If you are saying you have 75k links from your domains cross linking then I would agree. Product websites have been under attack for awhile now.Tough one.
Posts made by Thos003
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RE: Best strategy for "product blocks" linking to sister site? Penguin Penalty?
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RE: Best strategy for "product blocks" linking to sister site? Penguin Penalty?
In my opinion, linking from sister sites can be done if the links are useful. Seomoz.org links to Mozcast.com. I link from my offsite blog to my main site. I believe that when the link is relevant then you can link it over. If the links are footer or done by a program that links all "key-word" mentions to the other site then it looks bad. The best place for links is in the content and where it is relevant. Diversify the anchor text. Make it more natural. Your hosting on these sites could also be affecting your linking. Are all the links from the same IP address? Are all of links coming form within your 3 sites?
There are many other reasons your rank could be dropping. Duplicate content, thin content, bad links.. For most product websites it seems that the product description is either too thin, or duplicate from all the other product descriptions for that item online. How unique is your product content?
When ever I approach a poor performing website, I try to evaluate all the onsite elements first. After I've fixed all of the onsite elements then I will look at linking problems.
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RE: How to set up a 301 redirect
As Streamline mentioned, you can go to your htaccess and set up the 301. However, if you are on a windows server it may not be that easy. You can find most of your 301 redirect questions answered by google.
If you do not see or have access to the htaccess file then you can create it in notepad and FTP it to your site directory.
If you are using wordpress then there is a plugin for adding it. ..although I believe the more recent versions my include it already.
You should also consider reading this article in it's entirety: http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/redirection
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RE: How do I retrieve crawl and ranking data about a site from the past?
An account with SEOmoz does give you historical ranking information... but only from the time you created your account. There is no system that will give you historical rankings from a date prior to beginning the ranking log. There are other factors you could use to determine if your site was hit and possibly determine a loss in ranking. General traffic loss would be the prime indicator. If your traffic took a huge dive when penguin went live then you can likely attribute that loss to the update.
As far as keywords go, you can compare keyword traffic to your site before and after the date. Sadly "Not Provided" can skew this data. You would need to look for changes greater than the "Not Provided" average. Most changes, however, are based on so few numbers that the margin for error is pretty high.
Honestly your best bet is to look at pre and post penguin traffic. I have a site that dropped by half. Conclusively a penguin attack.
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RE: Dodgy link profiles?!?!
You did say you were working on a "Pharma" site right? What other types of viagra sites exist besides spam sites?...
Kidding aside, sites may rank in spite of their poor link profiles. Links are not everything. They are a lot, but not everything. If the sites are old enough and perform well enough, their history may outweigh the updates. If you don't want to follow the crowd then better for you. Your very own diversified link portfolio is better than trying to match another site's. Go for links a spam site can't get. Get quality Edu links. Put out quality content. Go for long tail search and rankings. Watch your site slowly pick up speed. It's a slow road, but has sure footing.
Or follow the crowd and go for that automated link building. Just remember, if you want a quick road to the top then you can expect a rapid decent as well.
Disclaimer, either approach could fail, either could win. Know your risks.
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RE: Server Migration, Does it effect SEO?
No language change on the servers. I know I shouldn't be worried but hey, it's my baby. All grown up and going off to a college of her own now...
The upgrade should help with site speed so I am hoping that I might get a boost.
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RE: Server Migration, Does it effect SEO?
Good to know that the SEO isn't harmed if there are no errors... I can see how a site missing the htaccess could be damaging. Ouch.
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Server Migration, Does it effect SEO?
About to go through a server migration. My intitial thought is that a change in servers shouldn't really change my rankings. But I've heard rumors...
Can a server migration change rankings? Why?
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RE: Weird 404 Errors in Webmaster Tools
Google is finding text URLs on sites with limited characters. It's a google crawl problem.
SiteX refers to your article: http://yourdomain.com/blog/austin/steve-rides-to-the-alamo but they hit a charater limit of say 40 characters so they print the URL as "http://yourdomain.com/blog/austin/steve" but link it correctly. Even with a correct link, google will read the text and crawl it the way the text is printed, not linked. Or this happens if it's not linked at all and just a shortened text URL.
