Worry about  your traffic in the UK - is it up or down? Is your time on site increasing or decreasing? How many page views are you getting over time? Have you gotten your content to a place where it is not the same descriptions and images as others selling the same furniture? Then, or before, how are you converting? Are your sales good? Increasing? Decreasing?

Last question is this. Assume for whatever reason, that a crazy Yank goes to your site and sees a lovely divan he wishes to purchase and is willing to pay $1,000 to ship it to Texas... Would you let him?

Best to you,

Robert