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Hi there

What I would recommend doing is migrating the old blog over to the new blog so that all of your blog content lives under one consistent URL structure. I would perform both a content audit and backlink audit as well.

Reason being - from a content standpoint, you may have blog posts that can be consolidated, removed, or updated for the new blog. You'll want to run a comb through it to see what opportunities you have there or what hindrances you need to alleviate.

From a backlink standpoint, you may have backlinks pointing to old blog posts that you will want removed if they are irrelevant or spammy, and you may have really good links that you want to update to point to the new blog.

A lot of this will depend on the relevancy and traffic of old blog posts, so make sure you research before you make any moves. If you see equity in the old blog posts, make sure you move those to the new blog so that you can easily maintain and track that content's performance.

However, the most important reason for one blog, is consistency for users and your brand. If you have two blogs providing two separate experiences, you run the risk of lower engagement because it's confusing and not easy on the user.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!

Hi Erik

If the pictures are relevant to the content, named correctly in their file name, and also have proper alt tags - you're golden, don't worry about it!

If you find over time that the images start to lose their rankings and you need to optimize these images more, I would check out Yoast's post on Optimizing Images for SEO and Google's Image Optimization guide.

Yoast's post will cover basic image optimization fundamentals from a SEO standpoint while Google's guide will help you find optimal settings for your images, like format capabilities, pixel dimensions and so on. This is especially important as screen sizes change and responsive design is more prevalent.

Hopefully these help! Good luck!

Hi there

I meant this from a title and content standpoint. Of course top navigation and structural elements will come before.

Apologies for not clarifying that.

Thanks.

Hi there

I would check out this resource from Moz Local to get a better understanding of where Moz sends your information.

From the looks of things, yes, Moz would send this information to Yelp and Trip Advisor.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hey Graham

Can I migrate the blog, and then direct any links that went to our old blog to the new one we have? I would have assumed that could only be done by the source that pointed to our older blog originally? Yes you can do this - that's what I mean by "update" - you'd have to reach out to the webmaster of the source of the backlinks and ask them to update these to the new URLs. If they can't or don't respond, no big deal, just make sure your old URLs are redirecting properly.

Also - make sure, if you change URL structures of the old blog to the new blog, that your internal links also reflect the change so you don't have internal errors or redirects.

Hope this helps!

Hi there

One thing to remember is that Google and Bing are two separate search engines with different crawlers and different processes. This could just be a matter of Bing not seeing your images yet. One thing I would do, is create a Bing Webmaster Tools profile and submit your sitemap to them. This will definitely help you! Keep in mind that you don't have to create a second sitemap, you can include images in your regular sitemap XML. (ScreamingFrog can do this for you!)

Also, take a look at Schema opportunities that will help you tag images on pages properly. There have been studies that show that pages with Schema rank higher than a page without Schema, so it only helps you there as well!

Be patient, it sounds like you're on the right path, but with search engines, it's unfortunately a waiting game sometimes and it sounds like you're no different than the rest of us!

Hope this helps! Good luck!
P

Hi there

A rebrand is a business decision. I would take advantage of all the information from Umar as well as a few more points for good measure:

Content Audit - Find what current content can be updated, consolidated, removed, and migrated to the new website. What other opportunities do you have for your content?
Website Migration Guide from Moz - This will help make sure that your transition to the new website will go smooth and cover your bases.
Backlink Audit - This will help you on a couple of fronts. First, you will find backlinks that you will want to update to the new domain once it is live and ready to go. Second, you will find links that you can either remove or disavow so that when you redirect, it won't be a factor.
Change of Address - You will want to use this so that Google knows your site moved to a new address. Google also has a resource for when you move a website.
Local SEO - If you have listings or citations, make sure those are updated. Perform an audit so you can make sure that any mention of your business is corrected and now points to a new domain.

There are a lot of opportunities in rebranding, but you want to make sure that you take care of everything that you can to help users and search engines see that your site has moved and you are now a new brand.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi there

Google recommends using a local number for different locations when possible, so try to stick to that methodology when possible. Are these actual business locations or just addresses that customers would not go to? In that case, I would also check out service-area businesses on Google My Business, as this sounds like it could be applicable to your business model.

When it comes to the business name, do not include a city in the location. If you are properly listing NAWP & category information, then you should not have to list the city name in the name. Stick to the business name with no location information.

You can utilize bulk listing tools like Moz Local, as well as Whitespark. Both will put your business information on relevant citations and listings outlets. Focus on properly categorizing and listing your business information, and you should be all set.

Hope this helps - I am sure more people will have more details to add! Good luck!
Patrick

Hi there

Redirection and Simple 301 Redirects seem to have the best (and most) reviews. Try researching those.

