No problem Alan. I knew this question would seem like the typical, "Can I rank from PR links," question.

Honestly, that is why we have never used these sites. In theory, if these site were used correctly, I think they might be valuable, but the amount of spam and hopeless SEO's that post useless content for a face value link, seem to bombard any hope of usefully content every being found or trusted by editors and writers.

I just wanted to check and see if anyone has ever experienced the opposite and had a real story or blog post come from their press release being found on a PR site.

Hi Alan, thanks for your response. I am not concerned with the link from the press release website. I know it is not valuable  I'm just wondering if anyone has ever had a press release they published one these websites turn into an actual article or blog post on a relevant website. Currently we do not use these website. We individually reach out to new sources and blogs, but I know that there is no way we could target 100% of the relevant sources that could potential publish content. That is the only use I can see these PR websites serving for us, if they deliver on that. Also, just the fact that it is obvious tons of companies still use these websites to publish their press releases, I wanted to hear if anyone has ever experienced success with them.

Hi Micheal,

What exactly does this rebranding include? A new URL? New keywords? New content? New pages? New design? Time and cost is hard to judge without knowing that.

However, strictly from a 301 redirect perspective, it is normally best to use a 1 to 1 redirect. This means that every old page should 301 redirect to its corresponding page on the new website, instead of redirecting all to the homepage or a basic category landing page. This is time consuming and monotonous, but if there are tons of deep links on your current website, this will help you not losing any traffic, as well as transfer a maximum amount of link juice to your new site.

Takeshi, thanks for your answer. We do take a tailored approach for local news sources and industry specific blogs. That is where we have a huge success rate, but I was more looking to see you or anyone else has had success using websites like, prweb.com or prnewswire.com. By success, I mean relevant news sources creating an article/blog posts or contacting you for a story.

Also, thanks for the book recommendation. I will definitely check that one out.

What is the best press release website for getting a press release in front of writers and news sources? We have used a couple with OK success, but I would like to hear and learn from the experiences of others.

Thanks

*I am not concerned with the page rank of the press release site or any SEO benefit coming from the PR website itself.

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing a real world experience. It's so important to go with a description that companies and marketing departments will understand.

Thanks for all of the responses. All of the titles sound great and make a lot of sense.

We use "Online Marketing Consultant" basically because we started listening to how our clients introduce us on conference calls, emails, and in meetings. We found that, "This is ____. He/she is our Online Marketing Consultant," was the most frequently used introduction, so we have decided to go with that.

I am piggy backing off of Rand's latest Whiteboard Friday:  http://www.seomoz.org/blog/why-we-cant-just-be-seos-anymore-whiteboard-friday (It is an awesome post if you haven't checked it out yet.)

I just want to hear some feedback from other industry professionals.

• Have you started defining/communicating your business as more than just, I do SEO?
• If so, what are you calling yourselves now and why?
• How has that been working out for you?

Thanks for checking this out Francisco. Per your suggestion and after a little research, we actually went through today and removed our signature from all of the websites we manage. It is a tough pill to swallow since it seems like almost every design firm does this, but we want to do it right. And you are 100% correct, the footer link to the design firm's website is not best for SEO or the client, which is always our first priority.

Thank you again for your response.

For the first several months this website, WEBSITE, ranked well in Google for several local search terms like, "Columbia MO spinal decompression" and "Columbia, MO car accident therapy." Recently the website has completely disappeared from Google's SEPRs. It does not even exist when I copy and paste full paragraphs into Google's search bar. The website still ranks fine in Bing and Yahoo, but something happened that caused it to be removed from Google.

Beside for optimizing the meta data, adding headers, alt tags, and all of the typical on-page SEO stuff, we did create a guest post for a relevant, local blog. Here is the post: Guest Post. The post's content is 100% unique. I realize the post has way to many internal/external links, which we definitely did not recommend, but can anyone find a reason why this website was removed from Google's SERPs? And possibly how we should go about getting it back into Google's SERPs?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Was it their Link Acquisition Assistant: http://www.seomoz.org/labs/link-finder/index.php?

I love this answer Russ. There are no schemes or magical strategies to explore, just work and creativity to get those type of links.

Great additions here. Internal training, awareness, and participation are key.

Thanks for the reply.

It will be very difficult for one person to serve all of your company's SEO needs.

However, if you are going to tackle this alone, I would try to leverage as many resources internally as possible. I would make sure you are allowed to stay in constant communication with all departments, especially marketing and website development. Also, I would make sure that they are aware that you need to be in the loop to what their departments are doing.

If you website is up to speed with most of the on-page criteria, I would focus my efforts on link building and content creation. The marketing department will have some great assets and resources that you can use to build great links. Also, if y'all work together, you may get them to understand how press and events are great link building tools, which will help your efforts.

