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My apologies, I didn't notice that there were 2 sites already in place. If I were starting from scratch, I would have kept everything under one site.

So lets ignore office 1 and concentrate on the second. I would not go adding additional pages to office 1 because you don't want to run into difficulties where you are trying to compete against yourself for the same terms. No harm in mentioning it, but don't try and compete.

Office 2 should have it's own set of skills, keywords, location and Google My Business page. My only concern is if Google sees two websites for one business like this. It shouldn't be a problem, but there is always an element of unknown with Google and if you tie these in together through Google My Business, you might draw additional attention.

-Andy

...using ccTLDs might not be worth it compared with using a folder

That's be the route I would be investigating first.

-Andy

Hi Robert,

I have never gone back that far myself (30-40 days max), but I can see no reason why this isn't worth a shot. There could still be a lot of potential hanging around out there for the grabbing. Grab any low hanging fruit with both hands

-Andy

Hi Jay,

Do you have any dates that you can refer to in Analytics that show drop that might coincide with a penalty / algorithm update?

-Andy

Hi Chad,

Option 'C' would be the wrong way of doing this, as would 'B'

You need to build the site and then have a page per location. Make the pages very specific about the location and add things in there about travel, directions from different places, landmarks, etc., as well as address and other contact details. The more specific and targeted the page, the better for your client and SEO.

-Andy

Two reasons that I see are preserving any link juice from domains linking to old URLs and ensuring no future/current loss of rankings.

I can see no reason not to go back, just take care to ensure any old 301's are removed and that you don't fall into any redirect-chains. That could get messy.

-Andy

That way, I think they are important for the promotion and SEO of web development companies.

Hi Bob,

No, these won't do anything for SEO in terms of link-building. Google isn't interested in footer links as something they want to see, but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile having there. There are benefits, but they aren't SEO. If someone likes a site and wants to see who developed it, for example.

If you want to create a good backlink profile, then you need good quality links in reputable sites. And don't worry if you see these as making up the majority of links for your competitors, it just means they don't know / haven't spent any time on building good links.

-Andy

Hi,

Have you checked to see if these pages are linked internally or externally from anywhere else? This could be causing issues for Google, but shouldn't.

When did you last request the URL's were removed? And did you check back to see that the notice said they had been removed?

-Andy

My phone is constantly attached to me, more so than the ability to write anything down, so on the home-screen, I have my voice recorder. I say what I need to and then rename it. Takes me 2 seconds and means I forgot nothing - even when I am offline or have limited internet access.

The files stay there until they are no longer required.

-Andy

You could noindex, follow the blog page, but I tend to see these issues fixed with some internal linking, just to remind Google which page you want to be prominent.

That said, the fact it is page 5 makes me wonder if there is a penalty / trust thing going on here as well. It wouldn't be the first time I have seen this happen.

I would also check your local search setup and make sure everything is completed.

• Keywords
• Google My Business
• Citations & Mentions
• Backlinks
• Reviews
• Local Directories & Business Listings
• Google Data Highlighter / Schema Markup
• Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)

-Andy

Hi Donald,

Absolutely create one page with a keyword focus, but don't fall into the trap of keyword duplication / cannibalisation. For example, you wouldn't create separate pages for very similar terms like 'web design' and 'website design' (sorry Toby). This is handled through on-page content, where you want to create amazing content that uses a wide range of related words & synonyms. Also look into LSI keywords as these can help increase a good range of supporting phrases.

Keep each page with a strong focus, create some good blog posts and set to also doing internal linking. A great resource to understand how important this is can be found here: https://econsultancy.com/blog/65433-why-internal-links-and-hub-pages-are-a-major-factor-in-seo-success/

-Andy

If the pages don't fall within the international element of the site, or aren't covered by HREFLANG, then look at the pages that are being caught as duplication. Are they required pages? Are they there just as filler content / doorway pages? Could the pages be noindexed? Is there an opportunity to set a canonical for them to avoid duplication?

-Andy

Hi Miriam,

It's the one that was on the phone. Does everything I need

-Andy

So you just want to disallow the /review/ element?

*Disallow: /review/

I am pretty sure the wildcard will work.

I would use the Robots.txt tester in Webmaster tools to try it out first before committing to any changes. This will tell you if it works and if so, if it's blocked successfully.

You then try the URL without the /review/ element on and make sure it passes.

-Andy

Its funny, I always have the right direction when working for my clients but when it comes to your own websites and seo optimizations it always helps to get a second pair of eyes. We are all bias to our own work.

I couldn't agree more

Well, you could decimate most of the site and fix many issues, but would this be enough to pull it back for you?

Of those that would remain, would you consider them to be more authoritative posts? Would they stand up in the face of Panda without issue?

-Andy

My advice here is to get a good strong Scotch, a pack of headache tablets and settle in for the night - it sounds like one holy mess!

The only thing I can really suggest is to just try and tackle one element at a time. The fact that so much has gone on with the sites, would suggest to me that Google has lost track of where it is all up to.

Start at the beginning (wherever that is!) and work through sorting one issue at a time.

-Andy

Is this a page / article in your site anywhere Nikola? I'm wondering if it's some kind of referrer spam.

-Andy

Link building for any site is a huge subject - certainly not something you can cover here.

However, your best links are going to come from amazing content / linkable assets. If you have something that your niche are going to enjoy reading, then you will find links will happen.

If you are happy performing outreach, you can speed this process up and let key influencers know what you have, but tread carefully... If you just started to Tweet someone you have never spoken to before and asked for links, it can be taken badly and you can ruin your chances for the future.

Here are a few resources to read:

-- MOZ beginners guide to link building -- Backlinkto -- Point Blank SEO -- Post Penguin Link Building (Disclaimer... This is my site)

Hopefully you will get some good pointers from there.

-Andy

In terms of what is right and wrong, don't just look at this from an SEO perspective, remember that you want something engaging to people seeing you in the SERPs. You want to get clicks - there is little point in having a good placement but you are putting potential visitors off.

Be as descriptive as possible, but without adding more in just for the sake of it. Sometimes a short title can be more effective than a longer one. Lots of people skim-read, so keep this in mind.

Add important information to both title and description as needed.

-Andy