Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Fredrik,

I loved your point on SSL. I would have missed that. Excellent!

Chandana,

IMO for most sites the meat description is one of the most critical elements in On-page optimization (notice I did not say on-site). When we query a search engine for a product, service, or information and a SERP is returned, for organic search we look at the title and meta description to determine which is either the first to appear to have an answer or the most likely answer to our query.

While many CMS plug-ins have an option for a "site-wide" meta description, that is not the best option on sites with more than a couple of pages. You want a meta description that states: "Here is the best answer to what you searched for: Get it now! Get it Cheap!" (obviously, in a way that reflects your page.) Without showing you have the answer to the query you are going to get less click throughs and therefore traffic to your site.

Even if CTR is not a part of the algorithm, you will not have a chance to sell, etc those who are never getting to your site.

Now, in using the first 155 words you are likely losing an opportunity to sell the overall of the page while making it a bit easier on filling out all that is needed for a page in search. The first few sentences in a paragraph generally are broad and not necessarily speaking to the "answer is here, answer is now, answer is cheapest!" So, we do a lot of web pages and, typically, if I have a complaint with a site on final review, most will be around meta descriptions that fail to show this is where the answer is to the searcher's query.

Hope this provides a bit of assistance,

Robert

As it is now I saw H2 = Category, I would try something like Crewel Wool - Swatches, etc.

To me, the meta description is the most underutilized tool in most web site arsenals. You can do so much with them. So, do that and as you go clean up what you can. It will all help.

Best

One thing you could do from there just to check it out is do a non personalized search.

Guitar+strings &pws=0 and see what shows as serps.

And then here is the image using www and non in link comparison.

O1uxe.png

Simon,

I would personally go with two pages. Knowing you have two distinct types searching for this in two distinct ways, look at traffic for each query and you will likely see enough traffic going to each to warrant strengthening by dividing. 
Do note that you really need to look at better on page SEO as well. That way, you improve your odds of someone finding you and when searching someone coming to your site (no meta description means the search engines are coming up with those for you. By not having H1, H2 , etc. you are missing opportunities to improve your ranking).

Hope this helps,

Robert

James

You could have seen it in a thousand places as it is fairly well written about.

With our clients, we don't have services pages as we want to focus on pages with titles around keywords. So, if they work on Autos, we would have certain categories listed: Front End, Tires, Engines, mufflers, etc.

The same can be said for Home. Many times we substitute the company name for the "home" page.

Best

You can see how many pages google has indexed in GWMT. Log in, Under Dashboard, click on Optimization and then on Sitemaps. It will show you how many pages submitted and how many indexed.

Best

Dan, I know I am older and its early here... but where in this do you have the name of the site...?

I found it in Matt's response link, but where did he get it from??? Also, you are obviously looking at Google.uk I think......

Just trying to remember if I took all my meds.............

That said, here is what I see doing a search from US on Google UK (first image) StringBusters is 6th and stringsDirect is first. 
One thing you may want to try in the future is the Compare Link Metrics in OSE. I also have screen shot here. So, you see at the root domain why stringsdirect would likely be first based link metrics.

Hope this helps a bit

WMQmH.png?1 X1yqK.png

Joram,

Excellent answers here. Thanks,

Robert

Bob,

When you say "...If I click on Manage this page, it takes me to my client Google places dashboard page where I can edit some information.... "

I assume you are editing info within that Google+ account. I also assume when you say it opens "my client Google places" you are talking about the one where YOU have put in all of your clients to manage?

If you logged in as them through their Gmail account and are able to edit, I don't see how your client page would be up??? But, that said, it appears that when you use the back button you are somehow leaving their account which you logged in for and Google is picking up the cookie for your other accounts.

The Google+ account in screen shot is a verified account with Google. What you could try is a different computer without any cookies from your agency.

