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  • You should specify a preferred domain in webmaster tools to get google to list a particular domain/subdomain. Sounds to me as though Google is listing one version of your domain and the other search engines a different version. I don't think this is a moz error.

    On-Page / Site Optimization | | CommT
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  • I guess the short answer is that Google frowns on this practice, since the pages aren't really duplicates. Since they frown on it, they may choose to simply ignore the canonical, and you'll be left with the problem. I think the general problem is that this requires a lot of extra crawling/processing on their part, so it's not that it's "black at" - it's just a pain for them. I've typically found putting a NOINDEX on pages 2+ is more effective, even in 2014. That said, I do think rel=prev/next has become a viable option, especially if your site isn't high risk for duplicates. Rel=prev/next can, in theory, allow Google to rank any page in the series, without the negative effects of the near-duplicates. Keep in mind that you can combine rel=prev/next and rel=canonical if you're using sorts/filters/etc. Google does support the use of rel=canonical for variants of the same search page. It gets pretty confusing and the simple truth is that they've made some mixed statements that seem to change over time.

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Dr-Pete
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  • I have conformation directly from Google's John Mueller that this is not a problem and the penalty will NOT pass between domains with hreflang.

    Local Strategy | | gazzerman1
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  • Hi MatterSolutions, What you want to avoid doing here is claiming the second listing, because it's a violation to have two claimed listings. Instead, I would recommend going through the troubleshooter as this opens a line of communication with Google about the problem. Here's the link (click the contact button on this page): https://support.google.com/places/#topic=1656871 I realized the guidelines Chris has correctly quoted state otherwise, but my own choice would be to use the troubleshooter instead.

    Local Listings | | MiriamEllis
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  • Thanks for the suggestion Everett. I have the Wordpress plugin Pretty Link already installed so your solution would be really easy to set up and I plan on doing so. Thanks!

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | youngb55
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  • John - Again thank you for the insight. I will take a look at that report and see if there is anything out of the ordinary in terms of spend, etc. Thanks again

    Paid Search Marketing | | BrianBar
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  • Could you attach a screenshot? I think that could help us understand better what you are seeing. Thanks!

    Technical SEO Issues | | KeriMorgret
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  • Good points David, and I'd agree. If the duplicate content issues are relatively small-scale, I'd generally opt to have that content accessible to the engines, and would work simply to add my own, unique content/value/features to those pages to help make them unique (you may already be doing this through design/UX/etc).

    On-Page / Site Optimization | | randfish
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  • HI James, You can use Screaming Frog to generate your sitemap. If you have more than 500 pages you'll need to buy the license that cost  99 £. -Felipe

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Felip3
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  • Hi Andrew We do have a break down for each issue for the crawl diagnostics here: http://moz.com/help/pro/fixing-crawl-diagnostic-issues The YES value in the report for canonical tags do indicate a present tag has been found. Hope this helps!

    Other Research Tools | | DavidLee
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  • These links in the footer pass little to no SEO value anymore. I would stop doing this and encourage your client to spread the news about their new website to local media and have them write an article/press release which refers to you as the designer with a link. If the website contains a blog they could also place a blog post about the new site and give you credit themselves.

    Branding / Brand Awareness | | WesleySmits
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  • Hi Todd, Thanks for writing in to Q&A! I know all of this can feel confusing sometimes, but don't worry! We're all in this together, and we're here to help!!!! There could be a few things going on here. For starters, if your inbound links are "no follow," then we won't follow them. That could cause a problem. It could also be that we don't have your inbound links in our index. One way to test this is to find a URL that you know is linking to you, and put it in OSE. If it doesn't show up there, it definitely means it's not in our index. If you ever need more help, you can always reach out to us as help@moz.com! Have a great rest of your week! Cheers! Erin

    Link Explorer | | ErinMcCaul
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  • I have always used Bing's and see the benefit. I will give Google Webmaster Tools another shot. I generally regard the Moz community and participants as more of an authority regarding questions on related topics... thanks "Mashed Up Website Development"

    Online Marketing Tools | | Atlanta-SMO
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  • I would start marking anything and everything you can, that makes since to. I mean the Big three have all said that it is the future of the web, so why not start now. I would say top priorities would be marking up things that are already showing in the SERPS... products, prices, reviews, ETC. I think that breadcrumb makes a lot of since to mark up since it could be easily used by a Crawler to understand site structure.

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ChadC
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  • Does the client have a PR team or anyone that reaches out to writers when there is a story like a new product or brand? If not, that needs to happen first. Hire or contract PR help, best with someone that already has contacts that you can benefit from. When you have that, then yes, press releases are helpful to get the word out about a new product or brand. But don't rely on the press release itself to bring recognition, stories, or anything else. Press releases like any other piece of content needs to be promoted to the wider audience. On the technical side, press releases should not be used for link building. A well executed press release along with the right promotion will bring links, but not from the release itself.

    Link Building | | katemorris
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  • Some more ideas: Track miles taxied and give bonus free miles Refer a friend and get free miles SEO: ask them to leave a review after they got a ride SM campaign: selfies in the taxi (#supertaxi or something) I guess my general train of thought is to trade social media engagement for free taxi fares.. get people talking about the service and how easy it is to use. Fun project, enjoy

    Local Strategy | | OlegKorneitchouk
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  • I wouldn't count on affiliate links passing value to your site in the long term. http://www.webpronews.com/heres-what-googles-matt-cutts-says-about-affiliate-links-and-nofollow-2012-06 Note that most of the presentation is addressed to affiliates rather than to the program owners. Google tries to identify affiliate links and discount them, so you might not be gaining any value from these links anyway. If the links come from low-authority or low-quality sites AND have anchor text, it's surely not worth the risk. From Google's perspective, you shouldn't try to gain link equity from a link when financial compensation is involved. Ads, affiliate links, and other paid-for links should technically all be nofollow. Images and branded links for affiliates may help avoid penalties (even though Google will probably devalue the links eventually), but where you're already penalized and in need of a manual reconsideration, I'd just get as close to what Google wants as possible.

    Link Building | | Carson-Ward
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