To sum it up... Google's got a problem and scrapper sites that chop up URLs are feeding the bots crap. If however the linking domain is a good one and you'd like to take advantage of this little error, then you create a redirect rule on your website for the 404 page.
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RE: If I want to rank well on one keyword would it be better to optimize multiple pages on the website for the keyword or should I only optimize one page for that keyword?
One page.
But you could use multiple pages to keep it a consistent theme on the website. If you want to rank for Shoes, then you create one page for shoes. Then create other pages more specific to say running shoes, or dress shoes, but link them back to your shoes page.
In a perfect SEO world...
sub pages = Running Shoes | Dress Shoes | Snow Shoes
All linking back to the Shoes.com homepage, optimized for Shoes.
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RE: Duplicate Page Title & Content Penalty On Website Tonight Platform
I would have stopped at "Website tonight".
You can check Google itself to see if they are indexing both. Just search for both pages.
I believe that website tonight would allow you to add meta tags, so you could try using a canonical tag.
Overall this is probably a minor SEO error. Build all your links to one of the two and Google will figure it out.
And GET AWAY FROM WEBSITE TONIGHT!
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RE: Two different canonical tags on one page
You should certainly fix this. You don't want google having to guess what you are trying to tell them. For the most part they will probably get it right, especially in your case with the 404s. But if this is occurring too frequently then they may begin to ignore your canonicals all together. Or worse, you may loose some google trust.
I'd put this on my fix it list.
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RE: Canonical solution for query strings?
Adding in the canonical tag for each page should solve this problem. We use query strings as well for tracking sources and referrers. Canonicals are a solid solution for what you described.
But the fact that Google is finding that URL is another problem. If Google continues to find the URL after your canonical insertion then you may want to 301 redirect that particular string.
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RE: Omitting URLs from XML Sitemap - Bad??
I ran my site with an incomplete site map for years and didn't seem to have a negative effect. I feel that any site map is better than no sitemap. Sitemaps are such a small part of the SEO equation. What they are most useful for is telling Google what to crawl. Beyond that, I don't believe they have much relevance in passing authority.
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RE: Keep the blog separate or incorporate into main domain?
I've got a separate blog site. There are benefits to both scenarios. The reason I have chosen to keep them separate is so that I can post content from other bloggers and contributors and not worry about the content being officially endorsed by Bulwark.
If you do move it over to your main site, you can easily export the wordpress site and all it's content to a sub-folder and then do a 301 redirect rule from your old blog. It is probably ideal to have them all on one site so long as the company wants to take claim for all the content written there.
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RE: Depreciated content - Canononical, 301, or noindex?
I wouldn't advise a canonical. That's not really the purpose of canonical tags. If the page isn't ranking or has no real value then a no-index isn't going to hurt you. What you really need to decide is if the old page is still relevant and useful. If it isn't relevant or useful any longer than you should 301 redirect it. If the content is similar and still relevant, but you don't want it to compete with the new content then you no index it. If the content is relevant and significantly different then you may want to leave it live and link to the new page.
Without seeing the content this is hard to determine, but guessing where you are trying to go with this I'd say a 301 sounds most appropriate.
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RE: Canonical Tag being ignored?
Thanks Ben. Very annoying how Google does that.
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RE: Canonical Tag being ignored?
Thanks. It is likely #2 with a combination of more external links going to that page.
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RE: Local Search Results Tanked My 1st Page Ranking
So if you had to pick just one or the other you'd prefer the non-map result...
If that's the case then change the URL in your local listing to different page. You may lose your map. It may come back. But at least you get your preferred listing.
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Canonical Tag being ignored?
I have a blog post I created and added a canonical to that page, yet the blog post is the one showing in Google's results and not the canonical version. Why is this?
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RE: Local Search Results Tanked My 1st Page Ranking
Interesting test and question.
I've noted for a long time that Google will typically put the same URL either in the maps or on the page, but rarely both.Since the maps are part of the mixed results, the mix only allows the URL to appear once. You can however rank two separate URLs.
Part of the ranking factors within local are SEO related, so creating a microsite may not allow you to rank in the maps. Honestly, I don't think microsites are a best practice here. Plus, linking back to your main site with a bunch of microsites may appear to google as a "network". That could be bad for both micro and main site.
Proceed with caution if you must proceed. Trying to "over optimize" could cause you to loose all your first page rankings. I am a bit curious why you feel you need both. Has your traffic changed since being in the map section?