You can also do this through your .htaccess file.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi

That's strange. I check the page in Google, and the meta description seems fine! Might just be an issue with the crawler - try contacting Moz or going through their help section. This might be an issue beyond the Q+A forum. Good luck!

Hi there

I would read this piece from Moz on International SEO. Reason being:

"Don't use machine translations and don't automatically redirect a user to a different language based on location. It's fine to suggest an alternate language site, but you don't know (without asking) if that English-language searcher in France is an expat, a student of foreign language, or someone who's lost on the internet."

Do you gave hreflang or language tags on the site variations?  You should also country target those variations in both Google and Bing so that crawlers know where those site variations are supposed to target. This will help with your international SEO efforts and region targeting.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi Martine

You have to be careful here.

You could possibly take the approach of focusing on therapists or groups that revolve around helping those with sexual issues or dilemmas. From that route, you are eliminating spam, you are targeting groups that something like this could potentially help, you are getting testimonials about how you are helping people, and you are also relationship building with doctors or therapists that could recommend this product.

But overall, focus on building legitimacy and the benefits of these products when marketing and reaching out. Things like this could scare people off, but if you showcase it in a positive light with a well thought out strategy, it could make all of the difference.

For me, that would be the safest route, but I have never marketed sex products. Just an angle you could probably take with this. Hope this helps you!

Along with this great answer from Tom, I just wanted to add that Google does offer a resource on duplicate content as well with tips.

Hope this helps as well - good luck!

Hi there

Keep in mind that MozTrust takes into consideration the entire domain and it's pages. You can read more here.

I would also check out Majestic metrics. Keep in mind, Moz and other vendors are only going to be able to give you so much information because their crawlers are different.

That being said, I would take a deeper look at your backlink profile and assess your anchor texts, the topical relevance of your backlinks, age of your links, and also your backlinks individual metrics.

Here are some resources:
Guide to Competitive Backlink Analysis How to Conduct a Link Audit
Link Audit Guide for Effective Link Removals & Risk Mitigation
You have to approach improving MozTrust holistically, therefore you have to do a bit of research into your backlink profile, your individual backlinks, and also the same for your competitors if you want to get a clearer picture.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi there

Are you sure you are using all of the tools above properly? Not saying you're not but people make mistakes and it's just something to look into.

When did you implement all of the changes? Was it recently or was it a long time ago?

How is your organic traffic and rankings? Did you check if you have a manual action at all?

Let me know - thanks!

Hi there

You can take a look at Delete a Page in Google My Business. However, if there is content your client posts and utilizes, then having a connected Google+ Brand Page would certainly help. That way, you have one more outlet to distribute content, and you also have a verified and linked profile on the platform.

Just something to weigh out before deleting. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Hi there

With tag pages you should noindex these. They serve no purpose in the SERPs, you only want your quality pages to be indexed.

That being said, I would also check your sitemap to make sure that these tag URLs aren't listed and prioritized. Try that and see if this clears the issue up. Here's a resource.

Hope this helps - good luck!

Hi Sean

Yes, this is important, but make sure the canonical tags are implemented correctly and pointing to the right page. Just because pages have canonical tags, doesn't mean they are correct.

You can use tools like Moz or ScreamingFrog to check.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi there

You should check out Rand's Should I Rebrand and Redirect My Site? Should I Consolidate Multiple Sites/Brands? Whiteboard Friday. This post walks you through the thought process and different things to consider.

I would also make sure you keep the Web Site Migration Guide in your back pocket as well to make sure you have all of your bases covered.

Lastly, make sure you check your backlinks so you know which ones you will want to update, remove, or disavow come launch of your new URL structure.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi there

There are some great resources on Moz to help you with this:
Keyword Research
Keywords to Concepts: The Lazy Web Marketer's Guide to Smart Keyword Research
Simple Steps for Conducting Creative Content Research

All of these should give you some great pointers and tips to be well on your way. I would also take a look at developing personas and content as part of the user experience. Researching both these areas will also help you structure your site in both a user and crawler friendly fashion.

Researching your audience, where they are, how they digest content, and doing some well thought out competitor research will help inform your keyword and content research in a more deep and granular fashion. The research will essentially answer itself.

I personally like to go after high volume, low competition, but then create long tail variations of those keywords/queries based on what my audience is talking about and how they get their information.

There's really no right or wrong way to do keyword research, it's just a matter of knowing your audience's goals, where they are, your place in the industry, and how to develop content that moves your audience through the funnel. Create the best user experience from a content and structure standpoint, and you are golden.

Also, don't forget that Moz has a keyword difficulty tool that is highly valuable.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!