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I have a website that is not very pretty but has great rankings. I want to redesign the website and loose as little rankings as possible and still clean up the navigation. What are the best practices? Thanks in advance.

Are there any resources to determine appropriate websites that meet a particular demographic to buy banner ad space, such as:

The target demographic for this brand is 'Working Women' ages 25 - 54.

We would like to provide an analysis of what sites we can target for display ads that focus on this targeted demographic.

Thanks, That's what I was looking for.

I have a large ecommerce site and several smaller nitche ecommerce sites. All have the same products, but the smaller sites are loosing traffic.

I want to combine all the sites to the larger site so it will be easier to manage, but I don't want to loose any rank on the smaller sites.

Example:

www.yourpromopeople.com - This is the large site I want to use.

www.logocoolies.com

www.fourcolormagnets.com - These are a couple of the smaller sites I want to combine with the larger one.

Questions:

What are the pros and cons in doing this?

What would be the best way to do this?

Would redirecting the URL's to the larger site's product pages do the trick or is there a better option?

Thanks for the help.

How to Redirect a Web Page Using a 301 Redirect
By Herman Drost

You've just redesigned some pages of your web site. The
pages have high search engine rankings that you don't want
to lose. How can you safely redirect web site traffic from
your old pages to the new pages without losing your
rankings? You can do this by using a " 301 redirect "

What is 301 redirect?

301 redirect is the best method to preserve your current
search engine rankings when redirecting web pages or a web
site. The code "301" is interpreted as "moved permanently".
After the code, the URL of the missing or renamed page is
noted, followed by a space, then followed by the new
location or file name. You implement the 301 redirect by
creating a .htaccess file.

What is a .htaccess file?

When a visitor/spider requests a web page, your web server
checks for a .htaccess file. The .htaccess file contains
specific instructions for certain requests, including
security, redirection issues and how to handle certain
errors.

How to implement the 301 Redirect

1. To create a .htaccess file, open notepad, name and save
the file as .htaccess (there is no extension).

2. If you already have a .htaccess file on your server,
download it to your desktop for editing.

3. Place this code in your .htaccess file:

redirect 301 /old/old.htm http://www.you.com/new.htm

4. If the .htaccess file already has lines of code in it,
skip a line, then add the above code.

5. Save the .htaccess file

6. Upload this file to the root folder of your server.

7. Test it by typing in the old address to the page you've
changed. You should be immediately taken to the new
location.

Notes: Don't add "http://www" to the first part of the
statement - place the path from the top level of your site
to the page. Also ensure that you leave a single space
between these elements:

redirect 301 (the instruction that the page has moved)

/old/old.htm (the original folder path and file name)

http://www.you.com/new.htm (new path and file name)

When the search engines spider your site again they will
follow the rule you have created in your .htaccess file.
The search engine spider doesn't actually read the 
.htaccess file, but recognizes the response from the 
server as valid.

During the next update, the old file name and path will be
dropped and replaced with the new one. Sometimes you may
see alternating old/new file names during the transition
period, plus some fluctuations in rankings. According to
Google it will take 6-8 weeks to see the changes reflected
on your pages.

Other ways to implement the 301 redirect:

1. To redirect ALL files on your domain use this in your
.htaccess file if you are on a unix web server:

redirectMatch 301 ^(.)$ http://www.domain.com 
redirectMatch permanent ^(.)$ http://www.domain.com

You can also use one of these in your .htaccess file:

redirect 301 /index.html http://www.domain.com/index.html 
redirect permanent /index.html http://www.domain.com/index.html 
redirectpermanent /index.html http://www.domain.com/index.html

This will redirect "index.html" to another domain using a
301-Moved permanently redirect.

2. If you need to redirect http://mysite.com to
http://www.mysite.com and you've got mod_rewrite enabled on
your server you can put this in your .htaccess file:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/$1 [R=permanent,L]

or this:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domain.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Tip: Use your full URL (ie http://www.domain.com) when
obtaining incoming links to your site. Also use your full
URL for the internal linking of your site.

3. If you want to redirect your .htm pages to .php pages
andd you've got mod_rewrite enabled on your server you can
put this in your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine on 
RewriteBase / 
RewriteRule (.*).htm$ /$1.php

4. If you wish to redirect your .html or .htm pages to
.shtml pages because you are using Server Side Includes
(SSI) add this code to your .htaccess file:

AddType text/html .shtml 
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml .html .htm
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes 
DirectoryIndex index.shtml index.html

Frequently Asked Question:
What's the difference in using a 301 redirect versus a meta redirect?

