Hi Patrick
I answered a similar question of things to consider when moving a site. You can read that here.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
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Hi Patrick
I answered a similar question of things to consider when moving a site. You can read that here.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
My bad! Yeah - you could just do this:
User-agent: Rogerbot
Disallow: (check out this resource on how to block specific query strings)
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
Check out Google's duplicate content resources - they provide help on how to categorize your parameters and URL strings.
You can also handle this via your robots.txt. Make sure that you have a canonical tag on that page as well.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi Nathan
The content is still on the page and readable by search engines. Therefore, your move is totally fine from an SEO standpoint.
Sorry I wasn't clear in my answer!
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
As this is one link that just keeps getting recounted, I wouldn't see this as an issue.
You could also ask for the link to have a more permanent position on a static page that's relevant to your site.
My suggestion is just from the perspective of having a link that's recounted and seen thousands of times.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi Ravi
Your questions usually revolve around sweeping or broad topics. Could you possibly give more detail or specifics next round? There are a ton of experts here with lots of experience in specific areas and you could greatly help your chances of being helped (and learning!) if you deep dive your questions more.
I would focus on the Moz Learning Center and Academy - both content a ton of great resources that can help you get started and maintain your SEO performance and visibility.
These are broad resources, but your questions lead me to believe you need these.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would check out this resource from Moz on the subject - it's called Local Landing Pages: A Guide To Great Implementation In Every Situation. Miriam did a great job on taking care of listing multiple situations with possible solutions.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
While I can't say "rankings will drop", Matt Cutts has stated that this will not hurt your rankings. You can read more on that here.
Hope this helps!
Hi there
I took this from another Q+A thread that I answered. While it's about starting a blog, I do believe that it rings true for what you're attempting to do...
Create the blog on your site
Do some research
What information is missing in your industry?
What are users actively searching for?
Where are they currently participating in conversation?
What language do they use in search and those discussions?
How do they digest their content?
Here's a quick resource on content gap analysis from Edge Multimedia
Take advantage of great tools like Open Site Explorer and SEMRush to get a handle on your competition and what's working / not working for them
Build out content on the site based on your research
Mind your obvious onsite SEO fundamentals (titles / meta descriptions / schema / content length and language / etc.) (resource)
Lay your site architecture out in an easy to use / understand fashion (Information Architecture for SEO)
Repurpose content through video / images / guides / e-books / how-tos / etc
Take advantage of internal site search functionality
What are users searching for on your site?
Distribute that content through social platforms / industry blogs / email marketing
Participate in the discussions that are happening in your industry
Social
You could take advantage of features like Twitter's Advanced Search and start fielding questions
News sites
Industry forums
Q&As
You can also read these resources about headlines and CTR
A Scientific Guide to Writing Great Headlines on Twitter, Facebook, and Your Blog
Now, while I believe this is less science than it is just knowing more about your audience, there are some good points.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I just answered a question that I think will help you here - you can check it out at this Q+A thread.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
From the SEO perspective, I like the new way - especially since there was chatter that Google would discount content that's tabbed or expandable. Now, I have heard (and seen) people with this type of content not seeing any issues or fluctuations with rankings at all, so, it's really upto you on that front - just track your performance. It's just something to consider.
Now, more importantly, from a user standpoint, this is much better because I get the description ABOVE the fold and in an area of the page that historically provides a description. I would be interested to hear if your moving content had any effect on conversion rates - I would image it would.
Next time, I would look into A/B testing any changes on your site to see if you are making the right move. While my gut tells me that your moving the content to it's new position will greatly benefit you from a conversion rate perspective, other changes may call for testing and research.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would see if I could get this link nofollowed. Now, that will probably sound counterproductive, but remember, you're not link building for rankings - you're link building to provide a relevant and quality experience - you want to add to the conversation, not distort it. Plus, brand mentions are a great thing.
I'd rather have the link and have it nofollowed than have the link followed thousands of times and it ultimately be considered counterproductive or spammy. That's just me though - it's upto you to research and weigh your actions!
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would check Mozcast daily to see if fluctuations are part of a update or changes in the SERPs, not limited to your site.
