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You're right, Google doesn't appear to have an opinion on length that is has voiced - more pointing out the quality of the content itself - my statement was more from what I had seen here and there on various publications, and on also as a result of generally having seen pages with more content on performing better organically over time that pages with thinner content (this is not to say that the 500 number was a max at all - far from it, I too have pages 2 or 3 times that size). I would rather the task of optimising performance of 500 word pages than say 250 word pages. Apologies to all for not being a bit clearer with my original answer

All your answers can be found in Google Webmaster Tools. Google is who removed your site and they have all the answers. You will definitely need to log into your Google WMT account to resolve this issue. https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ Why was my homepage kicked out from results, but not my internal pages? When Malware is detected, Google will take whatever action it deems necessary to protect their search results. If Malware was only detected on your home page, and the rest of your site is clean, then they may only remove the affected home page from the search results. How can I make my homepage appear again in the results? Step 1 - Ensure your page is free of malware Step 2 - Log into Google WMT then navigate Dashboard > Diagnostics > Malware. Run the diagnostic to confirm Google sees your site as malware free. There are many cases where a site owner believes their site to be malware free, but Google still detects an issue. Use their tools. Step 3 - One you have confirmed your site is fine then click "Request A Review". Google will then confirm your site is malware free and can remove any warnings they have placed on your site. Step 4 - Once your site is cleared, you can then submit a Reconsideration Request. Expect the process to take a month. The last time I experienced an issue it took a solid 3 weeks. From what I have heard that is better then average. Best of luck.

Thanks John, I check the robots.txt redirect and it is redirecting fine from the non-www version to the www version. I also know that G is crawling the site because we can see requests by G in the server log. Also as with the case with the other 301 redirects there were cases G followed the 301 redirect on the robots.txt file but also many cases where it didnt.

As was said, a high quality link from a non-relevant site still brings some value with it. If you want to play it just a bit safer, you might try presenting those links as some "partner" sites that provide your visitors with "special rates" or "discounts", when they are visiting you. It might not hold any water in an algorithmic analysis, but in a human review, I suspect it would help.

Hi Dmitri, Go ahead and send this to help@seomoz.org, as they will be able to answer it for you. I regret that I don't know the answer, but they'll be able to help you.

A quick side-question, I have an about me page:  http://about.me/ioansaid Looks nice enough and all that and I guess it's quite friendly and less commercial looking of a link than my company link which is what I have in my twitter profile. Twitter has much higher authority and all that than About.me as you pointed it out so I thought that having my http://celynnenphotography.co.uk link there would be more beneficial than my about.me page. But perhaps the About.me would generate more clicks? I don't know.. Purely for SEO purposes, am I right in leaving my company's link there or perhaps should I put my About me and hope for more clicks?

Thank you for the comprehensive answer.

Great thoughts, thank you. I agree that companies really don't have SEO in mind when creating many tools. Some very useful tools are that way. There is a balance of options here - the benefit they see from using test and target (and they have seen great results improving userability on the site and refining their processes. It has created great efficiency that have led to improved site conversions), and the SEO factor. I guess what I'm looking for is a few things: 1. What are the effects of using hidden div tags and javascript redirects. 2. Possible ways to mitigate any negative effects in my rankings of those pages. From what I have read (and just the story of my SEO life) is that there really isn't much surety when it comes to this...no one seems to know exactly what will happen. I guess I'm looking for someone who has used hidden div tags or javascript redirects and how that has affected their ranking on those specific pages...as well as the site as a whole.

Hey, thanks Sheldon!

Sorry - no specific article comes to mind.  but you could pint out our answers!

Does anyone else have anything to add to this? I figured it wasn't a big deal. Just wanted to check. Am I missing anything before we go ahead and implement this feature into our site?

All things being equal, your SEO would not be be affected at all purely because of a host change. Let me clarify the "all things being equal" part: will your new server offer the same performance as the old server? As Cody suggests, if the new server offers better overall performance that would be good, and if it is worse that would be bad. will there be any downtime during the change? Ideally your should be able to make the move with zero downtime. Any downtime would obviously not be good. is your new server physically located in a significantly different location? If your current server is located in England, it can offer better local results for visitors located in England. If you then move your server to the US, your local SERP can be affected. there are many server settings which can impact SEO and performance. These can easily be taken for granted. If you use any form of shared hosting, you should try to thoroughly understand your current settings and ensure you are aware of your new host's settings. Webmasters are often surprised to learn about changes after they have moved.

You need to provide original content promoting your site's niche. Why should someone visit your site as opposed to the dozen other sites offering the same product? Is your site cheaper? Do you offer a better return policy? Are you local? Determine what you are promoting, what makes you special, and focus on that angle. To use an example, if your site promotes women's health and you are an affiliate for "ABC Vitamins" then you can still sell Vitamin A but write an article specifically about how Vitamin A affects women.