Meta Redirect
To send someone to a new page (or site) put this in the head of your
document:

http://mynewsite.com/">

Content="10; tells the browser to wait 10 seconds before
transfer, choose however long you would like, you can even
choose 0 to give a smoother transition, but some (really
old) browsers aren't capable of using this so I'd suggest
putting a link on that page to your new site for them.

With a meta redirect the page with the redirect issues a
200 OK status and some other mechanism moves the browser
over to the new URL. With a 200 OK on both pages, the
search engine wants to index both the start page and the
target page - and that is a known spam method (set up 
10,000 domains full of keywords for the search engines to
index then meta redirect the "real visitor" after 0 or 1
seconds to the "real site" ) so using it gets you
penalized.

The 301 redirect simply issues a Permanently Moved message
in the HTTP header which tells the search engine to only
index the target URL.

Conclusion: The safest way to redirect old web pages to the
new pages or old web site to the new web site and keep the
same search engine rankings is to use the 301 redirect. It
will also pass on the page rank from your old site to your
new site.

1. Be sure your Meta titles and descriptions are unique, add value to the user and the grammar & spelling are correct.

2. Be sure your content flows and the keyword density is under 3% as a guideline. Use synonyms.

3. Remove keyword Meta tags. The only thing it is good for is letting your competitors know what keywords you are targeting.

4. Set up Google Analytics / Web tools.

5. Use Inner linking throughout your pages.

6. Set-up Sitemap & Robots.txt

7. Videos and Alt tags for images.

Follow these steps and you will climb the ranking in no time.

We use PRWeb. They have good resources and the article submission is pretty easy. Plus, they have ongoing analytic data to view.

This is kind of a trick question, but if you could only do ONE thing to improve your search ranking what would you do?

Be careful with the "wheelchair" keyword. It shows up in the web copy a lot. You may want to very the keyword with some synonyms to avoid the over optimization penalty. Also, take out the keyword meta tag. It only tells competitors what keywords you are targeting. Keyword stuffed, duplicate titles. I would add Google Analytics for tracking.

Just what I saw from a quick look. I hope it helps.

Bolding is fine and even helps some. Anchor text is good practice also. Just remember to keep your keyword density under 3% to avoid the over optimization penalty and vary your anchor text using different keywords. Plus, the anchor text should flow within your page copy. Don't force the keywords. Most important, think about what is best for the user anytime you create links in content.

SEO is important, but ask yourself these two questions when creating content for pages, because Google is -

What is the user searching for?

Is my page delivering it?

How to Redirect a Web Page Using a 301 Redirect
By Herman Drost

You've just redesigned some pages of your web site. The
pages have high search engine rankings that you don't want
to lose. How can you safely redirect web site traffic from
your old pages to the new pages without losing your
rankings? You can do this by using a " 301 redirect "

What is 301 redirect?

301 redirect is the best method to preserve your current
search engine rankings when redirecting web pages or a web
site. The code "301" is interpreted as "moved permanently".
After the code, the URL of the missing or renamed page is
noted, followed by a space, then followed by the new
location or file name. You implement the 301 redirect by
creating a .htaccess file.

What is a .htaccess file?

When a visitor/spider requests a web page, your web server
checks for a .htaccess file. The .htaccess file contains
specific instructions for certain requests, including
security, redirection issues and how to handle certain
errors.

How to implement the 301 Redirect

1. To create a .htaccess file, open notepad, name and save
the file as .htaccess (there is no extension).

2. If you already have a .htaccess file on your server,
download it to your desktop for editing.

3. Place this code in your .htaccess file:

redirect 301 /old/old.htm http://www.you.com/new.htm

4. If the .htaccess file already has lines of code in it,
skip a line, then add the above code.

5. Save the .htaccess file

6. Upload this file to the root folder of your server.

7. Test it by typing in the old address to the page you've
changed. You should be immediately taken to the new
location.

Notes: Don't add "http://www" to the first part of the
statement - place the path from the top level of your site
to the page. Also ensure that you leave a single space
between these elements:

redirect 301 (the instruction that the page has moved)

/old/old.htm (the original folder path and file name)

http://www.you.com/new.htm (new path and file name)

When the search engines spider your site again they will
follow the rule you have created in your .htaccess file.
The search engine spider doesn't actually read the 
.htaccess file, but recognizes the response from the 
server as valid.