Beyond that, I would take note of the following:
Google Algorithm Change History
If you can pinpoint when your rankings started dropping, you can correlate those drops with updates and from there you can decide if you need to do something along the lines of a content or backlink audit. I would definitely take note of specific pages that dropped in rankings, especially in Search Console. Benchmark performance and track overtime.
Remember - don't make sweeping changes, especially if this fluctuation is only limited to specific pages or categories. Make a couple of changes to a couple of pages, track, and see how it performs. The last thing you want to do go overboard with changes on pages where it wasn't necessary.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
If you are trying to COUNTRY target, you should go for a ccTLD, but if you are going after a LANGUAGE target, you should do a subdirectory. You can learn more here.
I would also make sure you read the following resources:
International SEO
Country Targeting (Google & Bing)
Language Targeting (Google & Bing)
All of the above resources will help you have more success in your international efforts.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi ATP
Did your internal links or your sitemap have the uppercase variation as well, or was it just the rewrite? Just wondering - your answer could help some others that have the same issue!
Thanks!
Hi there
I would do this in bulk, especially if you plan on moving everything over to begin with.
I highly suggest reading this migration resource, as well as Google's Moving a site documentation, as it will help you make this less painless. But make sure you read through everything - don't read a portion and think you got it.
As long as you are prepared, doing this in bulk shouldn't be too bad at all - just make sure you are coordinated with your web development team.
Also, make sure your international SEO is on point and that your sites are properly targeted (for both Google and Bing), and that you are taking advantage of language tags (again, for both Google and Bing).
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
Could you provide you website's URL? It would help the community take a deeper look - thanks!
Good luck!
Hi there
I highly recommend looking into Inbound Writer. It's a newer tool that helps you estimate content performance before you write it and post it on your site.
I highly recommend looking into it and seeing what it can do for you.
Beyond that, real time efforts, I would include looking into trending data via social media and focus on what people are talking about, as well as the influencers that are talking about news - you could utilize that both from the content standpoint and interviews or opinions to include.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
In my opinion, yes and no. Yes, because it gives proper ranking credit to the page that has the original content, but no, because it's not a redirect, so there is no equity being passed technically.
There's not a real direct way to answer it in my opinion, so it's kind of hard to have a definitive answer, because there is being credit passed, but not in the form of link equity.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
For my vote, I would "nofollow" this link. The reason being, that's a ton of links from the same site for the same thing. Don't be discouraged as these links are still extremely valuable.
It's either that, or I would create a designated page for the calculator to live on instead of iframing it on multiple pages. That way, you can have one link to your website from one page on your other site, that other product pages are linking to.
Let me know if I am understanding correctly - hope this helps - good luck!
Hi there
Just piggy backing on SMG here - if anything about the site is changing during this migration (URLs, structure, content, etc), make sure you go through this guide to make sure your bases are covered.
Hope this helps a bit as well - good luck!
Hi there
Check your internal links and sitemap - you may still have old URLs lingering there.
I would also make sure that you are redirecting those old URLs properly to their new URL destination. You should do a backlink audit as well and see if there any valuable links to update so the URL reflects this new structure and you get all the equity you can.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
For me, if you're trying to target specific languages with your new site, I would use subdirectories. If it's an issue to do subdomains, you're better off building directories and targeting those specifically.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would first read the duplicate content resources from both Google and Moz so you can spot check your pages.
Also, I would read the following resource from Google, that states:
"Avoid errors: use absolute paths rather than relative paths with the rel="canonical"
link element.
Use this structure: https://www.example.com/dresses/green/greendresss.html
Not this structure: /dresses/green/greendress.html
." You are currently using the second structure in your canonical tags. Try switching to an absolute URL structure and see how that works.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
For my vote, you should do this, especially if you're dealing with local markets, products specific to those regions, or deals/sales in those area. This is something you should test, see how they perform, and benchmark.
I would also look into the following:
International SEO (Moz)
The International SEO Checklist (Moz)
Both of the resources above will help you make sure you are targeting properly based on each site variation.
But, again, for my vote, yes, you should have local specific meta descriptions if possible, where necessary.
Hope this helps - good luck!
Hi there
I would look into ScreamingFrog - you can crawl 500 URIs for free, otherwise, if you have a license, you can crawl as many pages as you'd like.
Let me know if this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
Yes, you can try ScreamingFrog and also Moz Analytics will help with this as well.