Best,

Per Google from WebMaster Tools:

"Google treats some ccTLDs (such as .tv, .me, etc.) as gTLDs, as we've found that users and webmasters frequently see these more generic than country-targeted. Here is a list of those ccTLDs (note that this list may change over time)."

Within the list is .co. So, Google treats .co as a gTLD. Eyepaq makes a good point re the UX issues and .com with same domain.

Hell David, I still miss Yahoo Site Explorer.

It is funny how good some of the tools in Google are and how often we go in search of the holy grail only to return.

Best,

David

OSE will not go as deep as the search engines simply due to the level of power they would need. OSE shows the more relevant links. If you want a good picture of the links to your site you should look in Googlewebmastertools (GWMT). In the dashboard you will see traffic, click and look at links to your site.

Hope it helps,

Matt,

I am going to make a suggestion that will likely save you some aggravation. First, I will tell you that with our firm, we are not on this list so it is not an attempt to do anything but show you a better way to find help and to keep you from being inundated by folks wanting to sell you their services - even though that is what you want.

SEOmoz has a list of recommended vendors in marketing (including link building) 

I would use this resource as opposed to posting your need on the Q&A forum. In this way you will be more sure of who is a likely good fit for you. On many forums, groups, etc. i have given up as the result of people shamelessly promoting themselves and jumping all over requests like the one you posted.

Try the link here out and see if you are helped. If not, try a private question to the moz staff as they will have more they can point you toward. If, you try these and it does not work, PM me and I will give you a suggestion (not our firm as we are handling our clients currently and a bit stretched making sure they are served.)

All the best,

Robert

OK, you are now going to be a subscriber, welcome aboard!

The issue is you do not have a preferred domain set in GWMT. Google sees the sub domain (www) and the domain pensacolarealestate.com as two separate sites. An easy fix.

So, go into Google Webmaster Tools to the dashboard, Click on configuration and you will see settings. Click on settings and you will see Preferred Domain as the middle choice. You need to select which you want as the preferred. So, if your www has the most link juice coming to it, make it preferred or if vice versa, make the other preferred.

As soon as your site is reindexed, it will begin to show as a single site. I would bet that within two months that most of the link juice will be transferred to the chosen domain.

Welcome!

All the best,

Nenad,

Without seeing the site it is harder to answer, but if it is possible to have the Schema on the actual product page, I think that would be better for you. Are you saying right now the CMS generates review schema when there is a review for a product? Or you sure you are not just using product Schema??

If you wish to PM me the domain, I will take a look and keep all confidential.

Hope it is a little help,

Robert

EGOL

This may be the best answer I have seen to any question. The beauty of it goes on and on in that anyone in SEO dealing with clients must always ask themselves: Can the client handle the truth and/or understand the explanation?

The explanation is what you just gave and the truth is that no one knows for sure and it will often cost you a lot to get there. The other difficulty for SEO clients is that we live in a world of instant gratification. I have clients who spend a lot with me and regularly ask what they are getting (yes, they get reports, etc.). Interestingly, these same clients will mention they have just authorized a $250,000 TV ad campaign. (Trust me we are a bit cheaper.)

They understand the tv ad no matter what the results; even with excellent results (more and more customers) they have a hard time understanding the SEO.

Egol,

Thanks a bunch for a truly excellent, thought provoking answer.

Robert

First, it is easier if you give out actual domains whenever possible. Next, short of that, try to keep en example exact except in terms of the actual name. Then:

Let's lay it out as you have presented as I want to see if what I think you are trying to accomplish is correct:

You simply want to rank for both home pages so that you are taking up that additional space with your "branded" term. Is that correct?

Assuming that is it, you are concerned that in doing that the homepage/landing page - .com - will have issues as the result duplicate content. Here then is what you are facing:

If the site you are talking of is in anything close to a competitive vertical, you cannot make it happen given all that you have stated to now. The reason(s) are simple:

In a competitive vertical, having a page that has duped content or as in the last suggestion is just a landing page with 'Click Here to Go to Our Brand' there is no way you can rank. In the first, the duped content will dilute what PR/PA you have and you still could be hit with a Penguin or other animal penalty. If you put no content, there will be nothing on the page for anyone and by virtue of that, you wont be able to rank. Yes, you can rank on the other site, but you are back to the same issue as now in that it already ranks.

