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What good/bad experiences have people had trying to optimize a single URL for multiple locations in different states? eg optimizing a page of the site for "dentist atlanta", "dentist orlando", and "dentist miami" (the client has offices in all these locations).

Has anyone found that Google has an algorithm that get's suspicious if you try to optimize a given URL for either too many locations and/or for locations that are too far apart?

If you pay them to put links on their private network of sites, then those are paid links, which would break Google's guidelines.

If you search for locksmith Phoenix, this Google+ page is ranked #3 in the local results: https://plus.google.com/117543374216451236579/about?hl=en

The phone number is a VOIP number, they don't appear to have many/any citations, no reviews, etc. They've listed the Yelp search results page as their website. Strange.

How are they ranking so well? Is Google ranking them well because it's associating them with Yelp.com?

Any thoughts?

Correct, Bing powers AOL and Yahoo.

I don't think DuckDuckGo has a Sitemap submission feature. If you list your sitemap in the robots.txt file, though, maybe they will still crawl it.

I would use the domain name or brand name. A keyword anchor text link in the site footer looks like a paid link/spam link.

Why not add a blog to your website and focus on producing some really great content for it? This can be a great way to not only get rankings but establish yourself as an industry expert to sell your services.

"anchor tag and then an image with alt attribute as logo"

That is what Matt Cutts says Google prefers, yes.

Billy gave you some good advice, but I disagree with him on one point. Domain authority doesn't necessarily have anything to do with whether a link is dangerous or not. You can get a spammy link from a domain with high authority or a great link from a lower authority domain.

You want to get rid of links that Google will view as intended primarily to manipulate search rankings instead of providing value to the user.

Some factors to consider:

• Is the link from a page or site that is relevant to mine?
• Does the link make sense for / provide value to the user?
• Does the link use my target keyword(s) as anchor text? (Too many keyword anchor texts is a problem.)
• Is the link purchased?
• Is the link near or with spammy links?
• Is the link from a low quality directory, forum signature, blog comment,
• Is the link from a page of duplicate content?

Hope that helps!

Sure, it's possible. Site size is generally not a ranking factor. Not directly, at least. As Jim points out, the larger site may be more useful to the user, which would attract more backlinks, etc.

Bottom line: Focus on making your site the best. If that means adding more great content and making it bigger, great. If you can make it great without adding more pages, that's fine, too.

Based on what Matt said, it sounds like Google only wants you to use the tool for links that you've tried to remove manually but couldn't. My guess is they may ignore your disavowals if you rely too much on the tool.

Sorry, but no. That's not a good strategy - using it will put your website at risk for being penalized.

You want to pursue "editorial links" or "earned links". Usually, this means links where a website editor/webmaster chooses to link to your site because your content is so good.

Some suggestions:

• Identify authority blogs in your industry that accept guest posts.
• Submit your site to a few industry directories with high editorial standards.
• Focus on creating and promoting exceptional content (linkbait) that showcases your industry expertise
• Build relationships that make lead to link opportunities
• Be creative

Hi Nic,

That's a pretty broad question, but here are a few basic suggestions:

• Unless you really want to manage your blog in Magento, I would setup your blog using WordPress. All the features and plugins you'll need, plus plenty of community support, and it's easy to use.
• Focus on publishing great content, SEO, social, and building an audience.
• Install Google Analytics.
• Make sure you have Facebook like button, Tweet this, and Google +1 on each post.
• Install the All In One or Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress.
• Publish great content and promote it.

Well, let's look at it from an hourly perspective.

14 posts a month on twitter and facebook = maybe 3-5 hours?

3 blog posts = could be 3 hours, could be 20 hours, depending on depth and complexity

As far as hourly rates, I would expect something roughly as follows:

<$100 for small, startup, new, etc agencies
$100-200 for small to medium agencies
$200+ for larger and more established agencies

So if we budgeted 15 hours, cost might be $1,000-$3,000+

Tyler,

I would not be very worried SEO impact, but it could hurt your brand, etc. Affiliate links typically don't pass link juice, and Google usually doesn't penalize you for bad links, anyway (they usually just discount them).

Google is getting much better at recognizing location, but I would still work to include it on the page in a few places. That's what I've seen the best results doing. My recommendation:

• Include the location in the title tag.
• Include the location in the H1 or at the top of the page - this is for the user as much as for search engines, to reaffirm to the user that they are on the website of a local company.
• You don't have to use the exact keyword + location phrase - mix it up and be natural. For example, "We're a roofing company serving Portland and the surrounding area of Maine."
• Include the location (eg city name) and state at least 2x on the page.
• Use schema.org markup on your physical address in the footer, sidebar, or elsewhere on the page.
• Don't include the location in anchor texts in your navigation - that looks rather spammy.

Use the canoncal meta tag.

I would try Elance or Guru to hire a freelance writer.

According to http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=188484 "All items must be able to be purchased through an online purchasing means."

The site doesn't appear to be fully functional, that's for sure. Hard to say - maybe it is an abandoned or unfinished website, or maybe they just have some broken features. It almost looks unfinished to me - like they started building it and didn't finish.

If this is their main keyword, I would optimize their homepage for it in addition to keeping the subpage optimized for it. You might even get an indented listing (both pages ranked for the keyword).