I would also make sure that you are involved in all changes/update to the website to make sure all things are done with search engines in mind.

Keywords in the URL is part of the algorithms, so I would suggest it if it is not used in a spammy way, which you are not.

I might suggest these URL's: placethatsellsusedcars.com/dover/used-fords or placethatsellsusedcars.com/used-fords/dover

I suggest this because it will benefit your website's architecture. It will give you website a good flow and organization. Use the one makes most sense for your website. Be sure that the /dover or /used-ford pages have links to all of the next level pages.

I would stick with folders for two main reasons:

• First, yourdomain.com is part of your online brand. If every state's URL is statename.yourdomain.com, I think this takes away from your brand because the first thing people see when they look at the URL bar or in search results is a state name and not your URL
• Next, I second everyone else, subfolders are much more organized, subfolders look better, and subdomains are an old SEO strategy (a little spammy, especially for a new domain)

Great question. We have dealt with this several times since the rel="author" was released, and our belief is that the  rel="author" is best used when the page, website or post should be associated with a person.

A businesses that offers a personalized service like attorneys, doctors, dentists, web designers, etc. are perfect for the author tag because it gives a face to the service, and of course, like you said, blog posts are a great use for the author tag.

Even though we have seen an increase in the click though rate for the sites that we have implemented the author tag, we do not not use it for product websites or pages, just because we feel an author tag does not give a good representation of the actual page/product.

The only exception I can think of is if the product is closely associated and sold by a person like "The George Forman Grill," but we haven't come across a client like that yet.

I hope this help and would love to hear what other people think.

Charles, what are saying in your question is correct. "Liking" a specific URL will not add those "likes" to your Facebook page's fan list and vise versa.

"like" Button = a specific URL, separate from your Facebook page

"like" Box =  a specific Facebook page, which adds to your Facebook fan list but to the specific URL

After developing a relationship with a blog owner and being told you may guest posts on their blog for your client:

How do you compose and write a great guest post?

How do you pick a good topic?

How to you compose the post to serve the blog your are guest posting for and your client?

Should you write the post like you are a member/writer for the blog you are posting for?

How much should you keep your client in the loop of what you are posting on behalf of their company?

Does anyone have any good examples or experiences when creating a great guest post?

If they are high quality, they will eventually show up on opensiteexplorer.org.

One linkscape update might not be enough time, since the only way links are added to your profile is when they are naturally crawled. Opensiteexplorer.org is a great tool and my favorite back link profile tool, but like anything, it takes time to analyze the entire web. I would give it 1-2 more linkscape updates before I would worry,  but I would not guess there is any issue with your website.

Hey Charles,

First, I would get in touch with the website owner or whoever you submitted your guest post to and request that they add your link to the article. I would do this very respectfully, and treat it like it might have been a mistake. I wouldn't even mention that you want to the article taken down if they do not add it, since the ultimate goal is to get the link. Also, I would create the code for the link to make it easy on them.

If they decide not the add the back link (bummer), then it is your call if you want to make the effort to get the article taken down. The only reason I would take the time to get the article taken down is if you have another niche website that will publish the content and will add your link. Otherwise, I would just make note of that website and never guest post for them again.

I hope this works out for you. I know how much time it takes to write good guests posts, so I really hope you get the link out of it.

If the new files use the same names (URLs), then you will not encounter 404 errors.

I have seen company's offer link building packages in many different ways.

Since this particular company works until a certain number of links are acquired each month, they should show you the links they acquire each month. That would be a very good way to check their work. Quality links take time and talent to acquire, so if they are doing a good job every month acquiring good links, I would not worry about their hours.

However, if they are using links farms,  spammy directories, or anything like that, that is a red flag.

Also, you could ask to see a link portfolio of one of their clients to see what type of links they typically acquire.

I do not believe 404 pages will result in a penalty, and eventually they will be deindexed by search engines.

Like SanketPatel said, 301 redirects are best used on a one to one basis, where the old page is related to the page it is getting 301 redirected to.

If some of those pages have great links point to them, I would first make an effort to get those links changed to direct to the existing URLs. If that does not work, it might be worth considering creating a relevant page for a page with high page authority to be 301 redirected to.

Search engine typically expect the

to be high on the page, above content.

I agree with Eric, the

should be what the page is about and include the search term you are optimizing for that page. The

tag should be similar to the page's title tag and content's focus.

Hi Terry,

It is important to include exact match keywords and related keywords in each page's meta data, headers, and content. As for an exact keyword density, we do not use this as an on-page factor anymore. Just make sure you use the keywords you want to show up for in the meta data, headers, and content, while keeping the content user focused.

