Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Matthew, I believe you have stumbled upon one instance of why SEO is so confusing to many people. There is a lot of complexity and the answer varies based on the situation.

I believe you have taken the above quote from: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=62399. I would always encourage you to share the source of any quote, so others may evaluate it within full context.

You shared you "found on numerous discussions and boards" information. Once again, I am confident you can find mis-information on any SEO related topic on "numerous boards". In 2011 when I was working with sites penalized for manipulative links, many sites had posts stating "Google will never penalize for manipulative links. They can't...." On our journey towards "SEO truth" please share the exact source.

Back to the point in hand, I would gently suggest you may be doing your clients a disservice by changing their geo-target. As it says in the same article from G, " ...if you have a site in French that you want users in France, Canada, and Mali to read -- we don't recommend that you use this tool to set France as a geographic target."

While some of your clients may only target local search results and therefore can be geo-targeted to the UK (a restaurant for example), you may service other clients who have a strong desire to rank in neighboring countries. Setting a geo-target for the UK may impact the site's rankings in other countries.

Why would you consider moving server locations? I am not passing judgment, but it sounds like you may be changing your client's server for your convenience, not theirs. My agency maintains a dedicated server in Florida, which works very well for US companies targeting a European audience. It would be more convenient for us to move our Canadian clients to our server, but it is not in the client's interest for us to make the move. Even if a client requested the change we would try to talk them out of it if the target audience was primarily Canadian.

Matthew, your statement conflicts itself. You shared you are "reliably informed" but then you seem to be questioning the reliability of that information.

This community is about learning. We would all love to know the correct answer. You asked if the country of a web server's location mattered. Three people responded and we all seem to agree that, to the best of our knowledge, it does matter. If you have reliable information to the contrary, please share the source and details.

Chad is absolutely correct.

Moving a server outside of the country of your target audience can impact ranking. A server located in UK is an indicator the site is more likely to be relevant to the UK.

With the above noted, there are numerous other methods you can use to show relevancy such as setting the site's geo-target in Google WMT, using the meta language tag such as "EN-UK" and showing a physical address within the UK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXt23AXlJJU

It can be as little as a few hours to as much as a couple months. It depends on the popularity of the specific page which contains the link, along with the number and quality of links pointed to that page.

Hi Orion,

At the time the penalty was partially revoked, we received a notice via Google WMT stating the penalty was partially revoked. In addition, I received an e-mail from Google's Spam Team offering further details.

In summary, this instance occurred in February 2012, before Penguin and the Disavow tool was launched. My understanding is the remaining action taken by the Spam Team was to devalue the remaining manipulative links our team was unable to remove.

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Hello Ryan,

Thank you for your follow up email and all of the information provided.
The documentation you provided was very helpful in processing and
understanding this case.

After re-evaluating your site's backlinks we are able to partially revoke
a manual action. There are still inorganic links pointing to your site
that we have taken action on. Once you've been able to make further
progress in getting these links removed, feel free to reply to this email
with the details of your clean-up effort.

"would the formats with the highest results (2400 & 3600) ALSO include all the results in the lower number formats?"

The search volume information provided is Local Monthly Searches based on Exact Match. You can read more about Exact Match here: http://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2497825?hl=en

"In cases where you want to mention the state, would presenting it like this be harmful?"

Each time you add a new term to a title tag, you are increasing the page's relevancy to the new keyword at the cost of decreasing it to the previous keyword. Let's enter the theoretical world where all things are equal:

Title 1 - Homes for rent in orlando

Title 2 - Homes for rent in orlando fl

Title 3 - Homes for rent in orlando fl | florida

The problem with the 3rd option is it would never result in an exact match, which is the strongest relevancy boost possible. Personally, I cannot think of a scenario where I would ever use such a format.

All things being equal, if a user search for "homes for rent in orlando" then the first title wins (i.e. ranks highest). If a user searches for "homes for rent in orlando fl" then the second title wins.

The reality is this keyword is so competitive that anything short of a perfect match is not likely to get you in to the top 5 results.

Homes.com, Trulia.com, craigslist.org, Realtor.com, rentals.com, ForRent.com, etc. These are the sites which rank for the term. In fact, if you don't break the top 3 results, then the local results push you so far down the page, you might as well not exist.

