Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Ellie

Very difficult without the url.  The site structure is very important.  Assuming it is a new site, so no pages have been penalized, i will make an educated guess and go with page authority. The site structure and paradigm you set up is integral to success. There is a great article by Bruce Clay and though aged it is still current today so in any redesign i Would have an eye to bruce's suggestions.  http://www.bruceclay.com/seo/silo.htm

I would try and identify the key issues before a re-build, rather than hope the rebuild will just fix the problem. See  https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015 for more info.

Hope that assists.

It is a matter of personal choice. AirBnB use auto play/ambient video. I personally love it.  So there are ways to address the slow loading, however it is problematic. I personally steer clear of videos on the landing page above the fold as I have not seen an instance where it assists in customer conversions. In fact video has been a negative in my experience, specifically on eCommerce sites.

So back to your question I would get customer feedback, but if wanted to try video I would still look at a placeholder or a short 7-8 second piece to liven the page. Also if the user doesn’t see the images and videos as they are below the fold again use placeholders and detail so the images and videos only load once the user scrolls down and when actually needed.

Hope that assists.

Jacob

Had a quick look, besides the fact few good looking people get married in Brooklyn the site looks v good. Checked on some metrics, got a few nice backlinks and loading speed for the home page was excellent. The sites does have a couple of broken links. Though as Logan states you are over optimizing some pages, especially the blogs ie each title has in it Brooklyn wedding photographer - when not relevant to the post. Plus most of your Titles are too long, try and stick within 512 pixels. I am also not a fan of having more than one H1. That I find can confuse google. I would suggest fix the multiple H1's asap. Also most of your images have no alt text which given it is a site of pictures I would resolve asap.  So that makes your pages look very thin on content. All that said I am like you a little surprised not ranking at all. One thing noticeable is it does not appear you have any strong domains linking with relevant anchor text.  It is a small factor but we have found can be important on niche sites.

I suggest working through the moz technical - if I cant find a solution, have to go back to basics. https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015

Hope that assists.

Also remember the basis for it. The underlying principle is it can help the visually impaired read your site and understand what it is about.

Brodie has identified the issue - it is splitting available resources. The work that goes into one domain is huge. If you have two domains - then you are doubling the work.

Ie I use the house analogy. Two domains is like owning two houses, two sets of bills, travel between the two, everything different. You likely need different resources, to make it look and feel differently to some extent. If you keep everything on the same domain - it is like adding a new room to an existing house, so overall the bills are kept down. You can tidy up everything as you move around the one house.

So I always try and err on the side of caution, and try wherever possible to fit within a existing well maintained domain assuming there is a content and relevant nexus. However if the nexus is not there - then well you have no option.  As stated by Brodie it is a judgment call. The positive is you can always buy a new house later....  even if you start on your current domain. Also if you want to sidestep the decision all together - you can leave the decision to the money men - CFO and let them know they need to double the digital budget - and see what they say... with a brand new domain...

Good luck hope you have enough info to make the right decision.

Pre 2013 it was bad practice to have in excess of 100 links per page, google technical guideline.  Many SEO tools still use it as a warning bell. However Matt Cutts from google - I recall a few years ago - came out and categorically said it is NOT bad practice.  Have as many links as you like as long as it is natural and helps the customer.

What Matt did say is if it appears like spam, them google will penalize you accordingly. Here we go just found the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHG6BkmzDEM

So to be clear - if the links are needed and help the customer - I would not concern myself.  Watch the video, nothing better than going straight to the source.

Hope that assists

I think Egol covers it very well.

I would not be changing pages if at all possible. What I would be considering is how to get the benefit/value of traction of 2015 pages for 2016 events. There are several options.

But it could be a revamped page, a CTA which you can click on to go to 2016 page etc.  Also if no page up yet after every 2015 event, you could put on the page "the 2016 events details are not known yet, however leave your email and we will contact you with details of the new event etc" - that gives an opportunity to collate details. You know your business better than anyone, so likely better strategies but the underlying principles enunciated by Egol is the way to go.

Answer - 100% = originalsitename.com/landscaping. I am an evangelist on this topic with clients!

The nexus is there and I am not sure it is that far removed. People who are looking for training are looking to be educated on related areas.  I would not put much thought into the choices as the above is superior to a subdomain for ranking purposes generally.

I also suggest you have a read of this article  http://www.bruceclay.com/seo/silo.htm which may also facilitate higher rankings for the new pages when implemented.

