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It sounds like the scenario you're describing isn't an issue of the URLs changing, but more so content shuffling within given URLs.  This is VERY common.  Google even promotes this with the Website Optimizer as they understand that a users experience with a website can vary from user to user, and having the flexibility to change to meet a specific user's needs is a good thing not bad. Unless the shuffling is dramatically affecting your own search traffic goals, I wouldn't be too concerned with it. Mostly I'd recommend strong categories for your pages that target your key search demographics and the archival of pages that have come and gone in their voting cycle.  That way you'll have plenty of static content to work with as well.

Ouch.  That's a tricky one, but a 302 is likely your best bet if you HAVE to move to the new domain and then move them back to new URLs on the old domain with a 301, but why do the middle step of moving these pages to the new domain?  If you're going to put them on new URLs on the old domain, why not just create those URLs and move the pages there?  Any competent developer should be able to work around having pages on a domain remain live while development takes place in the background.  Really the only instance I could see of having to part with your domain for a few months is if you lost ownership of it, other than that, I'd do what I could to avoid bouncing around on domains, especially as far as a brand is concerned.

For my sites I prefer to use user-friendly URLS so they look nice and pretty when a searcher sees them on the Google results. To keep my WordPress installs nice and fast I use a plugin called W3 Total Cache. Any time the server doesn't have to hit the database it will be much faster -this plugin helps with that. I also use another plugin called CSprites (or something like that) to put all images into a sprite file. This combination, plus a dedicated server, keeps my sites serving very fast even with some dynamic widgets on the page.

Thanks for the interesting question and answers! I can tell you from experience that thinking and worrying about why someone decides to thumb something down will get you nowhere but with heartache. I've had so many comments and posts thumbed down that I couldn't imagine why people would thumb it down. I have one post that I like to call out, where it was just a fun afternoon post (on Rand's birthday back in 2009) and I got so many thumbs down it was crazy. I was fairly new to the company then and was a bit heartbroken. Now, we do get "thumb spam" where people decide to thumb down every comment on a post. I can't say why they do it but they do. Usually we catch them and I will email them about it. Sometimes I get a response back that they're sorry but got upset over a comment, but usually I get no response. But they don't do it again either. When it comes down to it, I'd recommend just not worrying about why others decide to thumb a comment or post down. I think some people do it without rhyme or reason. Maybe they don't like your name, maybe the title of the post turned them off, maybe they're just having a bad day. But the way I see it, if someone thumbs my post or comment down, it means I've struck a nerve. And I'm ok with that. Sorry I don't have a better answer than "don't worry about it".

Google collects a ton of information about your browsing habits. If you are pro-Google, then you will accept this collection is used to provide you with the best search results possible. They have the ability to filter results not just by location but pretty much by any factor you can view in Google Analytics. If you type in "Clear browser cache", Google KNOWS what browser you are using and can add the "Firefox" term in on your behalf, without it being apparent to the user. Take a close look at the wealth of information offered in GA. I recently searched for some lightbulbs online. Now, whatever said I visit shows lightbulb ads. Google KNOWS I am a possible lightbulb customer. When the CIA wants information on someone, they go to Google.

Rand mentioned using cross-site canonicals at the linklove event in London, perhaps some of the SEOMoz staff have some data on that kind of usage that they could share? (particularly with respect to the how closely content needs to match from page to page).

Thanks, we will opt to stay away from using these type of services.   Appreciate the response.

es-ee-oh exactly how would someone end up in a "natural" link wheel?  the odds of that happening naturally have to be a million to one...

Well, one way would be to look in the source code of the website. Find the profile link and see if there is a rel="nofollow" attribute in there. Or, get the SEOmoz toolbar and click the NoFollow finder, it will highlight nofollow links in pink, i believe.

Ryan - Related question.  Our IT team moved to a CDN, and said that they 'noindexed' our Image URLs on our site. Since there aren't technically dupe content issues with images, should we allow Google to index images in both our old sitemap AND the new CDN??

You make a good point.  That depending on the project requirements and timeline, the extensions may not matter too much.  Great job on the quick rankings!

Yes, greatly appreciate the advice. Can you recommend ay top shelf SEO agencies for  referral? thank you MIke

Your site is still indexed, I would suggest that perhaps Google has devalued some of your links. I would have a look at the top 20 or so sites that link the most traffic to you and check that their authority is still recognised. For more information on penalties etc have a look at webmaster guidelines

I've seen exactly the same thing and have assumed that this is down to the SEOMoz crawler not being able to pick up the settings in Webmaster Tools. Have you noticed an improvement in your Webmaster tools reports? I don't know if there is anything you can do at this stage, regardless of whether you're looking at SEOMoz or WMT. I wouldn't be too concerned about it if you have correctly set parameter handling and backed that up with some canonical tags if appropriate. Very often, these alerts are meant to flag something for you to check with a human eye, but this and all of the above is my interpretation of what you are describing from my own experience so I guess you need to wait for A Mozzer to reply about the intricacies of what their crawler is telling you.

Thanks for the HTTP status code analogy.  The comment adds the perspective I need to explain this to my technical manager.

Yes, I didn't perceive anyone was talking about text and background the same color. You are right, obviously that would be complete ButterScotch.

Awesome, thanks

Google shows keyword volume based on their internal system's evaluation of what phrases are deemed "commercially viable".  It's a severely flawed system, mostly designed to force people to spend more money on perceived higher value keyword phrases in AdWords. As the other answers show, you are wise to include location relevant words in your optimization.  Both because people are looking for these things, and because having them in the page Titles is VITAL to helping someone doing a search get the reassurance that "this search result IS for what I'm looking for in "THIS AREA".  It's a trust-to-click factor. If you want proof that people are searching for such things, go to Yelp and see if there are any results on the combination you are considering - and if there are reviews for any of those. Of course, not ALL phrases are being searched at the local level, yet many are, even if they're not reported in Google's ulterior-motivated system. Another consideration - here in Marin County, California, many people search for "XYZ + town", yet many more do in fact for "XYZ + bay area" or even "XYZ + San Francisco Bay Area"  or "XYZ East Bay" or "XYZ North Bay"...  so if there is such a regional factor in the local areas you're dealing with, consider doing research on those as well, and adding those into the mix with the more refined local wording.