Welcome to the Q&A Forum
Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.
Don't give another site permission to republish content that you've already published. In these instances, Google is going to pick one to serve it's users because it's duplicate content.
Instead, establish yourself as a guest blogger on the sites that are interested in your content and create something that's unique for them.
Yes, it works with U-Design. I've had no issues with it and recommend both.
I go with "Website Consultant".
Google does not penalize websites for simply having their business listed.
Yext is quite expensive. I have used UBL in the past, and it works well, but the best way is to claim all of your listings manually.
I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but if you're looking for a referral for someone to build your business listings, PM me.
In my experience, no.
Whitespark says on their FAQ page, "We don't currently throttle our citation building because we know how Google merges data with their Places index in chunks. We have tested building hundreds of citations in one day vs spreading them out over time and have not found a difference. We don't believe citation velocity is currently something that Google is considering."
My rule is to only no-follow sponsored links.
Google is going to recognize a SEOed site that has tried to sculpt their link juice by excessively no following. Sites that naturally rank well (and produce content people want) don't utilize this technique.
One place to start would be to run an analysis of your competitors, see where they've earned links from & how. Then see where you can add value by creating content and linkable assets.
Sadly, we can't make Google display rich snippets. All you can do is follow the best practices of implementing rich snippets, and leave it to Google to algorithmically determine they should appear.
For the search phrase "phraseexpander", download.cnet.com is already displaying rich snippets. Therefore, the presence of snippets in the SERPS already may impact whether or not they are shown for your domain too.
This post might be helpful if using a elance,freelancer or odesk type of site: http://ontolo.com/blog/5-steps-assembling-all-star-link-building-team-odesk
Try the seomoz recommended list: http://www.seomoz.org/article/recommended
Using elance and freelancer to find the right person for SEO might be difficult. I'm sure there are good contractors on there, and some just running a (link) farm - literally.
Sadly, we can't make Google display rich snippets. All you can do is follow the best practices of implementing rich snippets, and leave it to Google to algorithmically determine they should appear.
For the search phrase "phraseexpander", download.cnet.com is already displaying rich snippets. Therefore, the presence of snippets in the SERPS already may impact whether or not they are shown for your domain too.
In my experience, no.
Whitespark says on their FAQ page, "We don't currently throttle our citation building because we know how Google merges data with their Places index in chunks. We have tested building hundreds of citations in one day vs spreading them out over time and have not found a difference. We don't believe citation velocity is currently something that Google is considering."
It really depends on the industry and location.
Check out these two resources. I know some of them don't accept reviews, but this should give you some info.
http://getlisted.org/resources/local-citations-by-category.aspx
I recommend using only one domain. You'll have much less setup, maintenance, ongoing SEO work with 1 site compared to 3.
I would just use different sections for the different kinds of paints/markets.
Google does not penalize websites for simply having their business listed.
Yext is quite expensive. I have used UBL in the past, and it works well, but the best way is to claim all of your listings manually.
I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but if you're looking for a referral for someone to build your business listings, PM me.
This might only work if the sites offer something of value. I know that's kind of a vague answer, but a lot of people used this strategy with a set-it-and-forget-it plan.
For the social meda sites, if you're not going to be active then don't bother. Try offering coupons, trials, user generated content, top x# lists, ect.
It may be working for them now, but using the same recycled content is not a good long term strategy. Plus, if the content stinks it doesn't really matter how well they rank because people with hit the back button (and google keeps score of that).
Focus on creating content that's going to make users have a positive experience on the site. Use case studies, photos, testimonials, videos, city/town resources that are relevant.
If the site was about construction - link to official city/town page with relevant permit info, ect - things like that.
It can take a while before OSE shows the link, if at all.
If it's not indexed by Google yet, I'd try to find a way to share it on G+.. I don't reccomend pimping URLs just to get indexed, but if you can do it conguently with your audience then it may help get the URL indexed faster.
Provided that you do everything James is suggesting, you shouldn't have an issue.
I've noticed small dips in rankings immediately after a redesign, only to regain their original positions within 2 weeks (or so).
Try the seomoz recommended list: http://www.seomoz.org/article/recommended
Using elance and freelancer to find the right person for SEO might be difficult. I'm sure there are good contractors on there, and some just running a (link) farm - literally.