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I'm not sure if it will cause any damage SEO wise, but it will definitely not provide much, if any, value. You can try using Google's original source meta tags here:

http://support.google.com/news/publisher/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=191283

But the original source tag is still experimental.You could try turning some of the articles into whitepapers and having them available for downloadable on your site. Just make sure to block the PDFs with your robot.txt file. Or have people sign up to your mailing list and then e-mail them the whitepaper.

Google Analytics can do all of this. I'm a bit lost with your emphasis on call tracking, but if you want to see which paid and organic keywords brought visitors to your website, Google Analytics is the answer. It's free.

Hello,

I sent you a PM, but I will post here as well.

My name is David Crader and I work at Evolve Creative Group in Akron Ohio. We offer a great SEO training service to many local businesses, and would love to give you a few pointers. You can read about our training service here:

http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com/search-engine-optimization.asp

Just click the "Professional SEO Training Service" drop down. Whatever you need training on we can help. Link building, reputation management, on-page SEO - we know it all. My e-mail is davec@evolvecreativegroup.com and my Skype ID is Dave.Crader.

Look forward to speaking with you.

Thanks,

Dave

You wouldn't stand over them as you hand them the iPad. Just like a server wouldn't stand over you and watch you write in a tip. Bring out the check with an iPad and walk away.

It's either that - or offer an incentive. Which do you think is worse?

I would definitely NOT redirect a domain that received an unnatural link penalty to a new domain that you're starting fresh on. I wouldn't host that new domain on the same C-block either.

If you were running from the cops would you call them and let them know that you cut your hair, changed your clothes and got a new car?

It won't help. In fact, the search results are so finicky right now that you could probably redirect your domain to a competitor and get them penalized. Basically, if your rankings dropped on April 23rd - 24th you're probably not coming back any time soon.

It's not all bad though. Look at it as an opportunity to try out new marketing strategies. You could try going through your site and reducing bounce rates, increasing time on page, improving site speed etc, but honestly I'd work on other marketing techniques. Get a video or data visualization campaign going. Try to get some media mentions. Conduct some interviews and give some yourself.

Did you get an unnatural links warning in webmaster tools?

Goodluck

Technically, you're loosing a very very small amount of link juice by hosting it on a subdomain. The optimal configuration is www.domain.com/blog.

Source - SEO Secrets (great book by the way)

It's unethical to offer an incentive regardless. Try thinking of some creative ways to get reviews on-the-spot. A mobile website, passing around an Ipad, a 'review station' with laptop.

Hi Phil,

www.todd.com <- linking root domain
www.phil.com <- linking root domain
www.todd.com/awesome <-linking page on the root domain
blog.todd.com <- subdomain link

Feel free to private message me if you have any more questions.

I wouldn't 'cut them out' per say, but put them lower on the priority list. Make sure to use the most searched keyword furthest to the left in the title tag.

As far as everything else goes - try setting up some goals in Google Analytics to see which keywords are converting into sales. If you find one converts better than the other - swap it out for the furthest to the left in the title tag. Doesn't matter how much traffic it brings you if it doesn't convert.

As with most people, I can see that you're pretty concerned with your on-site optimization. On-site is a very small percentage of the reason why your website will rank. Links from external websites do most of the work.

Hey Christopher,

You're right in not writing content for all of those keyword variants. Check out this post from Google:

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html

Key takeaway from that post is this:

Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations? Some may disagree, but the only form of on-site SEO optimization I do is in the title tag, H1 tag and 1 time in the copy. I use a different keyword in the title tag, H1 and in copy as well. So for you:

Title: cable braid

H1: cable braiding

in copy: cable braids

Hello,

You are using a 301 redirect from here:

http://www.chamonixfirst.com

to here:

http://www.chamonixfirst.com/en/home/

301's reduce the link juice by 1-10% according to Matt Cutts. It's not that big of deal, but I'd recommend picking a version to link to and sticking to that 1 version from here on out. I'd advise you to switch the 301 redirect around from what you currently have. I'd be better to have http://www.chamonixfirst.com as the primary version of the URL because most of the people that link to you (natural links) will use that version over http://www.chamonixfirst.com/en/home/ (unless they go to your website and copy-paste). You only have 33 linking root domains, so it's better to get it right now before it's too late. If you had 3x the number of linking root domains I'd probably just advise you to keep it the way you have it. Make sure all of these versions use a 301 to your primary version if you have them:

•    http://example.com/
•    http://www.example.com/default.asp
•    http://www.example.com/default.aspx
•    http://example.com/default.aspx
•    http://example.com/default.asp
•    http://www.example.com/

Sounds like you have a pretty good case for a reconsideration. Go here and explain:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEVxdmdRWFJRTjRoLWZVTHZkaTBQbkE6MQ

Make sure to talk about what a great user experience your site provides. Mention your low bounce rates and high authority links. You should be ok, but unfortunately it will probably take some time.

We've gotten new business from our signature links. Just use a nofollow tag and you'll be within guidelines. The link is there to get new customers. Not increase search rankings. It doesn't make sense to remove the link. Doing so would be a bad user experience.

I wouldn't put my priority on removing the low quality links. With that amount of spam it's going to be nearly impossible to get them all removed anyway. I'd spend my time lowering bounce rate and working on social. Go through each page and ask yourself, "Can this be improved?"

As always, look for authoritative link opportunities. Try getting some media mentions using helpareporterout.com. Guest posts are always good too. Look for ways to get traffic through your links. Try running some contests.

Here's an interesting poll about the Panda update last year.

http://www.seroundtable.com/panda-poll-14693.html

Only about 10% recovered fully from Panda, but I'm betting most people just gave up after they were hit.

Good luck!

Thanks for looking into it. The post you reference is indeed interesting. Looks like Google is taking the canonical attribute pretty seriously. I guess we'll just have to observe the changes for now.

I've never heard of a page getting de-indexed for something like this. Do you have an example? I'm actually very interested in this topic. There are so many eCommerce stores in the exact same situation as Paul.

After Penguin, I'm just not sure what to think anymore.

We've used Basecamp for years and our clients love it. Not free though.

Yes, this would be considered duplicate. It's debatable whether or not it will hurt your website though - especially since the other company published the content on the web before you. You may want to look into Google's experimental Meta Tags to specify the original source of content here:

http://support.google.com/news/publisher/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=191283

I'm honestly not sure if this would actually help the situation though. I'd recommend writing your own content if you have time.... anyone else care to expand on this?

I actually just finished writing a 3000 word whitepaper to address this issue. I have many clients that either

1. Don't understand why they need link building

or

2. Don't understand how to judge the quality of a link

I plan to give away this whitepaper to the community after my designers make it pretty. Send me an e-mail at davec@evolvecreativegroup.com if you'd like a bare bone copy (still lots of visuals and examples though).

Edit - The whitepaper is live here:

http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com/whitepapers/Evolve-Creative-Group-Quality-Link-Building-White-Paper.pdf

SEOmoz wouldn't let us use it as YouMoz because we shared it over e-mail to about 50 people... sorry everyone.

We'll still allow you to use it - just send me an e-mail first.