During the next update, the old file name and path will be
dropped and replaced with the new one. Sometimes you may
see alternating old/new file names during the transition
period, plus some fluctuations in rankings. According to
Google it will take 6-8 weeks to see the changes reflected
on your pages.

Other ways to implement the 301 redirect:

1. To redirect ALL files on your domain use this in your
.htaccess file if you are on a unix web server:

redirectMatch 301 ^(.)$ http://www.domain.com 
redirectMatch permanent ^(.)$ http://www.domain.com

You can also use one of these in your .htaccess file:

redirect 301 /index.html http://www.domain.com/index.html 
redirect permanent /index.html http://www.domain.com/index.html 
redirectpermanent /index.html http://www.domain.com/index.html

This will redirect "index.html" to another domain using a
301-Moved permanently redirect.

2. If you need to redirect http://mysite.com to
http://www.mysite.com and you've got mod_rewrite enabled on
your server you can put this in your .htaccess file:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/$1 [R=permanent,L]

or this:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domain.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Tip: Use your full URL (ie http://www.domain.com) when
obtaining incoming links to your site. Also use your full
URL for the internal linking of your site.

3. If you want to redirect your .htm pages to .php pages
andd you've got mod_rewrite enabled on your server you can
put this in your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine on 
RewriteBase / 
RewriteRule (.*).htm$ /$1.php

4. If you wish to redirect your .html or .htm pages to
.shtml pages because you are using Server Side Includes
(SSI) add this code to your .htaccess file:

AddType text/html .shtml 
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml .html .htm
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes 
DirectoryIndex index.shtml index.html

Frequently Asked Question:
What's the difference in using a 301 redirect versus a meta redirect?

Meta Redirect
To send someone to a new page (or site) put this in the head of your
document:

http://mynewsite.com/">

Content="10; tells the browser to wait 10 seconds before
transfer, choose however long you would like, you can even
choose 0 to give a smoother transition, but some (really
old) browsers aren't capable of using this so I'd suggest
putting a link on that page to your new site for them.

With a meta redirect the page with the redirect issues a
200 OK status and some other mechanism moves the browser
over to the new URL. With a 200 OK on both pages, the
search engine wants to index both the start page and the
target page - and that is a known spam method (set up 
10,000 domains full of keywords for the search engines to
index then meta redirect the "real visitor" after 0 or 1
seconds to the "real site" ) so using it gets you
penalized.

The 301 redirect simply issues a Permanently Moved message
in the HTTP header which tells the search engine to only
index the target URL.

Conclusion: The safest way to redirect old web pages to the
new pages or old web site to the new web site and keep the
same search engine rankings is to use the 301 redirect. It
will also pass on the page rank from your old site to your
new site.

I haven't seen many new .net sites. The .com sites are the most sought after and usually have more authority. I read an article that said .org site are being indexed well lately.

Also, be sure to use a long tail keyword if you are a small site just getting started.

If you go to the reports tab you can create customized reports and SEOmoz will email them to you weekly or monthly depending on your needs. You can go back and review anytime.

Google should recognize the original source and give credit due.

How many started to hum the mission impossible theme as you were reading this post?

1. Be sure your Meta titles and descriptions are unique, add value to the user and the grammar & spelling are correct.

2. Be sure your content flows and the keyword density is under 3% as a guideline. Use synonyms.

3. Remove keyword Meta tags. The only thing it is good for is letting your competitors know what keywords you are targeting.

4. Set up Google Analytics / Web tools.

5. Use Inner linking throughout your pages.

6. Set-up Sitemap & Robots.txt

7. Videos and Alt tags for images.

Follow these steps and you will climb the ranking in no time.

We have an e-commerce site with a blog and I agree totally with Thomas and Adam. The only thing I would like to add is be sure to make your content interesting for the user. It is difficult with a e-commerce site to give value to your customer without trying to "sell" in every article. Just keep in mind to post blog articles your readers will want to share along with promoting your products and brand.

Bolding is fine and even helps some. Anchor text is good practice also. Just remember to keep your keyword density under 3% to avoid the over optimization penalty and vary your anchor text using different keywords. Plus, the anchor text should flow within your page copy. Don't force the keywords. Most important, think about what is best for the user anytime you create links in content.

SEO is important, but ask yourself these two questions when creating content for pages, because Google is -

What is the user searching for?

Is my page delivering it?