So, with anything like this it is better to lay all out and decide what it is you really want. You might be much better served to put your efforts into better and better content so that you move up in ranking. By doing that, you will get a higher percentage of users to the site and won't have to go through a lot to make it happen.

Hope we got it clarified for you,

Margaret,

This is not about http:// vs www it is www vs non www. The easiest way to make it work for SEO is to go into Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) and select your preferred domain. Go to GWT, and you will see Dashboard. Below that the second item will be Configuration, click that and you will see Settings as a selection. Click that and the middle item to the right will be Preferences. You can choose between:

Dont set a Preferred Domain.

Display URL's as www.EXAMPLE.com

Display URL's as EXAMPLE.com

Choose which you prefer (if currently you have more authority with the WWW version that is what I would choose.

To further help you, you should use 301 redirect in the .htaccess file in order to capture all the link juice from one version to the other. If you have any questions around the 301, just ask them.

With this you should see the link juice move from the non to the www and increase it in value over time. (Few months)

Hope this helps you out,

I think you are worrying unnecessarily about the content issue. (Even if you were identical in the two pages - .com, .de it is not going to affect every other page of the site) You are using a .de in your example and a gTLD (.com) redirecting to it. Is this a .com redirecting to a ccTLD?

If so, and if the languages are different, it is not an issue. If the language is the same, you simply use a bit of different content and then your links. At that point you are only creating content for the one page and that is easy.

The way you are going about this with meta refresh you are going to create many more problems for yourself than you would if you do it correctly - GWT - and then put a small amount of fresh content.

Best,

My suggestion would be to use review Schema as opposed to review pages.  I am assuming you are using some type of CMS that is giving you a page? We use schema on a lot of different sites and find it invaluable and we believe that Google wants that adoption to take place along with other search engines. Using Schema (or another microformat) you are able to see the review on the product or service page.

Along with what ForzaHost says about reviews ranking higher, I would say that a similar page with review schema will outrank one without any day.

Best

ForzaHost,

One thing you might try is Fetch As Google. In GWT on dashboard you will see health. Under health click Fetch as Google and the drop down will allow you to choose what you want. (Probably Web). You can insert up to 500 directories (one at time to check the results).

Under Fetch as Google, is Index where you can see when the site was indexed, etc.

Hope this is helpful,

This may seem over simplified, but in GWT, they are clear that if you were verified and it appears you are not, then something has changed about the method you used. Big question: did someone move or change it?

That said, here are the GWT common verification errors which are too numerous to list out. GWT breaks them down via verification method used.

Ben mentions using the HTML file and that is fairly common. If you are using the dns verification or meta tag I would suggest trying the HTML verification and seeing if that alleviates the issue. From what you wrote, I would guess you are using the dns verification. (Let us know in order to assist)

Good Luck,

Robert

Zillo,

It is early here and I am pondering... So, your current situation is:

You have OurBrand.com and OurBrand.de (and both have sites associated with them)

When someone searches today, they only see OurBrand.de, but if they put OurBrand.com in navigation bar, they land on OurBrand.de via 301 redirect. With this, if today I search on OurBrand I will not be served OurBrand.com in the SERPs because it is 301 to OurBrand.de.

What you want is to be able to have a search for OurBrand render either OurBrand.com or OurBrand.de or both. Should someone select OurBrand.com from the SERP, they would go to the home/landing page (OurBrand.com) and using a meta refresh be redirected to the .de site.

Since, it is preferable not to use meta refresh tag for redirect, why would you not simply have it set up with a home page just like .de (I am ignoring content issues for this discussion) and a menu that when selected, lands on .de site via 301?

