You want to stay within your category - the first is mandated - but expand it to fit your keyword structure for your site and product. So, You have Movers as the Places required category, do not use mover variations over and over. If you do Cross country put Cross Country Movers or moving (best keyword), then go for Packing Service if you do such. If your site is set up based on what people search on it will typically be what would be correct for Places. (Don't forget Bing Business Portal or Yahoo). I would stay with about 5 key categories and that is it.
Also, when you do photos for Places take pictures of packing, long haul trucks, local moving trucks, etc. Try to get your photos to fit your categories and also geotag them.
Best posts made by RobertFisher
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RE: Selecting Google Custom Categories in Local Business
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RE: How to get link metrics, yes I have paid, yes I am logged in, yes Moz is whitelisted.
Thanks Kristina,
Just frustrated so wanted an instant answer of course. I will wait to hear from them.
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RE: Would it be ok if my ccTLD (.au) has links pointing to my .com (main) site?
Karen,
First a question, is the content you are linking to something you want to rank for in say Google.au? My concern would be that a .au domain with similar keywords would outrank the linked to page. One thing to do would be to test this out with your .com now by doing ranking analysis on Google.au. If not an issue, link.
If the above is an issue, and understanding that .com is not a ccTLD, I would first make sure my .com site was set geographically to EN-US. By going into GWMT - Site configuration. In Settings select Geographic Target then click on Target Users In and select United States. (Do this even if you are in the US). (I am making an assumption here that the site is English).
The reason is this, if you are linking to the .com I am guessing that you are saving time and money by not recreating content or, you are in a hurry. So, to avoid being seen as duplicate content and yet to allow you to use the same content on the .au site, I would do the above. For the .au, if you are not on a server in Australia, I would still do the language selection of EN-AU even though it is a cc TLD.
Then just use the content from the .com, but do it on the .au. Yes, you would get linking value the other way, so there are some things you need to weigh in my opinion.
Would like to see some other mozzers jump on this.
Best
BTW - Please keep the doors open on Open Source - contribute to your developers for your plugins whenever you can

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RE: Business name not showing on Google Maps Satellite View
This is not a function of Google Places. These are called Place labels and they are set algorithmically. Having your Places verified helps but doesn't guarantee it. This is from Google:
Having
The place labels shown on Google Maps are determined algorithmically based on a large number of factors, so there is no way to guarantee placement of your business on the map as a place label. One factor these algorithms consider is the accuracy of the business listing and the richness of the content associated with the listing, so you can improve the chances that your business will receive a place label if you claim it in Google Places.
Best
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RE: Should I submit my articles to article submition sites myself or have a service submit my articles for me?
Submit them yourself and in case I lacked clarity, submit them yourself or hire a staffer to do so. Most article submission sites are .... not liked by me.
The problem is that the engines know who is generally spinning, etc. and there are more poor than truly effective article submission sites IMO.
Look for blogs on moz about this and how to get articles picked up and remember quality content will get uptake. When you see someone else in your industry that blogs and you like their stuff, comment on it and follow up later with some of yours regarding posting.
Best
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RE: Local Listings SEO: Which multi-location retailers are doing a super job with local listings? I'm also interested in finding retailers who are using schema.org microdata format to structure their store-level data.
Miriam,
You are so correct on this. It always amazes me how many large companies rely on their brand, people know them, etc. and are just unwilling to even look at the improvements they could make with SEO.
One of the first people I ever heard the term SEO from was Jon Schepke who with his cousin Steve were co-founders of Meandur Internet (Proceed Interactive). Jon is CEO of SIM Partners and I know they do local on an enterprise level. Out of curiosity, I looked at their clients page and did not see any retailers that I recognized. What stood out is that companies involved with destinations are all over local.
I do not see larger retailers who are making an attempt at really making local work for them (and you and I know it would), no microdata, etc. But, when things start going a bit South, I am guessing we will see it then.
Best
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RE: Adding index.php at the end of the url effect it's rankings
Authority, You just named the issue. Changed from US to Europe. I am assuming the site is in English, what country are you targeting?
If US, and you changed to Europe, you would have had to go into GWMT and change language settings to EN-US. As a .com is not a ccTLD, and a server residing in Europe will be presumed to be targeting there, if you are not set up with GWMT as EN-US, your rankings will drop for a US search.
