Welcome to the Q&A Forum

No worries - only been out a week or so I think

-Andy

Hi Dana,

Have you had a look at the site with Builtwith.com? Perhaps this will give you some information?

https://builtwith.com/?http%3a%2f%2fwww.pens.com%2fblog

Just looking at the source code of the blog page though, it seems as though Yoast is already installed?

-Andy

Hi Becky,

I have never seen a case where this actually makes a difference. However, I have found code issues because of it, but again, nothing that impacted SEO.

I guess that if a page is really large, then this can slow things down - that can impact SEO, but outside of this, I wouldn't be worrying about it.

Just keep an eye on any 'thin' pages that might pop up as a result of seeing these.

-Andy

Just to check, are the links nofollowed or followed? If they are nofollowed, don't worry about it - you won't need to disavow.

As already pointed out, there is no harm going to come from disavowing them, but if you do, make sure you disavow from a domain level rather than just a page. This will ensure that no more links can sneak in from that domain in the future.

-Andy

Hi Nick,

I'm not aware of any studies specifically around this (other Mozzers might chip in with something) but this is a daily struggle for many site owners.

Without seeing the pages or knowing the keywords, my thought would be to improve the existing pages if they are already performing well in Google, but if they are causing concern from a visitors point of view, then that might be a different conversation.

Combining pages isn't as difficult as it sounds as long as you get them right and have checked to see if the keywords are synonymous and to what level - I have found that in doing this in the past, there is a cut-off point where it is prudent not to try and get a page to rank for too much.

Another way of achieving this is to use page anchors to capture some of these additional keywords. I have had better than moderate successes with these in the past as well. Google has no problem in indexing these if they benefit the page and visitors.

I hope this helps a little.

-Andy

Hi Laura,

As long as you have HREFLANG in place, this will prevent duplication issues in Google's eyes. This is more about explaining to Google that there is a page here that is the same as one intended for another country, but might be some information specific to that country.

What I can't tell you (because I haven't come across it before) is if a mix of English and another language this cause any SEO issues. My gut feeling is that it shouldn't because you are serving up a regional URL, which doesn't rely just on the language - you could just have a different cost or something else that is different.

-Andy

Hi Bob,

Have a watch of Rands Whiteboard Friday on Outreach here. He talks about many aspects of outreach and you can probably pick up some great ideas.

-Andy

There really isn't a right and wrong answer to this, but I will say that the content has to be long enough to answer the question that the page is answering.

In some circumstances, this might mean a short page with just 200 words - other times it might be more. 5000+ sounds a bit insane and like they are trying to over optimise, in which case would make me wonder about the phrase itself - is it low search volume?

There are so many variables that come into play with ranking pages that it would be impossible to say with any degree of certainty what is going on without actually seeing it.

From a usability view, this also sounds very excessive.

Make your pages clear and straight to the point without any waffle - and with 5000+ words, I would be surprised if all of that was really needed.

-Andy

**My intention for the questions was to discuss if some call to actions, or sales copy in the SEO Titles can hurt rankings. **

It certainly wont help Tyler. Google (or indeed anyone searching) wants to see something less in-your-face in terms of what is promised. I personally wouldn't visit a page with a title like that as it sounds like a sales page, even before you get there.

Put yourself in a shoes of a Google rater. Do you think they would see that as a worthwhile title or something spammy? Is someone searching for 'how much can I save' or are they searching for a solution to a problem?

I can't think of any situation where a title like this would be helpful for SEO.

-Andy

Hi,

Linkbuilding is about the most awkward part of SEO, which is why it is so easy to get it wrong, which many do.

In order to create something that people are going to want to link to, you need to have linkable assets that are going to engage people. Imagine for a moment that you are contacting a blog owner who talks about home & DIY hints and tips. There is absolutley no point in just going in there with an e-mail and asking for a link - you need to engage with people - you can't just go in there unless there is a value-add for them.

One thing I would suggest, is looking at the speed of your site. I ran this quickly through Google Page Speed Insights, and it is very slow. This won't help your SEO efforts.

My honest suggestion is to first of all sort out your site speed and then get your local SEO in order. I would imagine that most people using you are going to be locked out and need to use their mobile to get to you? If this isn't in order, you could be wasting time and money on areas that won't help immediately.

Get reviews from the likes of Trustpilot and get yourself on to sites like Trust a Trader.

I hope this helps.

-Andy

Both are going to be important because your product level might capture a larger audience, but your specific product might gather up long-tail terms for people ready to buy that actual item.

However, do ensure the buying experience of the specific product is as good as it can be. At this point you have someone ready to buy. Help them commit as quickly as possible.

-Andy

Hi Jaro,

Please see my answer to your other question.

Perhaps have a read of these two resources to get some ideas as well?

• https://blog.kissmetrics.com/seo-for-ecommerce-websites/
• http://backlinko.com/ecommerce-seo

Depending on how your site is structured, the platform and many other factors, there could be other considerations.

-Andy

Another vote for Ahrefs.

I personally wouldn't use SEMrush for stuff like this as their backlink data isn't going to be as comprehensive. There is always Majestic as well, but I find that a bit clunky now.

Try the free trial with Ahrefs - you wont be disappointed

-Andy

Absolutely agree with Egol. This might not help with the SEO per se, but such a big SEO factor is how happy people are on the page itself. You might find by adding important bullets that you retain someone for longer, make them want to read further and then go on to make a purchase.

Make the pages as good as is possible.

-Andy

Hi Thomas,

You are correct that Mobile First is changing the game when it comes to tabbed / accordion content. Google's take on this now is that they will help usability by not having pages and pages of content on show.

From a desktop point of view, will this help when visitors arrive? Will they know to find the answers they seek behind a tab? Can you have one design for desktop and another for mobile?

Google haven't really said anything about using tabbed content on a desktop site once Mobile First hits, but based on the fact that it will be powering the desktop SERPs, I wouldn't have thought it was a big problem - as long as it enhances the page for a desktop user.

One more thing - John Mueller did tell me in a recent Tweet that layout can affect ranking, so take the time to test what works well for your visitors - it could be the difference between a win and a loss.

-Andy

Hi Rafe,

As already mentioned above, there is absolutely no telling how long it is going to take, or what impact the links will have. You need to be aware that Google doesn't look at every link you have and some of this depends on aspects we don't know and have no control over.

Keep building sensible links, create a natural link profile and don't go over the top. Remember that a handful of amazing links are always going to do more than many rubbish ones.

-Andy

Hi Daniel,

I don't know how best these should be generated (will be a coding thing that needs writing perhaps) but I can tell you that doing this isn't an issue, as long as you get it right.

If you think about some of the huge sites out there on the web, they don't hand-write each page description.

Have a look at sites like Amazon and Ebay or any other online retailer - they will all be automated.

-Andy

MOZ doesn't allow these sorts of posts I'm afraid.

-Andy

Hi,

Is there a reason they are there? Do they serve any purpose at all?

I would be surprised if Google did anything with them and would probably just see it as a bit of spurious code. Are you able to share an example?

-Andy

They can do Clair, but it really depends what they looked at. Technical can cause issues with SEO but so can content and backlinks and page usability (UX).

I haven't seen many times when changing a 301 redirect made any significant difference - at least not if it is just minimal hops.

-Andy