Hi Terry,

It is important to include exact match keywords and related keywords in each page's meta data, headers, and content. As for an exact keyword density, we do not use this as an on-page factor anymore. Just make sure you use the keywords you want to show up for in the meta data, headers, and content, while keeping the content user focused.

Link directories and the web 2.0 backlinks to backlinks strategy is not very effective anymore. Blog commenting is typically marked with a nofollow link, so that will not do much for you. Many of the other

Several of the elements on your list are still very important for SEO, but knowing this is only the start, especially regarding off-page. Knowing where to get the links is good, but the more important factors is knowing how to get the links, which is best done through out reach and creating things for your link targets that merit a link.

Also, your off-page list is missing one very effective link building tool which is guest posting. This is a great way to acquire quality links.

Every page/post on your website should have a unique title tag. Title tags of a specific post should relate to the post's header tags and content and should target long-tailed keywords. It is great way to get ranked for a large variety of search terms.

Category title tags should also be unique, but they might not be as important because people typically want to read and link to an individual post.

It looks like you have laid out all of the positives and negatives very well. You seem to have a good understanding of SEO and of what each plan requires.

A few years ago, the several website model for one business was a widely used SEO tactic, but in my opinion it is not as strong as it used to be. Since exact match domains are not as effective any more and link quality is so important, I would recommend one website.

Also, the search terms you want to show up for are most likely competitve. You can not just build a website with good title tags and header tags and expect to show up. You will need great links for each website.

My advice would be to build one website, but create a separate link building plan for each department. When you build a link for a certain department link to that department's subpage. This will build your domain authority while also giving your website more value because of the deep inbound links.

Also, in my opinion, you will build a stronger brand with one website.

As long as you transfer the website correctly, the IP address's geo-location remains the same, and you use a reputable host, I would say you are fine. Site speed would be something to consider when shopping for a new host because search engines use this in their algorithm, and fast sites create a great user experience, which is good for everything including SEO.

Also, changing a website from public to private has no affect on rankings.

Agreed. Thanks Cody.

Cody, I would like to hear your opinion, but in Kristian's case, I would not think removing these site wide links would be a good idea, unless the links are spammy. Especially if the website has a good reason to be there (ex: it is a good resource, it is a sponsor, it si the parent company, etc.). As long as not all of the links in Kristian's backlink profile are site wide, I wouldn't link the website is at risk of a penalty. Also, I would not think removing a site wide link on an .edu site would be a good idea, just becuase all of the referral traffic potential.

Like I said, the site wide penalty seemed more geared to a web designer or hosting company that only have site wide links in their profile.

Cody, what do you think?

Kristian,

There is not really a downside to having a link on multiple page's of a website. You just can't expect all of these links to be counted a independent,and equal to a website with a link profile that has a wide variety of linking root domains.

I would not recommend removing any links on these website. I would just focus your time on getting links from other of root domains.

Here is a recent article in published in Search Engine Journal about subdomains and subpages, as they relate to SEO:

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/subdomains-or-subfolders-which-are-better-for-seo/6849/

It looks like Cody is right, Google does recognize them has seperate, but a recent tweak in Google's algorithim, now cause them to be recognized as being associated with each other.

I would think that this means a link from a subdoamin and a root domain would not be equal to two links from two different root domains.

Cody, thanks for you insight, and I would love to hear what you think?

These links do not count as 1,000 links from 1,000 seperate website, since Google does recognize linking root domains.

The most important link to your website would be from the page with the highest page authority, which is almost always the home page.

I am not 100% sure, but I remember reading about a recent Google algorithm update that targets multiple links from one domain. Web design firms were affected, since they typcally sign the footer, which creates a link on every page of the website.

The subdomain, works similar to a subpage. Google will notice the root dominan, which is abc.edu.

I do not think you are at risk of a penalty or anything like that, but if you want to continue to increase your rankings, once you get a link from a domain, I would focus my efforts on getting another link from a separate root domain, instead of a link from a subpage or subdomain from the same root domain.

Hi William,

First, you are absolutely doing the right thing by creating a subpage dedicated to each location. You should try to add unique content to avoid a duplicate content issue, as well as a map "Google Maps is always good," a local phone number, and the geo-location should be optimized in the content and meta data.

One more piece of advice that I picked up at a recent SEO conference, when you create or edit Google+ Local pages, use the subpage for that specific city as that location's website. It will help you rank in the Google+ local rankings.

For the 301 redirects, each local website's homepage should probably 301 redirect to that locations subpage on the new website. I normally recommend 1 to 1 redirects, but if there are page on the old website's with links that you do not want to lose and they make sense to redirect tot he new subpage, I would do it. If there are pages that do not make sense to redirect (meaning the subpage on the new website is not what a use would expect to see) and they do not have any links, I would consider using a good 404 page.