When optimizing a title tag, the approach I take is to think as if I needed to rank #1 for the term. Once you achieve that goal, you can change your strategy and diversify. Until then...eye of the tiger.

Prior to SEO, my time was spent as a Microsoft Database Administrator. Your site almost certainly is using a MySQL database which is a different format then T-SQL, but the comparison likely holds.

Whenever I set up a MS SQL database, a task would be scheduled to automatically shrink the database. There are temp tables which are added and removed, files within the database which can have unused pages removed, etc. A database size reduction of 5% does not indicate to me any data loss.

At a high level, you need to compare the "corrupted" database with the one you restored on a file or table level to determine any differences. That is the only reasonable way to achieve your goal. The work should ideally be performed by a professional who is highly experienced in MySQL.

If you desire further assistance, I recommend pursuing the topic on a MySQL forum as this does not really pertain to SEO nor even WordPress.

Regex is the replacement language used to provide the logic for redirects. If you can establish a logical pattern for the redirects, then someone can write the Regex expression to perform the work.

For example, if you used category ids and whenever category_id=1 you wanted it to be replaced with /interviews, you can write an expression to do such.

Without seeing more information specific to your situation, I cannot comment if you can benefit from this method. In brief, try to find a pattern and articulate it. If you can say "I want to replace X with Y" then the solution will typically work.

Based on your inquiry, it seems likely you are using specific software to run your site. It is unclear what type of software is being used, which is a critical factor. It could be a CMS such as WordPress. a shopping cart such as ZenCart, a forum such as vBulletin, etc.

You would likely receive the fastest and most accurate response by using the support site of the specific software in use.

Based on your questions, you are in far over your head and should ideally step aside and find a programmer who can resolve the issue. With that said, I'll try to answer your questions.

"how would I go about determining exactly what content is missing from the site?"

In order to determine what is missing, you need a baseline. You need to understand the site's function and activity. For example, if you are running an ecommerce site, what is the timestamp of the last order placed on the site?

"What search engine queries would you perform?"

None. You have an onsite issue. That is where your attention needs to be focused.

** "Is there a plugin I could use to establish the inconsistencies between the database content and the search results?"**

No. The search results should not even be a consideration. Search engines may choose to index or not index your content based on numerous factors including the robots.txt file, the meta tags on each page, the content on each page and so forth. Asking this question indicates you are grasping at straws. If your site is important to you, hire a professional developer to fix the problem. If the site is not of great importance (i.e. it does not generate revenue) then you can visit the site of the software in use and spend a day or two reading various articles, forums and such, then making various setting changes in an attempt to restore the site.

Another option....contact the web host and request them to restore a full backup of the entire site. This option would likely be best, but you would lose all data from after the time the backup was taken.

"Does Google know that VT = Vermont?"

Yes. Try this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=vt&gl=us&pws=0

Notice on the right side of the screen Google offers information on two topics: Virginia Tech and Vermont. Google knows your query likely pertains to one of these topics but is unsure which, so it offers both.

"Should State names be abbreviated and/or fully spelled out in title tags, meta descriptions and body content?"

In content, you should use whatever format you feel would best connect with your reader. If I was to mention Los Angeles, I would not typically feel the need to mention California since the city is recognized world-wide.

For Miami, there is both Miami, Ohio and Miami, Florida. If I was writing about Miami Ohio, I would definitely mention the state name. If I was writing about Miami Florida, most readers would automatically make the connection to Florida, especially if I mentioned anything to do with the ocean, a major city, etc.

For meta descriptions, most of the above applies but you are once again focused on connecting with your reader. The main goal is to improve click-through-rate for your search listing.

For Title Tags, this should be decided first. The title should be closely aligned, or perfectly matched, to the keyword focus of the article. Otherwise, it again can depend on the situation. Take a look at the following example:

Miami Dolphins start the season 6-0. It is unlikely you would ever wish to add FL or Florida to that tag.

You can perform keyword research to determine which version has more traffic. Many SEOs will make the decision in that manner.

