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Ask for an example of a website they've worked on, and do an SEO background check on it.
It's my personal opinion that the only way to really review a SEO company is by talking to them. I always ask:
After this first wave of questions, I always ask for an example of their work, which I do an SEO background check on. Check to see if they are following the basics (Title, H1, etc.), check to see the quality of links they provide and check to see if they own a network of websites that they are going to use to link to you.
Everyone would prefer that they found ways to convince webmasters to just link to you because of the quality of your content, but there are some companies that will either buy websites to create a network, or just pay webmasters to house links. Both of these have some risk involved if the Search Engines discover that you are just housing a network of websites for the use of link building, or that you are paying for links.
The biggest con for me is the anticipated response time on questions. When people ask a question on a Social Media site they expect an answer in less than 15 minutes. Sometimes I happen to be sitting at my computer, and that's no problem. However, most questions happen early in the morning, and late at night (auto industry). Because of that, I'm typically not conscious or coherent enough to answer questions about towing capacity, cubic feet of space, etc.
However, I've been able to connect with some people on a personal level, and have been able to get them to come in for service and repairs.
Bottom line, it can improve your bottom line, but the chance to lose a customer is there, as well.
Do you have a decent amount of links pointing at these internal pages currently? If not, that would be the second step (after the menu problem).
For terms about the same topic, as you just wrote in your A/B example, I would utilize one page. That is, one page for "Dental Implants." The reason being, your content is going to be relevant for terms regarding the same topic, and your link profile will be built with many variations of the term (Dental Implants in Boston, Boston Dentists who do Implants, etc.)
Back to your original question though, you will want a seperate page for each individual procedure.
yourwebsite.com/boston-teeth-whitening
yourwebsite.com/boston-dental-implants
I would just make sure to use the keyword phrase with the most traffic in your url (depending on overall length of url). The benefit seems to be getting smaller as time goes on, but that's what people are looking for when they search.
Local Search results are just another vertical of Organic; that's why local and traditional verticals occasionally combine.
It does look like the archived posts get an _archive added to them. It would be better to keep the original URL intact, and not create this separate one in the archive process.
That brings up an interesting thought, when you "archive" the blogs does a /archive get added to the url?
How does your link profile compare to the ones that are popping up in search?
You mentioned that the Title tag has the phrase, but does it also appear within the body?
How many links are going out from the page?
How many levels from the home page is the blog?
Do you have links pointing at these individual posts?
Now I know! Thanks Ryan!
Advertising would sound so much better as yoga dot my studio dot com, though lol.
I'm sure you've read this as much as I have Brett, but a top 10 list is a good way to spend a brain-dead writing day.
Top Ten Prizes for Hole In Ones or 10 Worst Prizes Ever Used for Hole In Ones
or
10 Reasons Why I Shouldn't Have Ate That Burrito Before the Back 9
Personally, I would do subdirectories just because its easier to say. "yoga (dot) DenverStudio (dot) com" instead of "denverstudio (dot) com forward slash yoga"
However, I've only read about the benefits of sub-directories within very large websites, and wouldn't know what the benefits of a smaller website would be with it. Although, www. is technically a sub-directory, and most websites use it.
Back to the milk thing:
If you make it funny it could be a really good link bait scheme!
Create a separate website all about doing the challenge, generating tons of links*, and then just 301 it into your main website when the fad is over!
*Not exactly sure what kind of links you would get from puking on camera...
The best incentive you could possibly offer is great content. Something that truly benefits their readers/visitors. But the non-utopian answer would be what Shannon said - free random offline item that isn't really e-traceable and is inexpensive.
On a side note, I may give you a link for the gallon of milk thing... just saying...
I've talked to a couple, but I've never worked with one. Just make sure to ask if they are using multiple servers across the country you are doing business in, that they are correctly using C-Blocks and that your links will be put in relevant content.
Another factor to remember is making sure your link landscape is diverse. Have both exact and similar keyword usage ("Live Chat" - "Chat Software" - "Live Chat Software"), a collection of both followed and no-followed links and websites with Page Ranks ranging from really low to really high. This makes it look more natural.
If you wanted to use a link building service for the high quality links, you could then go after low quality links on your own. Post on blogs about your topic, use social bookmarking, etc.
Websites linking to you is one of the more important SEO techniques, and actually offers the highest potential. However, trading links with other websites will actually hurt you, and I would not advise doing that at all.
Link building comes from using various strategies in order to convince them to link to you. This could be through writing very informative or controversial articles (Link Bait), emailing webmasters or hiring an agency that specializes in it. These companies tend to have networks of websites that they use to build links. Because of that, it's very important to ask for references.
I would also suggest listening to what Shannon Lily has proposed to you for a technique. There is such an art to link building that any good tips will help!
Three websites means:
Three websites do sound tempting until you realize that you will not be able to benefit from each area driving its own links. With a single website you will be able to receive the domain benefit for every link you generate, while having multiple domains you will not.
Another problem with linking to other websites all the time is the drop in link juice. While it may seem beneficial to pass links from your websites, you have to remember that you are giving away some of the value of your internal links each time. With just a couple links its no problem, but with dozens you might face a dilemma.
I would stick to the one website with landing pages for each area of interest. I would then do an intense link building campaign for each, and write a very informative blog (to both drive visitors and links). By having high quality landing pages for each "department" you will be able to achieve all your SERP goals, and be able to build on each "departments" success.
The only reason I wouldn't do this is if I was going to have 1000's of pages of content for each department.
How many reviews does each company have? My gold stars didn't pop up until I had 10 reviews - half being Google reviews.
First off, I agree with Shannon. There are some long tail phrases that would work better for you. As for a quantifying reason for why you are slipping: the #1 website in that search has 2414 linking domains, compared to your 300. Regardless of the overall quality, that is still a massive gap.
I would suggest two things:
Although having visitors looks nice, and makes you feel good, your ultimate goal should be to convert visitors to customers.
There are many variables involved with a redesign. The biggest concerns being:
Anyway, if you made sure to 301 redirect all of the old pages, or reused the urls, you should see a recovery. I'd advise that you do a big link building push right away, though, in order to speed up the process, as well as be beneficial all around.