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RE: Canonical URL tags help I am not sure what this is
The canonical isn't really for feeding google URLs in the a preferred format, it's more for cleaning up duplicate content issues.
Let's say I could track traffic and conversions on my website by adding a source code to a link. So I create a link on SEOmoz. You can reach my page www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/pest-control.php with the url string http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/pest-control.php?src=seomoz and that link is now indexed by Google. Well now I have duplicate content and google must decide which page get's placed into their index. Adding a canonical to the main page
<link rel="<a class="attribute-value">canonical</a>" href="http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/pest-control.php" />
, tells google which page they should place in their index and it helps me avoid splitting my links.
This also applies heavily to shopping carts where the parameters in a URL determine the content, and products that overlap in categories can cause duplicate content issues. Creating canonicals will help avoid indexing issues.
So the point to canonicals is to determine what URL gets indexed and gets the juice for links when there are duplicate content issues created by varying URL stings that lead to the same content.
If you are simply trying to fill in a canonical for a URL to get a "A grade" on a SEO checklist then you will just create the canonical for each page using the exact URL for that page.
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RE: Wordpress post templates
Great concept. Never thought of trying this through Wordpress. I have a few set site templates that I teach beginners how to use. Makes the layout consistent and the content clean. But again, never tried this with wordpress.But I have found that Yola works well for this.
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RE: Backlinks on FB and Twitter?
I am guessing you wanted a little more than just a "Yes". So let me assume you are only asking about back links from FB/Twitter profiles.
There is certainly worth in the backlinks, what that worth is varies. But you can check your linkscape to find that twitter links are very trusted. Facebook on the other hand may not give you the same SEO benefit. But in regards to facebook, if you have followers then taking the 20 seconds to fill in the link info is worth the 20 seconds of labor. For no other reason than if people search for you on facebook you can lead them to your website.
Hope that helps.
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RE: Are Google now indexing iFrames?
I have noticed content within iFrames being indexed by google and text within those iFrames being attributed to the page/url that is hosting the iFrame. Not sure how often this applies. I avoid iFrames.
Merchant Circle uses them and their pages get credit for content in them.
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RE: Re-Direct
Its a great discussion. I doubt that Google or Bing will give us a real answer.
But if you can forward negative SEO then we are in a heap of trouble.
As far as testing this, I say go for it. Mr. Cutts says that if you get an algo penalty and you undo it then the penalty is undone.
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RE: Re-Direct
If the penalties carry over and it's an algorithmic penalty then simply undoing it would undo the penalty. From what I hear the penalties don't carry through a 301 redirect. If you are worried about penalties then it would be best to make the 301 redirects and not notify google through webmaster tools of the site move.
Logically, if 301 redirects could carry penalties over then we would have a whole new set of nasty tricks happening. Could you imagine being able to simply redirect a few websites to take down a competitor?
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RE: Does Google Read Javascript?
Matt says that Google can read some javascript...
Danny Sullivan speculates that they will be able to see those links:
http://searchengineland.com/google-can-now-execute-ajax-javascript-for-indexing-99518
But in my opinion, if you want your links to be seen without a doubt, don't put them in java.
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RE: A Client Changed the Link Structure for Their Site... Not Just Once, but Twice
Have you tried creating a redirect rule for each of the folders? From you example above the "post-name" has remained consistent. Therefore if you create a redirect from each folder then you should see a proper resolution with just appending the "post-name"
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RE: For Newbies! | Matt Cutts on "How does Google use human raters in web search?"
I haven't made my final decision yet, but leaning toward Search Exchange since it is in one of my cities.
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RE: For Newbies! | Matt Cutts on "How does Google use human raters in web search?"
I'm pretty sure that their document for human rating is still floating around the internet somewhere....
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RE: How well is your Internet marketing working for your business?
Well Alan, that is fairly specific numbers on your sites, and if you are hitting 95% occupancy then it sounds like a success, albeit I don't know your time/value on the online marketing.
You will find at some point, diminishing returns on your marketing efforts. How much time and how successful you can be with internet marketing depends entirely on your business model and the industry you are promoting.