Start there - hope it helps! Good luck!
Hi there
There's a great resource from Inflow that can help you go through your site's potential eCommerce duplicate content issues. I would recommend you checking it out here.
You should also read and understand Google's duplicate content resources.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would run through my answer here - it has a lot of questions and resources to look into for you.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
If the site has no content, backlinks, rankings, or value whatsoever, I say let it 404 out and sail off into the sunset. From the sounds of things, the site is pretty valueless at the moment.
Is the site currently ranking at all? For any relevant keywords you may see value in? If so, then you should go through this migration guide and make sure you properly implement redirects and notify Google that your site has moved.
If there are backlinks of value, make sure you update those to the new website address.
Hope this all helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would do it, especially if it's easy like you said. People are visual and you don't know how much it could potentially help users who need the visual validation that they are about to buy the right cartridge. With a sitemap, you're also able to add your own titles, descriptions, and it also helps Google find images that may potentially be reached through Javascript.
Again, if it's easy enough, do it - you covered another base and helped your chances of increased visibility. Here's more information for you.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
Take a look at the Fetch As Google tool. It will give you a snapshot of how Google sees the content on your site. You can learn more about the tool and how to diagnose your results here.
It also seems that iPage has a SuperBoost plan, but if it's an issue with the way your site is laid out, Google will tell you that and you may not have to look into such a thing.
Hope this helps!
Hi there
It looks like the server time to get the document is what's taking so long.
I would go through Google's Interpret Site Speed resource and go through their tips there.
When you look at your PageSpeed Insights report, you will notice they give your pointers and resources on how to fix issues. I recommend starting there.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi Christopher
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about that. Most people don't search URLs, so I don't know how likely you are to run into that issue.
Google will get users where they need to go, worst case to your homepage.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
The best way to assess backlinks are to ask the following questions:
Does this link help my website?
Is this link relevant to my website?
Would I trust this site (that's linking to me) if I landed on it?
Is the website or content in which I am being linked from topically relevant to my website?
If you check metrics - does anything about the metrics (domain authority, page authority,Majestic, SEMRush traffic/ranking data, etc) make me feel uneasy?
Are the links from directory templates? (example)
Inspect URLs with blatant spam words
Free
Porn
XXX
Submit
Directory
Paid
Links
URL
Sex
etc.
Check for multiple domains and URLs on the same IPs
This can usually show link farms or spam
Also, don't disregard or disavow links because they are nofollow - those still have potential to be valuable!
That being said, you should try removing these bad backlinks as well to show effort if you ever fall into a manual action. It may be unlikely, but it's good to have in your back pocket.
Moz has a great resource to help you with the disavow tool as well - I recommend you check it out!
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
No need for a mobile sitemap unless you have a separate mobile website. Google and other search engine crawlers will be fine crawling the regular sitemap. Make sure your responsive site is configured properly!
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Definitely true - was just wondering your stance on that "general belief". I go back and forth in what I believe on that. I can see it going either way, especially from the idea of spamming, but my guess would be that somehow it depends on the site's history or layout.
But, again, who knows!
EGOL
Isn't there some patent or general belief that if there are multiple links to the same page on one page, that only the first link will get the value and the others will not be given any or the same amount of value?
I am trying remember when I read this so I can reference it but I am drawing a blank.
Hi there
I would run through this migration guide step by step as it is quite comprehensive and can definitely help in making this as seamless as possible.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
As far as I know, this isn't possible because the page doesn't technically exist and it's not linked to at all on the site, correct?
A vanity URL isn't meant to be indexed by Google, it's just supposed to be printed or utilized where you need it to appear in advertising.
You can read more here. I would look into tracking that vanity URL so you can see how your campaign is performing overall!
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I tend to focus on:
Moz
SEO by the Sea
Search Engine Roundtable
SEO Theory
All of the above have great, in-depth articles and have genuinely helped me and kept me up to date. I also love participating in this Q+A because it helps me think through my own processes and also gives great insight; I would suggest to both you and your colleague to jump in, or at least pay attention to the questions asked here and the answers.
Kissmetrics had a great expert "what to expect in 2015" article you can read here, and Search Engine Watch had a pretty good list here as well.
