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Thanks for the input.
I agree they look spammy. I'm also going by this thread here:
http://moz.com/community/q/footer-link-2

Qu: the single footer link to my site produces a 404 Not Found (it was for a real estate listing that we deleted months ago).
Do I still need to take action or can I simply ignore?

Now why didn't I think of that?
However, my question remains: You would take the link despite its being in a footer?

Footer link, though? Isn't that a no-no?

There's a site in my industry where (I'm guessing on flawed SEO advice) all of their pages contain footer links to rival sites – with each page containing a different set of links.

One page has a link to my site, which I've just found out from GWT as the link now produces a 404.
Should I
a) ignore it?
b) ask them to replace it with a live link from my site (their site's highly relevant to mine)? or
c) ask them to remove it altogether as no-one wants footer links?

Open Site Explorer lists them and every so-called SEO expert says social signals/shares are a ranking factor. Everyone but Matt Cutts, it would seem.

So if they're not a ranking factor, why show them in Open Site Explorer?

_I personally believe that the next Penguin algorithm is going to discount any links that Google can tell are from guest posting.  It may devalue links that are in sentences like, "Marie Haynes is a writer for example.com...", or "Visit my website at example.com".  When those links get devalued then it's going to look like a penalty to sites who have relied heavily on guest posting.  _

Let's assume I put a quality guest post on a quality site, with the do-follow link to my site embedded naturally in the copy and among one of half a dozen links to half a dozen sites (ie, the thing doesn't remotely look or smell like a guest post).
Does that pass muster?

I was about to post the very same question.

This is surely sending out mixed signals in an era in which listing in directories is a busted flush. After all, virtually all of these directory links are paid links. And last year SeoMoz (as then was) took down its list of recommended directories. What gives?

Our webmaster has at long last managed to trigger a general IIS-generated 404 template page -- but doesn't know how to turn that into a customised one . Help again!

I run a real estate website.
My webmaster needs to create a 404 page for listings when they get deleted.
So far all he's come up with is 302-redirect to a standard "error template" page.
Can anyone suggest a 404 how-to guide I can show him?
Thanks

For family reasons (child to look after) I can't keep a close eye on my SEO and SERPs. But from top 10 rankings in January for a dozen keywords I'm now not in top 80 results -- save one keyword for which I'm  ~18-20.
Not a sitewide penalty: some of my internal pages are still ranking top 3 or so.

In GWT, late March I received  warning of a rise in server errors:
17 Server Errors/575 soft 404s/17 Not Founds/Access Denied 1/Others 4
I've also got 2 very old sitemaps (from two different ex-SEO firms) & I'm guessing about 75% of the links on there no longer exist.

Q: Could all this be behind my calamitous SERPS drop? Or should I be devoting my -- limited --  time to improving my links?

What I do (I also work on a real estate website):
Short-term (maybe one or two weeks): Leave as is but have a "sold" banner over the listing.
Afterwards: Delete it.

He seems to have sorted it out now -- touch wood.
Thank you for your replies.

My webmaster's trying (but struggling) to 301-redirect the non.www version of my site to the www version. He's following these instructions given to me in a response to an SEOMoz Private Question (ah, the good old days!).

So far he's 301-redirected the homepage but seems stuck on how to do the entire site. Any clues on what he should be doing?

OK, I admit I was being slightly flippant. But I strongly suggest you read that thread before starting any directory submissions. There aren't that many good web (as opposed to say, local) directories any more. And unless they are niche-specific, they are unlikely to be of the PR 2 variety.

None. You'd do well to read this recent Q&A post.

Many people build custom sites and their SEO presence is just fine... it all depends on what you want out of a website.

Couldn't agree more.

I would avoid any kind of automation, "semi-" or no.

You have to submit to "good" directories but they make this easier
I don't believe that what few "good" directories remain out there are compatible with mass-submission software.

Links from press releases are worthless, says Matt Cutts.
Links from article directories are even more worthless, says Matt Cutts.
Links from directories? Less clear-cut.  SEOMoz publishes a comprehensive list -- but the jury's out on their effectiveness, with even SEOMoz staff claiming "that list is certainly not an endorsement".

When I search new homes developer st modwen in Google.com (no quote marks & I'm in the UK), this page from your site is at No3 and your homepage is at No4.

When I search st modwen homes, you're at No1. I'm no expert, but that doesn't look like being de-indexed to me.

Or do you simply mean your rankings for the term new homes developer have dropped?

Also, I don't understand this:  _buit we had no other option client was changing content on live site, so we had to noindex, nofollow. _

Dear SEOMoz

I don't know why/how this thread has been marked as "Question Answered" when it hasn't.