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Also keep in mind that Open Site Explorer does not crawl the entire web, just the top 25-35% of it. That page is buried a bit deep on the site, so it the OSE crawl may not get that deep on the site. OSE and Google are two different crawlers, so Google may well see the link when OSE doesn't.

Hi James, As a usability expert and both a web designer & internet marketer, the topic of usability and the effectiveness of your website engaging and creating a memorable web experience with your audience is one that is always discussed. Whether or not your website is effectively communicating your vision, goals, ideas with your audience is the key to a successful website. To understand this, we must look at the underlying core of the website itself. Not all websites that feature a sophisticated and classy or well designed User Interface bodes well with either SEO or Usability. In fact many websites may feature a spiffy design but just don't attract the users in a clearly defined manner. When it comes to A/B testing, as Simon mentioned you can conduct tests at that level but as mentioned it will take much longer. As he mentioned Google's Website Optimizer is a great tool. Another way you can easily identify weak areas of your website is through Google's Analytics. Now this can be trickier, but you can create various goals and or funnels to identify how users are progressing through your website. With this information we want to look at key areas, bounce rate, exit, time on page, time on site, etc to understand how our users are interacting and engaging. Let's take this for example, let's say we create a landing page within our website to sell a book. We create the content, banners, images, etc. Now we can set up goals and funnels to see how or even if our users get to this area. Are we directing them clearly? If we are getting a high bounce rate or users are not even getting to this area, then something is seriously wrong with our website. So we look at usability, engagement, and interaction. This is a basic outline of utilizing Analytics to achieve and idea of what may not be working properly for your website. Now on to other areas of usability testing. Here are a bunch of different links / resources as well as services that can help in testing your website: http://www.testingscrum.com/ http://www.totalfeedback.net/ www.usefulusability.com/24-usability-testing-tools/ http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/website-usability-tools/ One last thing, if utilizing social networks, you could ask for feedback. For instance on Facebook, ask fans to provide feedback of your website. Another option would be adding a feedback section on your website and get users to submit what they think. This is different than A/B testing but can be very useful in understanding how your website is perceived. This also creates a high level of user interaction and ensures your users that you are a real business - so Brand Development / Awareness is a supplemental achievement!

Hello Jamesjd7, Thanks for coming to Q&A to ask your question. I want to be sure I'm understanding your query correctly. Does the OC in your domain name refer to 'Orange County' or something else? You don't mention what the OC stands for. Where is your business physically located? In Orange County? In Los Angeles County? Some more details would be helpful. Thanks! Miriam

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate them.  Perhaps, my explanation wasn't the best.  I'm not planning on deceiving anyone unless you consider neutering a page as deceptive.  I could just tell them what is going on.  Plus, there has to be a link to my main page. my blog is www.ocpatentlawyer.com.

You can be fairly confident any automated method of moving through a website will be quickly discovered by Google. They are a multi-billion dollar company which employs many of the world's best educated and foremost experts on the topic. Live people have specific patterns and automated methods attempt to mimic those patterns and normally fail in a detectable way. If you want to try your hand at black hat SEO you are welcome to do such, but it is likely a waste of time, money and effort which could be directed towards providing your customers with real value.

The friend of mine with the pr2 site has some unique content that will benefit my readers.  I conducted an email interview with him.  I like the content and it brings value to my readers.