As for me, a pest control guy, I've found that I only have so much money with which I can invest, i.e. market. Yellowpages still have a return, if that return fits your model then it could still be a good form of advertising. While the phonebook may have good returns, online marketing has better returns. If I have limited money and can buy a customer for $1 then why would I pay $10 for the same customer? If I had unlimited money, then I would buy all of the $1 and $10 customers that I could. (theoretical figures)
Sorry that's a long answer... in short, I believe that most marketing attempts have some return, its a matter of figuring out what the return is and how much it's worth to you. I personally love SEO.
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Okay, I need your help, If I say "Social Media" what 3 websites would you think of first?
Please put them in order. Thanks!
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RE: 301 Redirect - What happens to backlinks
There are many individuals that claim redirecting these sites will filter out the crap links. They juice up a site, then 301 it. My suggestion would be to test it. If the penalty is algo based and if you get hit with this penalty after your 301 then simply undo it and the penalty should go away. I don't believe it's a manual audit. Or you listen to google and start removing the unnatural links. Or you take Donnie's approach if you want to build a new, longer standing web presence.
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RE: Google Analytics - New account creation broken
I was having issues with Google Analytics accepting my webmaster tools verification. Similar, I'd hit the button and nothing happened. Tried different browsers. No go. 3 days later it worked.
This probably doesn't help much, but I'm guessing its a glitch. Have you tried reporting this on the webmaster forum?
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RE: Edu discount pages fair game?
The TLD alone does not determine the value of the link. There are some pretty spammy .edu links out there. For the most part .EDUs gain google's trust because of the quality content and number of inbound links to them as a reference. Avoid spammy .edu pages. Get links from good forums on .edu's, or discount pages where it makes sense.
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RE: Forwarding Empty URLs to Homepage for SEO & Old Backlink Salvaging - Is there any value or risk?
I'd would 301 them. It's not going to hurt you. It could help you. The best value you would get for these would be if there were links to those domains, then some of that link juice would be passed on.
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RE: Is anyone experiencing a large number of reviews disappearing in Google Places?
I have only lost a few reviews as of late, but I have lost hundreds of reviews along the way.
From my experience, Google does not remove reviews based on IP address. I could clarify this, but it's a long story, I was not spamming the reviews.
What trips the google review filter?
- Having considerably more reviews than others in like industry.
- Sharp increase in reviews.
- Increase in reviews followed by a review drop.
They are pretty vague in their statement, "exhibit spammy behavior". For the most part, I have yet to see them remove all reviews by simply reporting fake reviews. Say the reviewer has posted 3 reviews about the same company, but in 3 different locations, you may have those few reviews removed if the reviewer is deemed spammy, but not a bunch of reviews.
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RE: Social Media Approaches for a Pest Control Company
First off, social media for pest control companies isn't nearly as sexy as social media for a taco stand. So any ideas of glitter and glamor are going to be as helpful as a rainbow colored unicorn. Just wanted to get that off my chest before diving in here.
How I see social media as a pest control guy:
1- Maintaining conversations about interesting pest control subjects.
2- Building relationships with current customers.
3- Building relationships with current employees.
On Facebook after establishing a fan base you can use paid advertising to friends of fans, using fans as endorsements. But don't expect huge returns here. It's more building awareness and trust. You will most likely not see Facebook as a last touch for sales. And it's hard to track the first touch.
Funny videos can build links, but I wouldn't consider them great for building trust. I prefer the class nerd image over the class clown image. Nerds are allowed to make jokes, but your know for being smart, not for being funny.
Lastly, check out http://www.familyownedpestcontrol.org we have just launched this lead sharing network, no cost to you.
And if you want to guest post on blogpestcontrol.com I could probably get you in.
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RE: How much to change to avoid duplicate content?
If it doesn't pass copyscape.com then it won't get past the search engines. It's best to hire a content writer, or have the businesses write their own content. Either way, checking copyscape is always a good idea.
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RE: Links from Real Estate Websites Link Page, Do or Don't?
Good example. If there is a business case to do it offline then it should be allowed online.
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Links from Real Estate Websites Link Page, Do or Don't?
It seems that real estate sites have at times been under heavier scrutiny from the search engines. But real estate agents get networking, which makes acquiring those links a little bit easier. Plus with localization of search, I think real estate sites may give off a good GEO scent.
Should SEO's go for links from real estate websites?
Does a reciprocal link devalue said links?