Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Robert's advice is good - however you may want to reference this if you experience larger scale attacks in the future - http://moz.com/blog/to-catch-a-spammer-uncovering-negative-seo  PS. I have never managed to get a porn site to remove a link, so I tend to resort to disavow...

RE: "In order to maximize the direct traffic to a domain, it is advised that webmasters should only buy a domain if the .com version is available. "

http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/domain

• I am working for a client who's had a domain live for 5 years or so without a .com version of the domain (just .co.uk) - the domain is also hyphenated (which doesn't look like a great idea).

So, just wondering what research has been done into probs caused by lack of .com domain and by using hyphenated domain. I'm trying to figure out whether it would be worth advising client to switch to a new domain.

Your thoughts would be welcome

From my point of view, private is very useful when you're tangling with a little yet specific issue and you want to ping across a website URL privately. Perhaps you could simply specify the nature of private (so users expect a quick 'steer' on a specific issue rather than consultancy-level responses to broad questions) instead of doing away with the service.

The 'private' offering was the main reason I joined SEOMoz in the first place.

Thanks Casey - really useful

It's a difficult one. I mean, my site (a restaurant/bar) gets a large proportion of its traffic from relevant directories. Actually, 40% of the backlinks to my site are from (mainly) relevant directories. Will it incur penalty? Well, most links to the site are non-directory backlinks, so I think you have to maintain a mix.

I've just been playing with one of my own new sites. Level of social media engagement appears to make the difference between a top of first page ranking and second page ranking re: a competitive keyphrase I'm tracking. I am going to widen my testing to additional keyphrases in due course.

Btw, you might find this interesting: http://moz.com/blog/ranking-factors-2013

Hi, I'm just moving a business listing from Google Places to Google+

I have a couple of problems. (1) The verification postcard has turned up with the wrong address on it (different to the address on Google Places!) - can I alter this once I've verified Google+ page or would I need to go through postcard verification again?

(2) I see the categories in Google+ are far less flexible (and appropriate) for the business I work for, so I'm thinking that may cause problems. Has anybody else experienced this same problem?

Thanks in advance for your help

I've been a PR for over a decade and never once have I used a PR newswire. I find the personal and targeted approach far better. Research your target journalist. Write a bespoke news release. Speak to the journalist. That's the best way to achieve coverage in the most influential media outlets.

Hi Mozzers, I have a question...

I'm planning to add a blog summary/twitter feed throughout my website (onto every main content page) and then started worrying about duplicate content.

What is best practice here?

Let me know - thanks, Luke

PS. I sat down and re: blog feed... thought that perhaps it would help if I fed different blog posts through to different pages (which I could then edit so I could add<a></a> text different from that in blog). Not sure about twitter.

One issue that keeps arising at the mo is the mixing of paid and unpaid content by bloggers. Keep an eye on that. I always ask bloggers whether they take sponsored posts. If they do, I check whether their sponsored posts carry nofollow tags on backlinks, which they should. If sponsored posts carry follow backlinks rather than nofollow backlinks, I go elsewhere.

This might be helpful: http://www.wordwaiter.com/blog/about/how-to-use-newswires/ - imho there are far better ways to manage PR campaigns.

Hi Ruben, This is pretty useful (and don't miss the comments at the bottom!): http://boagworld.com/mobile-web/separate-mobile-site-vs-responsive-design/ - I kind of agree with Nielsen - a separate mobile site can be more bespoke and therefore delivers better UX. That said, if you get the right responsive developer on the project (pm me if you want any recommendations - I have worked with one of Europe's best responsive developers and have heard great things about an agency down in Texas too), things can work out very well indeed.

(PS - this was interesting too: http://mobile.smashingmagazine.com/2012/08/22/separate-mobile-responsive-website-presidential-smackdown/)

It's all about earning the link these days (PR is an important part of that), and you need a balance of approaches too. What amazes me is how many SEO agencies still offer old-style link building services (I spend half my life clearing up the mess they've left behind them - ugh!).

Also, see this on guest blogging: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/guest-blogging/

Hi Sida. I'm a PR bloke. Why would you want to publish PR content on 7,000 websites in a week? There could be a problem If there are backlinks to your client from those websites, especially if they're spammy, low-quality websites.

Good PR is about sending newsworthy stories through to journos and other writers, who will pick up on the stories and publish them. It isn't about placing news releases on thousands of websites.

Yes, I agree with you Alan. It's just not worth the risk, it really isn't. The developer might think it is, but it's not his website. Thanks for your advice!

Hi - I'm just looking at the text on a redesigned homepage.

They have moved all the text to the very bottom of the page (which is quite common with lots of designers, I notice - I usually battle to move the important text back up to the top).

I have always ensured the important text comes at the top, to some extent - does it matter where on the page the text comes, for SEO?

Are there any studies you can point me to?

Thanks for your help, Luke

Yes, shape the news release for a niche of journos/writers and pitch your news to them, or just target one individual at a time. Build media lists and build up long-term links with the journos/writers. There are lots of resources on the web about how to write the perfect news release. One of the best PR books out there is PR Power by Amanda Barry.

Thanks - it sure is confusing. I mean my background is in PR - and, for example, when I'm running a travel PR campaign I offer free accommodation in return for a review (and do not ask for links!). Of course that could be seen as linkbuilding too, though of course that's not the main focus or benefit (if the reviews are good, that is...).

I know quite a few SEOs who would use 410s rather than 404s when cutting and running from bad links pointing at internal pages...

Thanks for feedback EGOL and Oleg - can't see there's a problem myself, though I haven't carried out any testing - I remember Rand debated this very issue a few years back.