Go to OurBrand.com ... menu has Home, Services, History for example. Such that 'Services' would be a 301 from OurBrand.com/services to OurBrand.de/services.

Then, you could still rank for the OurBrand.com landing page and have pertinent info there, but allow the person to end up on the home site for all else. This way you don't tie them up waiting on a pain in the butt redirect which may cause them to leave the site. (And there are a lot of reasons not to use meta refresh tags).

Lastly, I believe that a meta refresh of '0' is a permanent redirect in the eyes of Google.

Hope this helps, interested in others replies,

Chandana

Assuming the 301 is correctly done (.htaccess file, url to url, etc.) you can still redirect a page to one with a different url. So www.xxxx.com/testimonial.php to www.xyxy.com/about-us/ as an example.

If you have pages with litte or no links and no real value to the new site, you do not have to redirect them if you don't want to.

Hope it helps,

Jim

At this point the only way to use Rank Tracker for geo specific areas is only possible in terms of using the search term and appending the city/locale. Typically, I track for general term: Consumer Banks / Consumer Banks New Orleans, etc. At least this way I feel I have some level of understanding of the searches around the local vs. overall.

I have found (and we use a lot of geo specific terms) that by continuing to track for them over time, we are able to take actions that improve outcomes for our clients. So, for your store, use the local city/area added to the keywords and track it over time to gather quality data.

BTW - your use of the term Global makes me want to say that Local in the keyword tool is US. (If you knew that, I was trying to help).

I hope this helps.

Obvious great source and good info from Mike. 
Thanks Petra,

Happy to help. Keep us posted with how it goes and what you learn.

Best

Yes, it is 'geared' towards ppc, but that should be a small issue. Another step or two will likely get you close to where you want to go.

When I do KW research (we do SEM, so PPC and SEO) for some great clients. You have to put in a max CPC to get the table when using multiple KWs. Ignore that it is PPC.

When table shows after max CPC (if CPC is $20 max go to $21) so that I get the max clicks available. Then, go back to Keyword tool (helps if you duplicate a tab and have them side by side). In the KW tool I add the same keywords but with the state (auto tires and auto tires Texas, replacement tires and replacement tires Texas, so forth) I also do broad and exact match - this gives me a sense of what are people really searching on for a localized client.

Then, I can infer the search traffic from the impressions that show on the traffic estimator by looking at all. Again, you put it in using an  excel file and you can export for the inference piece. No, it is not a perfect tool, but if your list of KW's is not overly long you can at least get a good idea.

hope this helps.

I do not see the english/US dealer links as a problem as they are relevant to what your site is. As to the links from Portugese sites, you might try contacting the english dealers and asking about their connections in Portugal or Brazil. They might be able to assist you. Assuming you speak Portugese, you could start looking for some Portugese blogs that are relevant and let you post with links or post comments with links.

This usually works better once you have made a few good contributions.

I went to dropmylink and see that they allow you to test keyword anchor text for sites that allow links. If you do not speak portugese, translate on babylon, etc.: I used cars for sale, auto sales, etc. and got the following translations:

Carros de vendas, de autopeças para os, concessionários de auto de venda aos, concessionários de auto angola

Using Carros de vendas, Dropmylink returned some fairly good looking sites (I speak passable Spanish, so simply translated using Google translate to English).

Hope this is helpful to you and good luck. I have a good friend who sells heavy equipment in Ghana and Nigeria and the African market is quite interesting.

Luis,

I am going to suggest you find other ways of getting links. Your first line is a major redflag: I am looking for a community eager to exchange links. I believe the folks at Google would see your effort as a scheme to build pagerank... 

Given that I have gone to your site and see you have some decent links and PA/DA, why risk it with taking the easy way out?

Good Luck,

Robert

Good answer David.

