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thanks, I'll take a look.

I don't think area sub nav is that prohibitive, especially with listing 8 cities.

I am wanting to get more news out about some attorney clients and provide mechanism for back links. I have one attorney client who just got a large award on a new issue and another who just had a case made as a precedent. Obviously, both are big deals in the legal community and potentially to new clients. 
I read yesterday that PR Web was hit a bit in latest Panda and wanted feedback from those who have used it as to efficacy and thoughts on Panda reasons.

Thanks

So, Domain.com redirects permanently to Domain.com/software-consultancy? If so, then directing links to either will give essentially the same value as the majority (90% +) of the juice flows through on a 301. You have a small software consultancy so the fact that Domain.com/software-consultancy is homepage is in no way a negative. (Visitors are not looking for off the shelf software and landing on consultancy.)

_If I start link building using the phrase "software consultancy" to the home page should I link to domain.com or the 301 redirect URL domain.com/software-consultancy ? _

Even though the 301 sends most of the juice I would still go to actual homepage. No need to give up 1 to 10% even.

I think based on you putting "company name" in you clarified for me a bit more of what you are asking which is "should I make an effort to have Brand {company name} have more status?" Well, based on current thinking, unless you have a well known brand, having it in the url/title tag won't help as no one is searching on it. You want to get out what they are searching on. They know they need to look for a software consultant, they don't yet know it is you.

But, one bit of advice on your structure: If area is really not something that needs to have its own page with sub headings (subdirectories) afterward, flatten it by pulling out the areas: domain.com/software-consultancy/London, New-York, etc. That would allow you later to still add specifics to London or New York if services are different for each, etc. I do not see where having Areas helps. For someone searching your site, unless you have a lot more categories or are going to list 8 -10 cities, you can get away with just listing the cities.

Jason, actually I prefer softball questions

Value depends on what you need and want. With Yahoo directory if you look at $299 and then look at what can be obtained at that cost for other directories or submissions it might not be. But, if you have a single site that you want to promote, are in need of quality level of Yahoo, etc. it might be a good spend. 
In the U.S., for clients who have multiple sites in services or professions as opposed to an eCommerce site, it is not as good a value for sure. Can you find a couple of high quality submission sites, spend that same amount and possibly get two to three times the value? I think it is possible.

Really hope that helps.

Jason

One thing to do is to request a feature along this line as SEOmoz does monitor the Q&A and the staff is responsive. Here is link to features request

There are also a lot of European members on moz, so hopefully a few more will pick up on this as well and provide direction.

I am also throwing in a link to a thread on submission sites, etc. I have used a couple and as yet have no opinion but some are Indian based and obviously do business with European clients. You should also look at this thread as there are some gems: Dmoz submission, Yahoo directory, etc.

Best

Stores Direct makes several great points here; I especially like the paragraph after the list:

SEO doesn't just improve SERP performance - it can also improve website usability and make a better impression on site visitors, thereby having a positive impact on conversions.

Excellent point if you care about what visitors to the site think!

Bandicoot,

From what you have written I am assuming your "Site-wide 301 redirects" means you did it from url to url and not from home page to home page or root to root, etc. 
We made the mistake of assuming on a site a few months ago and could not understand what happened. Mozzers pointed out we did not go url to url and we made the change. Most were cautious suggesting it would take 4 to 6 weeks, but we actually saw about 90% within 3 weeks of the change. This was a change from NamedLawfirm.com to City-Bankruptcy-Attorneys.com so I was impressed with the rapidity.

Good luck

Oh if I felt like agreeing. Understand it was a challenging day. I have one client site surpassed by two sites with PA and DA of 1. No links, on page worse than my clients and, arguably, we have better content. 
On top of that I have another client site surpassed by clowns with Chinese and Australian links to no where, etc. The others are all junk - literally 40 to 60 linking root domains with maybe five even close to unpaid, non-reciprocal, and that are at least within 90 degrees of the site content (the others are somewhere beyond 180 degrees.
Yes, Google occasionally has a moment and a JC Penny feels the sting. On the whole, I see too many who do not and the rankings in anything competitive are replete with BS content, from BS sites stuffed to the gills with Keywords and linked to Bangladeshi laundromats.

So, why the rant.....I was getting ready to suggest PR Newswire to my clients as a counterposition after seeing so many competing sites simply run the same content as on their homepage over and over through our RSS feeds.

Yes, both Ryan and Justin are correct; I just wish Mr. Google would take some uppers and get about the business of cleaning out the junkers. 
Don't worry, I is still smilin' cause we are smarter than them!

Based on just about any data you study, even though nearly 90% of every dollar in Internet marketing is spent on SEM, and around 10% on SEO, there are 7 to 8 more clicks for an organic placement compared to a paid. Yes, conversion is better on paid, but only at about 1.5 to 1. So at the end of the day SEO is a better spend by roughly 5 to 1.

That said, assume that is not even the issue for the client. Why are they in business? Do they want to have a website? If they do want one then why would they not want to do their best to have it seen given that the cost is typically incremental?

So, if someone wants to be seen. If they want to have traffic to their site, so that they become more well known, so that they sell a service or a product, so that their poetry is read, etc., then with SEO it is the gift that keeps on giving. Once the money is spent on PPC or TV or radio or print......there is little residual. Even in a competitive arena if you have optimized a site and then do nothing else for 3 months, it will diminish over time providing a residual.

But, hey do some cool PPC and check it out. (No, I am not against PPC, I just believe to do that prior to optimizing fully is a bit of a waste).