So, now, no matter what you are targeting, go into GWMT and go to site config, settings, language and choose the correct language config. Even if you are US and you are hosted in US, I urge you to insure this is done.
LMK
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RE: H1 problem on my site not sure how to solve it
Diane,
That was a nice bit of assistance from Ennovation so I thumbed it up.
One note here is that for some reason, someone has made all of this too difficult for you with your CMS. We use Joomla, our clients do not have these problems. (We have one client with 6 Joomla sites who can hardly turn on his computer) Somehow you are having to deal with code when you should not be.
Even if today you decided to put in a new logo image, change page titles, create new meta descriptions and change content, you should be able to do that without the need for the developer.
As it is, you are on Joomla 1.5 when 1.7 is out. You are using a program that cleans up urls when 1.6 took care of any issues. You are a publisher and you should be worried about publishing. Even in my firm, my people stay after me to do what I do - no, not SEO which is what got me here - clients and strategy which is what builds a company. I only do SEO about half as much as I did even a year ago. Publishers publish.
Talk with your developer and find out why you are having so many issues. If you cannot get it worked out in a few days (yes, I am serious), find a different developer. There are a lot of good developers on SEOmoz that actually reside in the U.K. (remember they do talk a bit funny). Read the ones that sound great and PM them. Engage a quality developer and make life simpler for you.
Yes, if you like learning SEO, hang around with us and learn, but simplify first.All the best,
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RE: In a business name, would it be Jones Plumbing, Heating and AC or Jones Pluming Heating and AC? Do comas make a difference?
Brenan,
Overall, from a branding perspective I would use the commas for the name as it is more readable. What James is saying is absolutely correct: about the line (the pipe) it is what is used to separate the business name or brand name from the page or site title in a title tag: (His advice is spot on)
Trane Air Conditioners | Jones Plumbing Heating and AC
For me, one thing I would check if this is really someone doing AC repair, is do people there search more using AC repair or air conditioner repair, etc. I think you may find that spelled out is better from search quantity point of view. But, if you think you can be more competitive around the ones with less, that is attractive too.
Hope we helped.
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RE: Local Listings SEO: Which multi-location retailers are doing a super job with local listings? I'm also interested in finding retailers who are using schema.org microdata format to structure their store-level data.
Let me see...
Getting a group of franchisees to agree on marketing could be replaced with herding cats, pulling teeth, root canal, flat tire on freeway, all at the same time and you would avoid a lot more headaches.
Best
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RE: Penalized for "Unnatural Links" on Webmaster Tools
Pablo, Wait. Do not submit for reconsideration yet. If you are missing something, you could create more problems than you solve. So,
Go through the site and see what is going on. If Google is questioning "unnatural links" look at all and see where they may be right. You want to try to fix this before you submit for reconsideration.
Is there any way for you to give us a domain name so that we can see what is there, that would really help with helping you. What % nofollow, how fast have you garnered the links, what directories? What paid directories, any link wheels or reciprocal links that you know of? Etc.
Hope this helps, be patient for a minute, it will help.
Best
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RE: Business name not showing on Google Maps Satellite View
OK, Miriam, you have got to stop this! I only have so many thumbs!
Excellent, super excellent info. I absolutely did not know this. I owe you a bottle of wine, glass of beer, diet soda, coffee any or all. I hope Robert-o has seen it as it is great.
I am wearing my Miriam rocks t-shirt today!
Best
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RE: Anyone using Followerwonk? Email said SEOMOZ just aquired it.
Nice distillation here Justin, thanks.
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RE: Local SEO for a company with 3 sites, for 3 different type of businesses
Unfortunately, it is still the same issue. I just made this up: Mess with the NAP, deal with the crap.
There is no way I would do this based on one thing alone: Experience in trying to assist those who have.
Sorry, I wish it was easier,
Robert
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RE: Temporarily Delist Search Results
SEOJellyfish,
There is no way that you can turn off the site, wait 1 to 2 months, turn the site on, and expect to be anywhere near where you were.
So, have you asked any more questions around the "testing" they need to do? I am assuming you are an affiliate and not an agency since you state a line between their site and your "campaign" site.
Are they just tired of paying affiliates?
What do they want to achieve with this?
How are they going to compensate you for going black for up to 2 months?
What are they going to test?
If you do this and the test finishes and you cannot readily regain your ranking, what changes in your relationship?
I think I would clarify all of this before moving to turn your site off.