Depending on who you talk to you will get different answers. I would focus on providing the best possible web experience you can on multiple levels:
This is just the tip of the iceberg and incorporates so much. If you focus on the above with honest intention and knowing best practices, algorithms are your friend. Moz has a great education section to help get you started on multiple fronts.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
According to Google:
"...we don't guarantee that we'll crawl all of the pages of a particular site. Google doesn't crawl all the pages on the web, and we don't index all the pages we crawl. It's perfectly normal for not all the pages on a site to be indexed."
Google also provides tips and resources to help your site being indexed properly and, possibly, more fully. You can check that resource out here. Kissmetrics has a few other tips.
To Andy's point, Google indexes what it wants - don't be discouraged if your entire site isn't indexed in WMT. If you know how many pages are on your site (which you definitely should), I would try the "site:" function and get a better idea of what actually is indexed in Google.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi Hitesh
Try this procedure from ShoutMeLoud. Their suggested procedure:
You may also want to check internal links and sitemap to make sure you don't have references to that category section if it is in fact gone; that will provide a bad user experience. That's a discussion for you and your team though.
Also, run through your backlinks and update those pointing to Coffee to point to the most relevant category in place now.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
A lot of this is going to come down to your expertise, how long you have been doing it, and what you feel you are truly capable of achieving for each client. Remember, each client and campaign will require a customized approach and research on your part.
Here are a couple of good places to help get an idea of how to price:
How to Charge for managing SEO Campaigns (Optimize Smart)
How Much Should You Spend on SEO Services? (SEW)
Also, remember that business owners have more access than ever to a wealth of resources online that can help them gauge your approach, and also what questions they should be asking. People are more educated than ever, so it's best you are honest about your capabilities up front and continue to do so through your campaigns.
There are a lot of great resources out there that can give you guidance and help you get started as well. You're in a unique position as well to start fresh and build on honesty; a lot of agencies don't have that. Remember, this all comes down to what your experience is, the client, their goals, what you think you can reasonably achieve for them, and how much your time is worth to you. Since none of us on this forum know those things about you, it's best left to your intuition, honestly.
Hope these resources help! Good luck!
Hi there
What I would do is focus on writing content that serves the users search intent. From there, focus on the logical next step that provides a useful and engaging experience for the user. Always think top down for your audience.
What I suggest doing is going through these questions step by step and find potential pain points. You can even try user testing to get an idea of how users are using your site; this can also be done using Hotjar, both from a recording and survey standpoint. You could even try interviewing your customers to see if the site is providing the information they need, or if they know what the next step is.
There are a ton of opportunities and resources to help you find out how to keep users on and moving through your site. I would focus on all of the questions and resources above. Then, sit down with your team and discuss priority areas.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
You can read more about Snip.ly's effect on SEO at Does Sniply affect my SEO/PageRank.
I would just pay attention to the organic performance of the site overall, but the pages specifically you are linking to. Track over time and benchmark to see if anything starts to slump, stays the same, or improves. I would try changing our anchor text up a bit, preferably to branded where possible.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
I would do a quick content audit and see what content from your old blog could be removed, consolidated, or updated. People love in-depth articles and posts so this could be a great opportunity to see what content is worth expanding on or leaving alone.
Whatever you, do make sure that you properly URL map your old blog so that old posts are pointing to their new home on the new blog - that way you don't have a bunch of old blog posts pointing directly to the main blog category.
You may also want to do a backlink audit in case some of those old blog URLs have links pointing to them and you want them to updated to the new URL structure, or removed because they are spammy.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Hi there
No, it wouldn't be duplicate content as it's the same page, but it's not necessary as a user looking at cars probably isn't interested in financing until they find a car they like and see a price.
What I would do instead there is make sure that you have finance content on the listing pages. I wouldn't go too in-depth, but make sure that you let them know you have financing options available or experts they can talk to at the dealership if they have questions or concerns.
Now, don't link off of the listing because you want the users to stay there, but make sure you have a form that they can contact you with if they have interest in the car. You can even have a checkbox that says "I would like to know about financing options" or something along those lines, so when your client receives the form, they know this person wants to talk about financing.
Keep financing links under financing in the top navigation and give users/potential customers a little content and the option to chat more if interested on your listing pages.
Hope this helps! Good luck!