Nightwing

Frederick gives some good pointers and here is a little trick to try: Fetch as Google from GWMT

1. On the Webmaster Tools Home page, click the site you want.
2. On the Dashboard, under Health, click Fetch as Google.
3. In the text box, type the path to the page you want to check.
4. In the dropdown list, select the type of fetch you want. To see what our web crawler Googlebot sees, select Web. To see what our mobile crawler Googlebot-Mobile sees, select cHTML (this is used mainly for Japanese web sites) or Mobile XHTML/WML.
5. Click Fetch.

This will likely give you a quick re index and you will know whassup...

Best,

Robert

Welcome to moz Kenneth,

...SEO advice on how/where to build strong links from Portuguese language sites.

The countries I will suggest you will likely know, but are Portugal obviously and Brazil. (My favorite word in Portugese is Porto or Port!) You are using a generic TLD and, "The website is in Portugese,..." I am assuming you have set the geotargeting tool to let Google know you are targeting Angola and not these other countries: Google Webmaster Tools:Multi Regional & Multi Language. I am  also assuming that there is no French or English or Bantu on the site. (Since you are using a gTLD as opposed to a ccTLD, etc.)

You can link from other language sites and so long as you follow the other linking guidelines, you should not have a problem with your links. You do want to insure you are getting Portugese language links though on several levels.

I have not used dropmylink before, but on the face of it, I see no problems. Just remember that if you are getting junk links  you are setting yourself up for pain down the road. I insert this only because they offer up .edu and .gov links and I am not researching anything past the first page of that site. So, if these are known bad links, you will have problems, OK you could have.

Hope this clarifies and assists,

Robert

Sara

In the keywords tool at upper left you will see: Tools, Keyword Tool, Traffic Estimator. Click on the Traffic Estimator. (see Image)

In this, when you click on location you have the option to target by City, state, etc. You will note that once you start you will be given the option of advanced search which will give you a map that is convenient if doing more than a couple of states/cities. If you do some and get a redundant error, it is likely that you left in US and just need to delete it from the search. (this is all fairly straight forward). A caution is that if you have a fairly long list and ran it in KW tool without using a csv/excel file, copy it before going to the Traffic Estimator as it will be lost and you will need to retype.

This should help you in targeting.

All the best,

Robert

6PiJY.png

Petra,

I agree on your last statement. On the restaurant I mentioned, I zoomed in and out later in the day just trying different ways of looking at it and found that if I started at zero, and continued to zoom out, on the third level, the restaurant was there, but on the fourth it disappeared. (the pin stayed, the places label disappeared). Then, on the fifth it miraculously reappeared only to disappear on the sixth. So, something appears to be at play regarding the buildings around a given location and how they are possibly labeled or geographically identified along with use of polygon for shape, etc.

The link that Miriam provided is a great one and I went back to it on her reminder (second thank you to you Miriam for that link). I remembered the mention of the more you edit (approve other's edits) the faster your listing would get places labels. It does seem to work based on our experience anecdotally, but we have not measured it in any way. Again, even that could be a factor in what we are seeing with where labels appear or disappear depending on the distance zoomed in or out.

Thanks for the very cool question...

Robert

Petra,

You get the internationally recognized ?Hmmmmmm? award this morning.

That means when many people see your question they will say to themselves, "Hmmmmmm?"!!

I wish I had a perfect answer for this, but I believe there are actually multiple variables at play here. For those who enjoy learning and/or improving the web, Google MapMaker is a great place to start. This link goes to MapMaker's add a Place page. (those "spots" are called...Places and the icon that is an upside down teardrop - often with a letter in it - is a Marker).

Anyone can edit Google Maps via MapMaker. (All edits are reviewed by others and you cannot review your own edits). One thing you can do is change the shape of something on a map like an area (e.g. a park, stream, etc) or a building. If an editor has used the line drawing feature to change the shape of a feature, that could potentially affect what shows at a given level of zoom. IMO, another thing that could affect what does or does not show at given levels of zoom would be how often that place is searched for, linked to, and/or clicked on. Also, has it been edited by outside editors and then approved? If it has, I would think that site would show more at broader zoom levels than a similar business which had not been edited, especially if there are a lot of places in that given area.