Based on my real estate site experience this has not worked in that arena. There is a large MLS (Central) site in a top ten metro area which allows brokerages and agents to pull in MLS and other demo data from their site. Having installed multiple I Frames to pull this data into (only allowed option from MLS site) our sites we have never seen even a micro bump.

The site we pull from with the IFrame is a DA of 65. I have put their Iframe on as many as 20 pages on a new site and never pulled a bit of juice.

Best of luck

Based on my real estate site experience this has not worked in that arena. There is a large MLS (Central) site in a top ten metro area which allows brokerages and agents to pull in MLS and other demo data from their site. Having installed multiple I Frames to pull this data into (only allowed option from MLS site) our sites we have never seen even a micro bump.

The site we pull from with the IFrame is a DA of 65. I have put their Iframe on as many as 20 pages on a new site and never pulled a bit of juice.

Best of luck

Good answer Dan, thanks. I have used the screenshot of where their business ranks on that name as well and it is good. One thing I avoid is ever using their computer to show them rankings for anything so as to not pull rankings influenced by their searches.

Thanks

Thanks James, all three are good points.

In sales training, we called the first one the moment of need. When a person sees your business at the moment that is an issue, they are likely to explore and buy from you. So sales people should be forever knocking as that need is not static. 
The second one is great as well, especially for those who don't like to think of "Selling" their services. Based on research, more people by far and those with higher education by far choose organic placements versus  paid search. (last I saw was 7.5 to 1 better CTR).

Actually, I saw a couple of those monkeys at a recent MMA event.... again, its a joke.

Typically, our SEO questions are around "how to's" and etc. So, to change it up I will ask a business question: What is your biggest selling point when presenting your SEO services to a new client?

In a spirit of transparency, I will tell you mine ahead of time. With PPC, TV, Radio, and Print at some point in time that ad comes to an end. When it ends, that is it. There is no residual from that advertisement - or very minimal at best. With SEO, once you are ranked well and well optimized you continue to get clients for a much longer period of time.

With clients who TV and print, this rings especially true and is easily provable. I can't wait to hear yours.

Having dealt with photographers for many years I would say that it is, but does not have to be. Obviously, there are more Spring and Summer marriages, school pics during school year, etc. Many photographers put their businesses in too narrow a niche and by virtue of that limit themselves to other opportunities. If a photographer is to build a name for themselves it will typically start in one city. They have to become known to a level that someone will say, "This family photo was shot by Bill Photo." But, there are many other areas to be explored: If a photographer is digitally savvy, the real estate market loves a person who understands what parallax is and how to best display a home for sale. They pay very well (Maybe a low of $150 for the lower end real estate up to $1,000's for high end homes). Be willing to set up drop boxes, etc. and teach agents and mls' how to retrieve photos and be prepared to assist them early in the process. Seasoned realtors are good at this, but new ones need help. You never know which new one will become a top producer.

Industrial/Commercial photography is another area where they can make money and reduce seasonality. Make it easy on them to get what they want and then have it available when they need a copy, etc. (Get away from the "I own the copyright and a copy is $500 BS - charge a fee, but make the money on the schedule time, difficulty of shoot and setting, etc. - no one likes to feel nickel and dimed).

Like any other business, you must be telling people you are there and constantly working the sales pipeline. If you are an "artist" and cannot be bothered with the mundane....good luck.

Best

David,

One thing to consider with print is are you allowing the NYT, Home and Garden, etc. to control the story so to speak. Assuming for the designer, do you put out your own press releases? These can work two ways: Start a story for someone who the media is used to seeing printed. Designer X to preview new ABC collection in Sydney at 123. You put out the press release and say, "some of the upcoming items can be viewed prior to the event at designerX.com along with companyR.com." So, you set the stage for getting the domain names out in print. 
The other way it works is to put out press releases about the "news release in the NYT tomorrow," or about the news release in Home and Garden today/yesterday." Again, you have to be timely with these and not just put out a lot of releases about old news. ALWAYS give readers the opportunity to go somewhere and see or read more. Control where somewhere is.
You will be surprised how national media is made up of humans who copy others. So, if you keep putting the urls out in press releases, soon they will follow your lead. That said, make sure when people are coming to the site they are seeing something that appeals to them and that has quality content. Part of the appeal of print media like Home and Garden magazines are totally the images.
It is your job to drive the media and not the other way around. You can control good and bad press if you work at it just as strongly as you do your SEO. You just have to become an MO....media optimizer.

Best of Luck, hope this helps.

Subdomains and Root domains are treated somewhat similarly. So, monkey-fights.mfl.com should receive a similar exact match domain "bonus." But, it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the exact match as to whether or not it is a good idea. SubDomains do not usually get the benefit (or at least not the full benefit) of the various ranking metrics acquired by the root domain. 
If this would otherwise simply be a single page on your main site, you are better off in my opinion to go with mfl.com/monkey-fights.com. You get the benefit of the URL having a keyword match without giving up the acquired rank of the root domain. Also, many in SEO believe the amount of "bonus" afforded with an exact match domain is weakening.

Lastly, my response in no way signifies my endorsement of Monkey Fights, I find the practice abhorrent.

Do you mean, can you rank for it or, can you rank for it in a week or two? Yes, you can rank for it. It will require great on page SEO, quality content, more quality content, and diligence. Is it a term that can be assisted locally? etc.

Next, the other opinion I would give is don't start out worrying about #1. With our clients, we follow the rankings through campaign reports, etc. If we have a term we like and it is progressively moving up, we feel we are having an effect. If I was to be worried that a given search term was not at #1 in a fixed time period, I might go nuts....or more nuts. There are times we will have a term move up ten or twelve spots in a week and others that move slower. It really depends on the competition and the effort (quality and quantity) that is put into it.