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I've never heard of displaying javascript analytics code via CSS.  You need to either edit header.php, index.php, or footer.php and paste the code directly into one of those template files.  I recommend header but I've seen it at the beginning or end of index.php and I've seen it in the footer.

The best place to insert the analytics code is in the header.php file so it loads when the header loads.  Some people recommend putting it in the footer but if you are using the asynchronous version of the analytics code then you don't need to put it in the footer.

If you find the directory useful as a user then it's safe to get a link there.  If you wouldn't use the directory yourself it's best to just steer clear of it.  I can't imagine many situations in which you would want more than 10 niche directory links because there just aren't that many quality directories any more.

Shopping cart recovery services I've heard good things about is UpSellIt.  You can also run retargeting ads to serve display banners with offers like "Come Back & Save 20% Use Coupon Code XYZZZ."  I've found retargeting to produce positive ROI consistently.

I'm not sure I understand the question about the best ecommerce converting sites?  Conversion rates vary drastically by vertical/niche so if you are having conversion issues you should probably have someone help with a usability analysis and some conversion rate optimization tips.  I highly recommend using Visual Website Optimizer to A/B test your changes before pushing forward any new variations of your site.

I agree with both of the earlier responses.  Commenting to build relationships is valuable and doesn't carry much risk.  Commenting with anchor text or with bullshit responses is spammy and will not help you build relationships which should be your primary objective when commenting.

I wouldn't take this risk unless the much-better-brand-name-url.com is an exact match domain of a high volume keyword.  The only other time I would recommend making this change is if you foresee significant investment in brand building, ie. PR or other activities that will actually create a memorable brand.  If you aren't investing in the brand heavily and are more reliant on keyword based traffic then I would not recommend 301ing.

Although its not typical to lose a lot of value when 301ing you do stand the chance that something could go wrong and not to mention it's usually quite a bit of work to map out all the redirects.

In my honest opinion the return on effort here is not worth the risk.

You shouldn't have more than 50% of your links anchor text optimized.  By and large your top anchor text should be your brand/compnay name, website url, or brand + keyword.

I wouldn't recommend continuing to "over" optimize your anchor text because you do risk getting a penalty with that strategy.  If I were you I would use opensiteexplorer and run a link profile of the top ranking sites for your keywords and get a feel for how many anchor text optimized links they have for the targeted keyword and also look at the % of brand/company anchor links vs total links to get an idea of a good mix to help you rank.

Hope this helps!

I wouldn't recommend rel=canonical because these pages aren't the same content.  One is just the image while the main page is the entire article.  If you rel=canonical all of your image urls you could end up hurting yourself in Google image search to some degree.

Thanks for the response.  Our internal linking structure is fine and I'm of the belief that we shouldn't mess with the URL's because there is more potential risk regarding the 301 than potential gain from a better folder structure.

Thanks for the response!

Do you think this will actually improve rankings for our product pages?

I would consider asking yourself what the value of those extra product pages are to the user?  If your primary, properly optimized page provides the best user experience then I would definitely 301 redirect the old URL's.

It's very likely that although those extra product pages are in the index they don't actually get traffic b/c they never turn up in the SERPs unless you are performing an advanced site: search.

Redirect the traffic via 301, don't worry about telling Google anything, they will remove the old URL's once they read the 301.  If you have any external followed links to the old pages you may want to reach out to the webmasters to request they link to the new page before you do the 301.

I highly doubt these old pages are dragging down your results for your properly optimized page but if they aren't providing any value or getting traffic then your time is better spent optimizing elsewhere.

Best!

If you find the directory useful as a user then it's safe to get a link there.  If you wouldn't use the directory yourself it's best to just steer clear of it.  I can't imagine many situations in which you would want more than 10 niche directory links because there just aren't that many quality directories any more.

Thanks for the response.  Our internal linking structure is fine and I'm of the belief that we shouldn't mess with the URL's because there is more potential risk regarding the 301 than potential gain from a better folder structure.

Thanks for the response!

I've never heard of displaying javascript analytics code via CSS.  You need to either edit header.php, index.php, or footer.php and paste the code directly into one of those template files.  I recommend header but I've seen it at the beginning or end of index.php and I've seen it in the footer.

The best place to insert the analytics code is in the header.php file so it loads when the header loads.  Some people recommend putting it in the footer but if you are using the asynchronous version of the analytics code then you don't need to put it in the footer.