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I still see related searches.

Try Google Trends for your search KW - http://www.google.com/trends/

Scroll down the page, right column - shows a list of related searches...

I've often wondered if these designers inform their customers that random outbound links on their webpages may affect their search rankings.

Website designers who place hallmarks in the footer section of sites they create, in my opinion are taking advantage of non-tech savvy clients.  Years ago, it probably was a much bigger benefit to the designer, than it is today with the algo changes.  But, it probably still bears some weight.

Chris - Nicely said.

Take a look at this option: http://www.cloudflare.com/features-security

I would use the disavow tool as a last resort.  Which would mean, first getting some sort of notification regarding unnatural links and only after all else failed trying to remove those 85 external links by attempting to make direct contact with those sites and asking for link removal.

This may be a good place to start: http://www.seomoz.org/article/recommended#link-building

I think he means, themes that have been reworked for resale...Like some of the vendors ColinSV mentions..

Not sure if it would be a good idea to submit the same release to all services (if you were planning on doing that).

Public Relation firms have been around before the internet.  Like SEO firms, you'll find large agencies that charge a monthly retainer (usually pretty costly), to the one man band company and everything in between.   I guess my point is PR agencies, like any other business will charge you for their time and from my experience its not cheap.

You may be better off selecting one wire service, paying the fee and sending your releases through them yourself.  In the past we've used BusinessWire and PRNewswire with success.

If its generating converting traffic for you - I would not fix what was not broken.

I've seen many websites sites that were not at all graphically pretty, or even laid out in a way that was very user friendly- they were simple design, with a strong message that generated millions of dollars in revenue.  It is pretty amazing.

Thanks, that presentation was great.

Besides the standard Yoast for SEO plugin tweaks, I'm researching best practices when setting up a wordpress blog.

In this instance, the "front end" of the site would be hardcoded static pages designed for an e-commerce site, while there would also be a /blog/ attached to the site - for blog posts, fresh content, etc.

Amazing fact.  How long will it take for people spending mad cash on adwords - who are not quantifying their investment figure this out?  Will we ever see the decline of adwords?

Anyone remember goto.com - they were the ppc kings back in 1998!  The good old days .05 clicks brought tons of traffic and sales...

We have been members of the BBB of Los Angeles (Southland Chapter) for many many years. Within the last few days, the chapter we belong to was expelled by the National BBB Council - this affected tens of thousands of businesses in the Los Angeles area.

It is unprecedented and quite honestly pathetic.  We put our trust into an organization that builds trust with consumers.  I don't believe this has ever happened in the history of the BBB.

The National BBB council has set up a temporary website with all Los Angeles area businesses registered with the BBB - although ratings for every single Los Angeles business is blanked out.

I would agree that the Google Trusted store would be a good place for them to start, very convenient.

They could also use ratings from other review sites, like Yelp, etc.  and possibly even social signal via Google Plus, Twitter, etc.

That's a good question.

Interestingly enough, Google says that Press releases will have no positive impact on rankings.  The biggest benefit would be from journalist, bloggers, and other people who take your release and write their own articles and post/linkback to your site.

But this company did a test and had different results, http://goo.gl/KMywv

I guess it really boils down to that nobody really knows with one hundred percent certainty.

Thank you, that was a great response!

Be wary of agencies offering Cookie Cutter services, chasing the latest search algorithms.

While the below method is not as easier as just hiring a seo firm - in the long run you will have more control over your entire campaign - content, links etc.

Find yourself a good writer -they can write guest blog posts, articles and even your press release for at least  1/2 of what an agency will charge you.  Use the writer when you need them.  Chances are you won't need them full-time.

Use a search engine's advanced operators to query and find relevant links related to your industry.  Can't do it to yourself? learn how to do it, than hire someone and teach them how to do it.

Find a company who specializes and video creation and have them do it for you.

I feel its better to do it yourself or in-house if you have employees/resources.  You will have more control and accountability.

Why not use - www.domain.com/your-key-word.html

This is a good start - read this book: http://www.ericward.com/book/

Consider using .htacces to rewrite the url?