Best
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RE: Subdomain mozTrust - does other parkd domains can affect that ?
With mozTrust, it is really about the links you have coming to that sub domain. If they are from Wikipedia, a well known news source, three large teaching hospitals, SEOmoz, etc. then you are going to have a very high mozTrust. If, you are parking subdomains and then linking to them this will obviously cause a lower score as those domains have nothing linked to them and have no reason to be trusted.
If you are going out getting lots of low end links, the mozTrust will be low. So, the key to higher mozTrust is higher quality links.
Best
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RE: Different zoom levels of spots in Google Maps
Petra,
You get the internationally recognized ?Hmmmmmm? award this morning.
That means when many people see your question they will say to themselves, "Hmmmmmm?"!!
I wish I had a perfect answer for this, but I believe there are actually multiple variables at play here. For those who enjoy learning and/or improving the web, Google MapMaker is a great place to start. This link goes to MapMaker's add a Place page. (those "spots" are called...Places and the icon that is an upside down teardrop - often with a letter in it - is a Marker).
Anyone can edit Google Maps via MapMaker. (All edits are reviewed by others and you cannot review your own edits). One thing you can do is change the shape of something on a map like an area (e.g. a park, stream, etc) or a building. If an editor has used the line drawing feature to change the shape of a feature, that could potentially affect what shows at a given level of zoom. IMO, another thing that could affect what does or does not show at given levels of zoom would be how often that place is searched for, linked to, and/or clicked on. Also, has it been edited by outside editors and then approved? If it has, I would think that site would show more at broader zoom levels than a similar business which had not been edited, especially if there are a lot of places in that given area.
One I tested that proved out: With similar businesses, where one has verified the listing and one has not, the verified listing will stay longer as you zoom further out. (Even with restaurants where the non verified had over 500 reviews and the verified had less than 100 reviews, the verified stayed while the other disappeared).
You also provided me a new mechanism for determining who is or is not an owner verified listing. Thanks!!!
I hope this helped and I urge all to explore Google Map Maker as it really is a COOL TOOL!!
All the Best,
Robert
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RE: Has anyone ever used a specific page (instead of home page) when building links in directories?
Max,
Let me try to clear up this "deep linking" question for you. First, I do not use the term deep linking and am not sure the entire goal of it. If you are going out trying to set up links in some way and direct them to specific pages, IMO you are going to a lot more trouble than it is likely worth today.
Your content should be able to get you links. If your "deep" pages have good content they will get links, Period. Here is an example and it is one that for us was really irrelevant content.
One of our people did a post and included something on 3-D printing. We do not own a 3-D printer, I would not know how to use one, etc. Yet, we got people linking to that. Another was about 18 months ago or so, we did it a post on responsive design. The post was done just to talk about responsive design. We did not send it out to people to get links, we did not submit it to article directories, etc. Yet, it is one of our most linked-to pages on our site. The reason seems to be due to the image and people wanting to use it. BUT, we did not set out to get links.I would worry a lot more about ensuring you are creating content regularly and that it is not just content for content's sake. Make it readable, interesting, engaging. If you are "deeplinking" whatever that practice is, you are trying to create links to specific pages and I just think that is a waste of time 99% of the time.
Best
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RE: Combining two pages into one
Hello SEO Hunter
Just making sure you are creating a new page and both 301 to that as opposed to 301 one to the other for each? So your new page would be widgets.com/about-contacting-us and you would 301 from the two current to the new page. If so, that is great.
I agree with Marisa otherwise.
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RE: Negative effect on google SEO with 301's?
Good on 301. On rel=canon, I did not mean to imply "each page to itself." There are various issues that arise in coding pages, making changes to pages, etc. So, here is a classic: to a non coder, www.example.com and www.example.com/ are the same page. To the bots they are two. So by inserting rel=canon for that page you are saying if example.com/ comes up treat it the same as example.com.
For your example, if it were me, manual juicer and highest rated manual juicer are very distinctly different pages. The first could lead to a description of 4 and the second speaks only to one. You have to be careful with this in the SEO because if you get too diffuse in adding modifiers to the keyword (making them long tail for example) you can draw strength from the main keyword page. Sometimes it is good to do, sometimes not....this part is the art of SEO.
BTW........what type of OR wine???? (Nothing like a Willamette Valley Pinot....and, yes, I know how to pronounce Willamette!)