That would be the best. Those custom made CMS's can be ridiculously tricky sometimes.

Thanks for the good article on extension less URLs. It is helpful.

We are more accustomed to working with linux and .htaccess, so when we have to work with Microsoft and a web.config file, we always try to be very careful.

I took a look at bronxpad.com in opensiteexloreer.org.

If this is the website you are referring to, when you implement these 301 redirects make sure you also redirect bronxpad.com/index.html and www.bronxpad.com/index.html to www.bronxpad.com, for the same reason as the non-www to the www.

GoDaddy would work, and in my experience, they offer great customer service.

If you have links pointing to both, then a 301 redirect will help your website's domain and page authority, which will help your rankings.

Any reputable US hosting company should be fine.

The reason we 301 redirect non-www to www is to make sure search engines do not index two versions of your website. You can check it though a Google search: "site:yoursite.com"

This will give you all of the pages indexed by Google. If there is a yoursite.com and www.yoursite.com in the results, two versions are indexed, and a 301 redirect might allow you to rank even higher.

If there are two versions indexed, I would consider changing your host if  you can secure a properly located IP address. Changing your sites IP address can affect rankings due to geo-location, so make sure it is properly geo-located. Most reputable hosting companies can easily take care of this.

Hi Paul,

It looks like you have a good understanding of SEO and are willing to do the work required for a good SEO campaign. Now if you can most efficiently use your SEO time, you will really have something.

The one thing that you seem to be lacking is building your online network. It is great to write for your own blog and it is ok to sometimes comment on forums, answer questions and submit to good directories, but in my experience, the best links are given by a person, not by just pressing a submit button.

I would recommend finding some target websites that publish content related to your company/industry and try to build a relationship with the blogger or website owner. These will be your target links.

Yes, you will need to "Write Fresh Content" or provide something that adds value to their website, but that is only the start. You should write content with a purpose. The goal should be to get that content published on a certian blog or website. The only way to do this is to physically reach out to the webmaster or blog owner (remember they are people) with a phone call or email (I always receommed calling first if possible). You cannot just sit back and expect people to link to your great content, it needs to be marketed by you.

You most likely are an expert in your industry, so you have the knowledge needed create content that people would love to use and post. All you need to do is pick your target websites and physically get it front of a person that has the ability to put it on the website.

I hope this helps.

That looks like a penalty to me.

Daniel sorry for your negative experience. Not all SEO company's work that way.

It is a great idea to first try to get those links removed yourself, but if you cannot, Google has recently released a disavow tool, which allows you to tell Google what links you want to disavow from your website. Here is the URL to the disavow tool: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main

Hope this helps.

Hi Daniel,

If you have a penalty for "workwear", most likely many of the links that have the anchor text "workwear" were built unnaturally. I would anaylize all of your links with this anchor text and remove the ones that are unnatural or spammy.

Google implemented this penalty to find unnatural link building tactics from bad sites, and one easy way to spot unnatural link building is if an anchor text is repeated. Google uses this measure because that is not how a quality website link to another website. Quality links do not have a standard anchor text, and the anchor text often includes the brand name.

The links that are worth keeping are the links from sites with a high domain and page authority and were not built automatically.

As a rule, the links that matter now and in the future are built by communicating with people and doing "link worthy things" not by pressing a submit button.

I want 301 redirect all a website's subpages with a .aspx extension to a page without the .aspx etension.

Example: I want to 301 redirect www.website.com/services.aspx to www.website.com/services

Right now if you do not include .aspx on the end of every URL it gives a 404 error.

I have used the web.config file to 301 redirect non-www to www and /default.aspx to /.

I am not extremely familiar with IIS 7.0 or web.config, so any help would be great.

Thanks.

Amar,

If you do not have full control over your URL structure, I would not recommend making the change you mention above.

Changing your website's permalink structure is a monotonous task that requires a good bit of expertise. You will need to implement old page to new page 301 redirects for every URL your change. I would only trust this task to an SEO professional that fully understands website architecture and 301 redirects.

My biggest advice to you is to start building quality links to your website. That is what will generate higher rankings.

Amar,

I would not "stuff" keywords in your URL, so the second example would be the better of those two. It is great to have keywords in your URL's, but your also want to keep them simple, concise, and with a solid navigational structure.

Also, if you do start changing your URL's, be sure to set up 301 redirects for all of the old pages, so you do not lose any traffic or link juice.

The "meta description" does not affect rankings. It's best use is to entice people to click on your page in the search results.

opensiteexplorer.org is a great tool for checking out your competition's backlink profile.