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A client's site currently uses the URL structure: www.website.com/�tegory%/%postname% Which I think is optimised fairly well, as the categories are keywords being targeted.  However, as they are using a category hierarchy, often times the URL looks like this: www.website.com/parent-category/child-category/some-post-titles-are-quite-long-as-they-are-long-tail-terms Best practise often dictates (such as point 3 in this Moz article) that shorter URLs are better for several reasons. So I'm left with a few options: Remove the category from the URL Flatten the category hierarchy Shorten post titles two a word or two - which would hurt my long tail search term traffic. Leave it as it is What do we think is the best route to take? Thanks in advance!

So there's an obvious difference between a branded and non-branded search term, but I'm interested in the SERPs that are shown as a result. Branded search only results in 7 listings on the first page - obviously because branded search is generally more navigational in nature and the lower results get minimal CT. Are their any technical differences beyond this? Also, how does google define a branded search term? Because a search for Vodafone or Dell show reduced results, but Coca Cola does not. Thanks guys 🙂

If you're trying to create a site which is an information hub, obviously linking out to authoritative sites is a good idea. However, does linking to a PDF have the same effect? e.g Linking to Google's SEO starter guide PDF, as opposed to linking to a google article on SEO. Thanks!

So obviously a link profile featuring quality / authoritative / relavant in-bound links is preferable, but here's my question: If I'm starting work on a brand new domain, should I build links that one would consider neutral (i.e. from a non-spammy, but unrelated site) or should I not bother and only focus on quality links? Thanks

Just doing some research for a potential PPC campaign. For the search terms I'm looking to target, no paid results appear wither above or to the right of the organic SERPs. Does anyone know the reason for this? Search term "Cigar Merchants" Is this because the search term is smoking related? Thanks!

If you have no physical premises (i.e. operate online) but you only serve clients in a specific area, what is best practice for targeting a local area? I know G. Places can be used if you have a premises, and that .co.uk / hosting server location make a difference, but beyond that... ? Thanks!

Useless metric? Good as an indicator, but not of any real value? Best way to judge how well content is optimised? I've heard all kinds of opinions, what's yours? Thanks!

So it's safe to assume keywords are no longer used by SEs in the old fashioned sense to rank sites, but should be keep them as indicators of site content? It's been suggested by some that they're detrimental for two reasons: 1. Your competitors can snoop the keywords you're targeting but mainly... 2. Over-optimisation is the enemy these days! Thanks for your input 🙂

Should be focussing on consistent anchor text (for internal links) across my site to focus on specific keywords, or would it be more beneficial to variations of keywords? Just food for thought 🙂

Traditional thinking suggests sub-domains are treated as separate sites and so don't pass on link juice, but I've heard mixed opinions. I'm very much a believer in sub-folders but I'm interested to hear some other opinions. Thoughts?

So we all know the importance of quality content for SEO; providing content for the user as opposed to the search engines. It used to be that copyrighting for SEO was treading the line between readability and keyword density, which is obviously no longer the case. So, my question is this, for a website which doesn't require a great deal of content to be successful and to fullfil the needs of the user, should we still be creating relavent content for the sake of SEO? For example, should I be creating content which is crawlable but may not actually be needed / accessed by the user, to help improve rankings? Food for thought 🙂

I have taken over the SEO campaign for one of our largest clients. They already receive over a million visits a year due to the brand itself. However, I'd like to start targeting some new search terms to diversify the incoming visitors. Any advice on this type of situation, beyond traditional SEO best practices? Thanks in advance!