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Hi, Page authority is a metric largely derived from inbound links (internal and external), so very low page authority is mostly associated with very few, or very bad, links pointing to those pages. If you run an OSE report, do you see any external links pointing to those articles? Are the articles well linked-to from relevant sources within the same website? Unless the articles are meant to serve as important landing pages, it's worth noting that they do not need extremely high PA, and it's normal for otherwise strong sites to have a lot of low-PA pages.

I can answer that question as I just did an experiment on this which you can review here: http://www.rlmseo.com/blog/seo-impact-blog-post-dates/ The summary is this: Assuming no displayed date as a baseline, recent dates (not sure exactly how recent - looks like up to 3-12 months but probably depends on industry, etc) will boost traffic significantly. Compared to the baseline, distant past publish dates will reduce traffic a good bit. I would recommend this: Display update date instead of publish date. If a post is still relevant, update it, maybe even add a disclaimer for your users that the post was first published on x date but has been updated and is current. We've seen dramatic traffic increases with this strategy and it ensures people know how relevant your post is, which is actually more important than the publish date.

I can only tell you about our experience...we had the same server (in house) for probably 5-6 years, then we moved in January to an off-site host.  I paid close attention to the rankings because I was actually wanting to see an increase because the new server provided faster load times.  With the exception of normal fluctuations, we saw no change in rankings from the switch.

I'd say it has a negative effect on SEO as SEO is also to do with user experience. moneysavingexpert.com used to have a pop-up that appeared just after the site loaded and blacked out the whole of the rest of the screen - I found it hugely annoying; just as I'd started to read the content it disappeared and I had to close something to continue reading. If I didn't already know the site was genuine I would have thought it was dodgy and pressed back or close straight away. I'm not 100% sure but I think it was the owner of daniweb.com who said she introduced something similar to encourage people to sign up to her forum. Her bounce rate increased dramatically so she took it off as soon as she realised, and the bounce rate recovered. Bounce rate is something that can be measured by the search engines, along with other metrics related to user experience that will be taken into account when calculating the ranking of a page. Alan's idea, to do something more subtle, is a good one. If it was unique and done really well, you might even get extra links because of it, rather than potentially less links as Matt Cutts suggested in the video Ryan linked to.

Hi Maria, I think Dan gives some good advice here as far as due diligence goes when picking a theme, namely choosing one through a reputable source, qualifying your options by considering reviews and usage, etc. There are certainly a lot of well designed WP themes out there to choose from, and I think if you employ the approach that Dan suggests you will help yourself to find something suitable.  That being said, this is the way I personally looked at my situation when deciding on the course I wanted to take. You have some options: Custom designed WP theme: If completed by a quality designer, this option is arguably the best.  This option is, of course, the most expensive, but can potentially suit your needs most effectively.  I think whether or not the upside is worth the additional expenditure depends on the depth and complexity of your business model, goals, and uniqueness of your offerings.  If you're dealing with a traditional and established type of business or are simply aiming to have a presentable, clean, and professional looking blog or simple site using WP as a content management system, then you will probably be fine with one of the vast number of available already created themes out there.  However, if you have a business model that is less common or are looking to add a lot of additional functionality, then custom design may be the way to go.  Personally, I had a custom WP site created by a development team, that I would be happy to recommend if you like - they have been great to work with.  For me, a custom site was the best option to achieve the look and functionality that I desired.  These considerations, as well as of course budget constraints, will help to influence your ultimate decision. Premium WordPress Themes: This option is not free, but will most likely cost you far less than paying a developer for a custom theme.  A great thing about WP is that the community contributing to the product is large, and therefore any person creating a theme, plugin, add-on, etc is subject to competition and mass feedback, providing at least some incentive to create a quality product, especially if one is trying to earn revenue from his or her efforts.  When there are a lot of participants in a marketplace like this one, you are more likely to have transparency into what is quality and what is not.  Because of this, I believe a premium theme creator is more likely to be compelled to produce a quality product that conforms to appropriate guidelines and that is supported and updated accordingly. Free WP Themes: There are also many free WP themes to choose from.  While free has it's upside, I would be particularly observant if you choose this option.  I'm not suggesting that all free themes have problems - I imagine that there are many that follow the same best practices as do custom or premium themes.  However, I do think that the lack of financial incentive for creators of this theme gives rise to a greater risk than do the other two aforementioned options.  If you choose this option, then I would heed Dan's warning with particularly strong vigor. While I agree with the sentiment that what you do with your WP site is more important than the theme that you choose, I think there is something to be said for the foundation on which you build your house.  Rotten site design can significantly hinder your ability to accomplish the goals of your business and website, regardless of the quality of the effort you make in optimizing and promoting it.  Yes, you'll want to create original, compelling content as well as engaging in a myriad of other SEO related efforts, but I do believe it's critical to make sure those efforts aren't destroyed nor damaged by a problematic base. Finally, Yoast is respected in the field and I've heard positive things about his SEO plugin, including those echoed in the other responses here.  I personally have been using the WordPress SEO plugin by Joost de Valk and have no complaints thus far.  That's not to suggest that what I have been using is any better or worse, it's just the only WP SEO plugin that I am qualified to comment on at this time. Kelly

Followed One Way Links = Good Followed Reciprocal = Neutral/Good Followed Paid = Black Hat NoFollow = Neutral/Good

Yes, I would like to exchange links with other sites, but if I put their links in my homepage (sidebar), in On Page Optimization it says I have too many external links, and it could be traduced by Google as a spammy site. My question is if I should have a outletspain.net/links page in order to locate their links or should be in homepage? Other question would be if reciprocal but follow links have any effect (Good/ Bad) for Google. Thanks in advance Maria Jesus

Hi there Maria Jesus. I would strongly encourage building juice to your home page. Establishing your brand or specific primary service by posting and building links back to your home website shows the broad view and not a specific topic to the persons visiting. After some time and verifying that your link building program is taking off, then you can focus on the supplemental pages targeting niche websites with trackback keywords SPECIFIC to each page. As for how they appear in the SERPs, well, if you do well enough you may not just rank once, but if you've done the relevant work, you may even be 2nd as well! The SE's may indent the result, but you're still relevant to the query. Yes. Always follow if you want your information to be found. NoFollows are best left for folders that you need to keep away from prying eyes/spiders.... Best of luck!

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