We do it differently.

Have you done several mockups? have you taken those mockups to customers for direct feedback?  We recommend you start there...

After that there are plenty of tools to optimize and tweak the site, optimizely, crazy egg etc.

Hope that assists.

Logan

I agree with Logan - Go through Webmaster Tools page by page and see if you can identify some traffic trends.  It should not take too long. Click all four clicks, impressions, CTR and position. See what is happening on each page, then you can narrow it down by search term.

On WMT's I would also do a custom comparison for 90 days, ie 45 days each (compare).  Or from when you noticed the trend - comparing with when you were ranking lower - only hiccup is only goes back 90 days.

Also I suggest Semrush you get a free use for one hit - i would pop your URL into Semrush and see what the graph for organic keywords looks like.

It is a bit of a puzzle but start with some basics and see how you go. Hope that assists.

I concur with Logan - it is a risky business.

There is lots to review, so I am only making one suggestion which is contemporary to what i am seeing now. I would look more at how they are driving traffic.  Is it referral traffic from facebook, etc. Several of my clients have had big jumps in the last month if they have strong referral traffic from high domain locations.  I have seen no data on it, just a personal observation at this stage...

James

For a free report I would start with website.grader.com - a couple of screen grabs, Rand backed it a few weeks ago. For a very low cost report I would use semrush.com.

Hope that assists.

The customer has to come first.  So the landing page must resonant with the customer.

In the "body" as you say, I might not use it.  Hummingbird, has given us a variety of ways to make the point, without repetition. What I would do, if it is competitive space is do a keyword density check on the other sites that do rank.  And also write down why you think the top 4-5 sites rank for that keyword... quality backlinks, video, awesome landing page... Do a decent competitive analysis.

Then I would review where I stood in comparison. There is no silver bullet, just hard work.

You have limited resources so first need to focus on best opportunities.  I just do not know what they are.  Do you have an SSL, is you loading speed for your home page under 2 seconds... ? They are all considerations I would make... on top of a competitive analysis.  A starting point should be a site audit...    https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015

My view is make a list of to do's and just work through them... do it properly and it always works out...

James

SEO London, appears natural to me.  But that would be in the Title Tag, once. Your H1 is what I assume you are talking about? That could be Search Engine Optimization Experts, London, or skip the London. They dovetail.

It does matter what your competitors are up to. Old school, but you could do a keyword density analysis of the top 20 results and see if you can identify any trends.

Exact match is still powerful, but too many exact matches may lead to being penalized. So it has to be natural and inviting and better still answer the customer query.

Hope that assists.

The question is to cryptic for me, can you clarify?

Ben

On top of the above. Two things I do every week, you MUST watch every WBF. Somehow Rand pre-empts what we are thinking about...  Secondly I think this forum is the best. Just ask whatever question you have probably in deeper detail... and we will try and answer... set out your sites specific issue and I am sure you will get some great advice..

"Your seo specialist" may have got you into the pickle... have you also obtained independent advice and run a deep site link audit?

Alvaro - has detailed it well.... Also add in Semrush.com and Keyword planner... then if it is a different market (country), I try and speak to a local.. as sometimes there are whole new phrases or words that you could never be aware of...

On semrush, if you know the competitors you can undertake alot of keyword research from reviewing the keywords your competitors are targeting...

Good question, I am not sure anyone knows the secret sauce - but in my experience It comes down to ratios... so if you have 100 back-links and all 100 of those back-links have a reverse back link - then the site would be at high risk of a penalty...

But if it is a one off then it is of little consequence.  Why don't you just nofollow the reverse link?

Also no data on it, but I think google devalues the original link if you reverse it... hence we avoid like the plague... if a high quality link.

The key factor is landing page experience. Landing page experience is poor = high bounce rate.

Whatever your customer thought they were clicking through to - the vast majority did not find.  Do you want customers to find you for "carbon nanotubes" - if so what is the customer trying to answer when they type that query in...?

I would also suggest a proper technical audit.    https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015 You have code displayed on the bottom left of your home page.

Hope that assists.

There is no issue in the perfect world each store has its own unique page with amazing content. The reality is that is not practical for some companies. For 50 stores I would be trying to get instructions to create unique pages for each store.  Local search drives such high traffic instore and it should be worth it.

Maps, opening hours, contact details, pics of the location and if the staff are good looking & fun - throw in a pic of them.

Hope that assists.

Have seen it on alot of sites. The drop in rankings we are seeing is on less substantive sites generally.