One I tested that proved out: With similar businesses, where one has verified the listing and one has not, the verified listing will stay longer as you zoom further out. (Even with restaurants where the non verified had over 500 reviews and the verified had less than 100 reviews, the verified stayed while the other disappeared).

You also provided me a new mechanism for determining who is or is not an owner verified listing. Thanks!!!

I hope this helped and I urge all to explore Google Map Maker as it really is a COOL TOOL!!

All the Best,

Robert

If the top row goes away or is incorporated that is a good start.

I would take your site map (which is currently a bit scary) and see how you could logically redesign the flow. If you would like, you may give it a go and PM me, I will take a look and have a developer do same and make a few suggestions that may help.

BUT - Do not forget the Meta descriptions.

Hope it helps you out,

And I would send you a great article and beg for a link from your great site!

Mark,

OK, found the url using non personalized search. So, your home page is the ranking page. (As is your competitors).

When you search using non personalized search you have your one and two competitors both with site links. This tells me there is something happening that makes Google feel as if these links will assist searchers, etc. You cannot get site links by asking.

So, when I look at your site vs. the other two, the number one is UGLY. The number two is not. Yours is not.... but, look at the meta descriptions. For me, (a former bass fisherman) when I read #1, they state they are the oldest site, they reach anglers everywhere and provide detailed fishing information and direction...

#2 meta desc. states: Kayak Fishing Magazine is an online kayak fishing magazine and international_kayak fishing_ community bringing you kayak fishing stories, fishing kayak reviews.

Yours states: Kayak fishing ultimate resource, YakAngler offers fishing forums, _kayak fishing_community, articles, reviews and more.

IMO, a fisherman will be less interested in forums and community and more interested in what fishing info can you give me, what can you tell me about gear, etc.

I am not saying that you do not have a robust community or that they won't participate. I am simply talking about what drives them to the site initially. Your meta description does not cause me to want to do anything. My guess would be you have a very low click through rate.

Also, on the site, the menu structure is not in the least helpful IMO if I am an angler looking for a rain suit, or fishing instruction, or kayak instruction. Home, Forum, Yaksocial, articles, resources, store.
Sorry, that is not going to get you site links IMO.

This is a blog that has been turned into a site with products and social and forum...

When I click on Articles and see the News reviews and other info, the boxes below are what I would have expected to see in the home page menu bar.

I think you have an architecture problem. Everything else is good overall. Good content, images, etc.

Use good meta desc to get them to the site and where they land has to compel them to go further into the site. This doesn't.

Hope this helps,

Robert

I would think you are going to a lot of trouble for little return unless, on the various domains you have they are reasonably high DA, etc. If they are new, what is the point?

As to will Google, etc. find out? Uhhh, unless you are just really good at using multiple analytics accounts, etc.

Let us know how it works out for you...

Best,

For me, Davinia hits the perfect resource for determining what is appropriate or inappropriate.

But, I think then you have to ask the question of intent. So, a small family business that is short on resources picks the junior son to do SEO because he knows more about computers. He buys some links, etc. Was he engaging in "black hat SEO?" I think not.

As to a large SEO firm doing the same... Well my opinion is different. So ask the question to the SEO firm this way:  How long have you been doing SEO? Have you had a professional on our account or is the person you have new to the industry? If I wanted to buy some links or establish a link wheel, etc. will you help me with that?

If they answer all of those questions as they should if they are proclaiming light derby status (got tired of the black hat), and they did what you say, you then ask this question: So, there are (your examples here) on the site. Given that, was it because you really do not know SEO or is it that you lied about doing things outside of GWT guidelines?

At that point, you have at least made them look in the mirror.