Traffic signals are what we think has been impacted most plus some sort of sub domains/exact url impact. Not sure on the latter yet. We think the google update has upgraded how it is looking at traffic and how it interacts with the site. Where did it come from (did it enter via a search term), how long did it stay and what did it do next (did it share your content on social sites)?. Google seem to be giving maximum value to what we call High Domain Authority Referral Traffic. They seem to have upgraded their view of the quality of traffic being referred via backlinks.

The perfect backlink may now be one from a high Domain Authority site which refers traffic that stays on and interacts with your website.

We are getting ranking results via maximising the use of traffic signals. From maximising interaction and time on site to using traffic to turn previously dormant backlinks into ranking assets, there seems to be a range of ways to use these signals to generate ranking increases.

Anyway early days, but the fluctuations are absolutely there...  we are seeing double dips and even double upswings, before it settles.

Hope that helps.

The above answers are excellent.  Cross checking algorithm updates would be first point of call. On a granular have you undertaken a backlink audit for the specific page that is not ranking ?  Reviewed anchor text, quality of links to that page etc? Have you made a comparison analysis of backlinks to competitors for the comparable page?

Hope that assists.

It is possible though I have not heard of it before. Data easily scrapable by google.  Where I have heard google made a penalty link is via WMT's.  Could they also have also been connected via WMT's at some stage?

Hope that helps.

Dave

Unusual post. Difficult without a deep dive.  But generally multiple options but for $1500.00 it appears an Adwords/Facebook, type scenario. Facebook you can get specific & granular in audience targeting and re-marketing.  With that budget I would have though DIY. The other option, is it seems like a narrow audience is simply cold call or email them...

I would also recommend a press release and drive for some local coverage, it would be great for backlinks and building site authority.  It is tough but you only have limited time.  Alot to do all the best.

Hope that assists.

No, it seems fine to me, tells me what you are up to - keyword stuffing is more along the lines of:

Dress, Best Dresses, White Dresses, Green Dresses | Dress Shop

Which believe it not people still do...

Good question.

Queries simply relate to words people type into google. ie health insurance - then you have options to check only that query or too check everything with the keywords health insurance in it.

Pages relates to the page.  so if your website has health insurance ie www.aetna.com/health-insurance then when you tick pages that is the best optic for what is happening on the health insurance page as that includes all queries.

So I do it - by page as I want the overall view first. Then i go granular and check keywords or queries as they say.

Does that clarify it ...?  feel free to ask any questions.

Your traffic appears to have gone up according to similarweb. Where are you measuring traffic in webmaster or ga? Have you changed any settings in GA to exclude spam at any stage?

Or are we talking a ranking drop or traffic drop for the money keywords. ie I have you ranking for the money keywords just on page 2 etc. ie sydney pest control - ranked 20.

Tymen

Has mentioned page speed.  Which I agree was not great on first log in.

Secondly the home page looks over optimized - The title has Dentist in it 3 times.  I would do a keyword density check and I think though craftily you have gone too far with your money keywords.

Thirdly I would get an ssl certificate. You need some credibility. This appeared to work on one website for us, though no rational I can give. Linux has them coming soon... for free...

Fourthly I thought Devonshire was down south?  It is in your H1. Is there any chance of confusion by google in Devonshire v Glascow.

Hope that assists. I just keep finding problems and solving them until one solutions works!  It always does. Just do not keep doing the same over again and expect a different result. Happy hunting.

Good questions.  I think user Experience is becoming more important within  google algorithm updates.  A few years ago it was in my view a non factor - it was all about links.

Today I believe it is a very important factor. I would say in the top 3-4 now. When I say user experience, I am talking user experience I am considering combination of CTR, dwell time, complete's on page etc. But probably the most important user experience factor is page loading speed - which is close to my no 1 factor. Though I include page speed in technical seo given it is so important.

Hope that assists.

Size can matter in a H1 - i have seen some minor effects there.

However if you are asking for general usage in articles/editorial - then no it does not matter is the answer, from an seo perspective.

Very good question. It is ultimately a matter for yourself. I always take the primary keyword head on - even if there is no realistic chance of ranking for it in the short term.  However I also make sure that I target keywords off the same branch that I can rank for.  I usually start with 5-7.

I believe you should always have your eye on the ultimate prize. Ubersuggest is good I also like Semrush.com - as you also get to see what organic keywords your competitors are getting traffic from.  Semrush may further fine tune the keywords you target.

On a nexus between primary and secondary - if you are targeting "dell computers" and words around that frame - once you get some traction with your other keywords then you may start to rank for "dell computers" but at 300 etc. . In fairness though it is impossible for anyone to suggest a true nexus as it will all depend on your seo optimization and the keywords you initially target and what you actually publish/do.

Hope that assists and good luck.

I will answer your question indirectly.  Google foreshadowed a couple of years ago, to get your site in order for mobile. They raised it a couple of times, and then in April this year brought in a  penalty for not being mobile friendly.

I personally think exactly the same will happen with https - so I recommend implement https, iron out any bugs, page speed issues etc. and then hold on without fail. It will become a positive ranking factor at some point in time above the "all sites being equal a https site will outrank a a http site" - the case present scenario.

So I recommend if you are going through the effort now rather than query it make it a non-negotiable for the future.

Hope that assists.

In short the rankings will go down - as the juice being passed from the links will no longer flow.

However if I was you, I would undertake a link audit immediately. Then create an outreach program targeting the most important links and seek to get those backlinks pointed directly at your new website. If you do this quickly and well it will devalue the old site when it is relaunched, making it less relevant. Additionally it will let you try and maintain rankings. It is almost the perfect detox link program... in some way.

Hope that assists, and I hope I understand your exact dilemma.

Matt Cutts of google - answers that question in the following clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSEqypgIJME

It is enjoyable when you can go straight to the source. Hope that assists.

It is difficult to recommend keywords unless we know precisely what your site does, and precisely who the customer is you are targeting. So not enough info.

If you define the above questions. Then you may well answer your own question to some extent.

I would suggest do some keyword research, ie empathize with your customers and then draw up a basic keyword list that can help shape the direction of your website and give you a starting template. Are you familiar with semrush.com? great tool, to get some real direction.

Also check out this link.  https://mza.bundledseo.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/keyword-research

Hope that assists.

It is a difficult question to answer - as one would need intimate knowledge of the business to advise properly. Specifically what is the value proposition and how for each website it is driven online?.

That said given they are all in the same vertical are they also in the same market place?  ie all websites selling to the same country? Are they cross-selling to each other? If they are have you given consideration to a plan to fold the websites into one?  It sounds like resources are spread thin, if managing a dozen websites. What is the original purpose of the dozen websites - is it still current today.

On the question about actual links, it should look natural.  If it is set up and looks like a PBN - which it sort of sounds like I would be making it natural.  Only put links where it assists and facilitates and answer to a customer query. I would primarily be concerned if it could be interpreted as a link swapping/trading exercise. A slightly deeper analysis should give you some resolution.  All that said if it looks natural, and you have not had any penalties to date no action required!

Every Channel is different.

We benchmark at 6% for 1 company and are wrapped to hit 1% for another. We have a niche product/client at 14%.

If there was a standard - I would suggest in the range of 2-4%.  All that said it really comes down to on site behavior - where are they dropping off?  Is it the landing page - Why ? Is it the checkout page? Why? I would be very very carefully monitoring each page interaction.  Find out what makes them click and what does not. Then make adjustments accordingly.

Have you considered Optimizely or Unbounce? Not a fan of either but they are good at promoting themselves and many do rate them.

If you have the budget I would spend some time trying to find out why people drop off, via survey and analytic's.  Some very small improvements can make a massive difference. Nice little article.  http://tinyurl.com/nomws53

Hope that assists.

Hi

The quick win is page loading speed. If the site is slow 2 seconds + - often getting it below two seconds you will see often a jump in traffic to your website.  Google certainly likes the site more!

If forced to choose 1 - that would be my start, page loading speed.

The second quick win - is ensuring the key pages are optimized, ie title tag, H1 to answer the searchers query.

And a third to make it is not a "quick win" is a link audit or detox if required.

But as silk stream states - without knowing your site.  It is hard... but that is a super quick answer to your query.

Though in fairness I would take a extra 24 hours and walk through the attached site audit, identify weaknesses and then prioritize.

https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015

Hope that assists.

I would get a consultant like Michael Cottam in for a few hours.  Get him to help teach you what to do. It sounds like limited budget but you want a star.  If that is the case that is the way to go.

Neither.  Duplicate content is not a punishment. It is a relevance issue. Google simply thinks the duplicate site is a clone of many sites and there irrelevant. Some sites with greater authority it does work for - but google will only pick one site to display. Hence the other site considers it a punishment as they have the same content - but not displayed.