Unfortunately, we spend too much time on good guys vs bad guys. (Yes, I am guilty of it). I think this is driven from two areas: First, many of us look for the easy answer in our endeavors before we look for the best answer. The easy answer in SEO is, frankly, often manipulation of the tools, etc. The other area that drives this back and forth is that we all are stakeholders in various sites. All of a sudden we realize someone is ahead of us for the keyword we love and we are incredulous; we then look to find out how they cheated to get there. Again, I am guilty too.

Good question,

While you can have a 301 for the www to non or non to www (this is sometimes referred to as the "canonical redirect or setting the canonical domain), the easiest way is to go into GWMT (Google webmaster tools) and set the preferred domain. Here is the explanation from Google webmaster tools.

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44231

If you are like me, you learn by doing; but, you must be careful with some of this as you can cause yourself problems. You are doing the right thing by being a pro member with SEOmoz as you can learn a ton here (I certainly have). If your site is important to you, you do want to be careful with making some of the changes you are as you can end up with a site that is not ranking as it is not seen by the bots.

Best of luck, read everything on GWMT, etc.

JaneVO

If you take a look at all you could do within SEO in terms of having your branded site rank, where would using a 301 redirect to a site with brand + one keyword rank in terms of return on effort and resources?

All to often in SEO, I see us trying to use a single device to change an outcome; wouldn't we be better served to understand the broader picture, evaluate all the options, then focus our resources on those mechanisms that give us the highest return? Do you believe that a single keyword with the brand will return more to you than:

initiating product Schema if you do not already have it,

insuring that you have set your meta descriptions to captivate the searcher and bring them to your site,

insuring that in an eCommerce site you have pages that are not duplicates of all others selling the same product,

learn enough about analytics to know how to measure your results in a way that allows you to make outcome changing modifications

create a great blog that captures great links,

develop infographics around your brand that speak to the buying audience and provide links to the site and products,

Believe me when I tell you that I can keep adding to this list for another hour. You are the only one who can take a step back, survey your niche, and develop a plan of action that cuts away the low return items and maximizes the return on effort and resources.

Think about it,

Robert

I agree on the whole. The issue with Penguin and Panda that most do not see is that they actually affected a very minor percentage of sites. According to who you read, approximately 10 to 12% of English speaking queries were affected by Panda and, as of the last I read, Penguin was around 3 to 4%. 
So, the chances you were really affected (remember its percentage of queries, not sites/pages) are small.

So, we have not seen any negative effect on our clients and do not perceive any grossly positive effect either. Our SEO has not changed. We constantly strive to be up to date in our approach and we still believe content will rule the day - but not for the reasons many seem to think. I do not believe it is because of what Google does, I believe people come to the place they get their answers and they tell others.

Best to you David,

Highland,

I understand what you are saying, but fear it draws some poor conclusions.

While you can give attribution, that will not protect you if you are using someone else' copyrighted material for a commercial enterprise. Attribution, like with an infographic for example is more of an Internet term of art.

If, given the broad question Sara asked, they use someone's material in a way that could be construed as an endorsement of their fan page, there will be a problem. The bigger issue is not even penalty or being scared. If it is not yours, why would you use it without permission? Yes, there are ways you can use it with attribution, but the question is overbroad to say that it is perfectly acceptable. A big question for me,  based on your answer, is how is a commercial Fan Page on Facebook different than a website?

Best,

Arpeggio

First, you state you have one 301 going to the www sub-domain. So, you used a 301 to redirect the www to the non www (in preference for the non www)? Did you set a preferred domain in GWMT? (I am concerned that you may have created an infinite loop the way you did this in C-Panel.)

Given the way you stated that and your desire to use C-Panel for the 301, I am going to suggest that you may want to seek a small amount of outside help. What you are wanting to do should be done using mod_rewrite by adding .htaccess code. If that is more than you are aware of, if you are redirecting a site with a lot of pages, you really should get some help from someone. Sit next to them and learn or do it via online meeting and learn.

I hope this helps you out,

Robert