Think of it in fashion, people do not usually line of for mass market product, they line up for the limited edition. Google does not want to show mass market, the same thing over and over again - it wants to show unique relevant content.

The short answer is that no-one 100% knows.

The better way to go about it, is to keep your eye on SEO, but build the website content for your customer. Make it relevant, exciting and clickable. On page title and url differences - there does not have to be a great amount of difference and in many cases they utilize the same keywords. You will get in more trouble repeating the same keywords, in the same formats. ie if your meta description had wedding dress in 3 or 4 times - that would look spammy and not be helpful.

Hope that assists.

Periodically you should do a link audit.  I call it a link detox and it is an ongoing issue for most sites.

It is really up to how how to judge a link but I use a combination of tools inclusion moz and majestic. Trust is a big factor. There are several factors to look at in undertaking a link audit.

Review https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/link-audit-guide-for-effective-link-removals-risk-mitigation

Hope that assists.  All that said if your site has never had a penalty I would do a tidy up, and be conservative in my disallows.

No your brand name will always be your brand name.  If they search for that your brand name should come up no 1. So do not waste a H1/SEO opportunity unless the boss demands it. The searcher is looking for you, you should rank no 1 for your brand name so in that instance the H1 brand name has no impact.

The exceptions could be where the brand name is or includes the keyword target etc.  So may need to think a little more laterally. So if the company is called "Health Insurance Inc" & and is chasing the word Health Insurance. In that instance making your H1 your brand name... or part thereof is a good idea!.

The H1 should be helpful to both google and the customer - so frame your H1 in that light for each page.

Hope that assists.

,

No the H1 is important for google.  It helps match a searchers intent with the page.  ie if looking for beds ... then ideally the H1 has the word bed in it.  Additionally it assists in comforting the customer they are on a relevant site if the H1 in some manner matches the keyword (searchers intent) that was typed in.

The H1 assists in telling google what you page is about especially if the content on the page is not clear. There impact has been reduced but I believe still significant and simple enough to implement and do properly. Each page should answer a customer query so consider them as content title tags that help tell google understand what the page is about.

Each page should have a unique H1 tag and only one that describes that pages content and contains the target keyword for that page.

Hope that assists. To clearly answer your query.  The H1 should not be your logo.. though there maybe rare page exceptions.

I suggest google, learn from the best.  The certification brings you into a loop, which is great to keep you continually updated. Main thing is to be able to apply it practically on a live account at the same time.

https://support.google.com/partners/answer/3154326?hl=en

We work for health insurance entities and for one target the keyword health insurance. It is not dissimilar to targeting any keyword, except more expensive and competitive. The quality of work must be first rate. The key to success on terms like health  - is fight the battles you can win. ie if new to the market, new url etc. there is no chance of ranking in the top 4-5 for the primary keyword, for an extended period.  However you maybe able to rank in the top 5 for the keywords "best health insurance". Generate cash flow & re-invest.

My suggestion is not to give up equity in the business to a stranger - simply fraught with danger. Also you are giving up your IP.  You may get lucky odds are it will be a disaster. Firstly roll up your sleeves. Then do a site audit. Moz does a partial for you.    https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015

Then once your site is audited and clear, start working on the customer experience - website and go door to door if you have to.  If it a good product and customers love it you are on the right track. You need to access feedback honestly.

My view is the way to succeed is to ensure your customer thinks you are the best in market at whatever you do.  That special service you gave the customer means they will start to promote it. Links will flow from good content, so concurrently work on informative content.

The reality is it is just plain old fashioned hard work. Remember if you do it yourself whenever a website issue arises you can ask the community a specific question - you will get plenty of help.

Hope that assists.

I am a little confused by the question. Are you able to clarify? I am unsure of the process whereby the public generate a meta description.

https://mza.bundledseo.com/learn/seo/meta-description

Let me know and happy to assist.

The below link is from google direct. Buying backlinks is an unacceptable practice.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en

The community view would be not to do it.

There are so many ways to get links with a little bit of effort, it is far smarter to head down that path. Plus and most importantly it lets you sleep at night. If you go down the dark side of a PBN etc. it will only be a timing issue until your site is penalized. Google is undertaking manual penalties it is doing whatever it can to thwart the practice. Some SEO companies will tell you they "outsmarted google"... 10,000 stamford graduates -v- a guy why just left his job as a security guard... I know who I would back.

Hope that assists...