Consider the following exact match local monthly search volume in Google.com:

homes for rent in orlando  2400

homes for rent in orlando fl 1300

homes for rent in orlando florida 260

Clearly, the preference is not to use state information based if your focus is finding the maximum search volume for this query. But what about....

homes for rent in jacksonville  110

homes for rent in jacksonville fl  3600

homes for rent in jacksonville florida  210

In this instance, adding the abbreviated state name to the query is very important.

As with most SEO related questions, the topic can go a bit deep. Keyword research is a critical component to a successful SEO campaign, and takes time, testing and experience to find the optimal variation of the term.

Best of luck.

yes

You can add up to 5 campaigns to the $99 plan.

Hi Brad,

Penguin and Panda are completely different issues. In brief, Penguin suppresses rankings for sites which have built manipulative links. Panda suppresses rankings for sites with various content issues.

I have not examined your site but based on your description, it seems likely your issue is Penguin. You have talked about building numerous links to the site using perfect match anchor text, which is the primary mechanism Penguin uses for detecting manipulation.

On a general level, you have two options: clean up the backlinks or move to a new site. Cleaning up the backlinks is a lot of work. For a hobby site, your best bet is likely moving to the customcarequilts.com site and shutting down the other site.

There is no reason to use yet another domain related to quilting. Clearly the topics discussed all relate to quilting.

Best Regards

Hi Akram,

You are confusing one of the mechanisms used to detect manipulative links with the message.

Google and Bing's policy on this topic are quite clear. Do not build manipulative links to websites. Period.

Building links using naked URLs and varied anchor text is just as manipulative as building links with perfect match anchor text. The only difference is you are addressing one of the methods Google uses to detect manipulative links.

The clear message....stop building links, start earning them.

"Off site should i really remove ALL the previous links and then just work on Quality. Surely that level mentioned is not too excessive for any business trying to promote itself? or is it"

If you "built" the links, they should be removed. I would do such without hesitation.

To be clear, the overwhelming majority of "built" links are manipulative. There are some limited methods where you can create a link which offers value, but the ones you shared and the manner in which you shared them are the type you should pay (if necessary) to remove.

"I guess its the regular quality blog and off site I may struggle with getting the right level. Blogging is "OK", social media is "low to OK" and will work on these."

"OK" is not enough. Neither is "good" nor "great". You need to be exceptional.

When you perform a search for <insert keyword="">how many results are there? Let's say Google offers 1 million result pages. Where do you think an "OK" page ranks? </insert>

Strive to be nothing less then exceptional. Search engine rankings is a pure competition. If you do not have the "eye of the tiger" mentality, then you should consider hiring a quality SEO to promote the site. To be clear, any "link package" site should be avoided.

"Ryan If SEO is not to manipulate or try to rank your site than what it is?"

There are some people who would agree with you Christopher. I am not one of them. SEO is working with clients to help them understand and provide the maximum value to their site's visitors. Of course, that sounds nice but I will three of an almost infinite amount of examples of how this goal can be achieved:

• Some clients have very poor quality content when they come on board. We work with them to engage a professional, quality writer who can significantly improve the site's content. A few qualities of the resulting page are:

• easier to read and understand
• more likely to covert a visitor into a customer
• more likely to be +1'd, tweeted, liked, etc
• earns a better AdWords quality score
• ranks higher in search engines

• Some clients have low quality websites. A few issues we commonly find:

• broken links
• poor navigation
• server error pages
• poor design

Correcting these issues tend to improve the user experience and search rankings.

• Some sites do not embrace social media. By leveraging the power of sites such as facebook, pinterest and others, site traffic can dramatically increase leading to more social interaction, links and positive signals which can benefit SEO.

"Not all link profiles are as natural as SEOMOZ/SEL."

You are right. Most sites are no where near as spammy as the SEOmoz back link profile.

"I see (using  open site explorer) my competitors have 10's of thousands of external links, so even if I kept at this rate it would be many years before I caught up. That is based on my current understanding, so how do I get to those levels, even if it is over a year or two?"

Hi Simon,

Your situation is very common Simon. At a very high level, here are the steps:

1. Build the best quality site possible. There are literally hundreds of pieces to this puzzle but a few are:

• hire a great graphic design to provide your site a high quality look and feel

• engage a professional web developer to develop the best possible website

• provide a mobile website which appears correctly in smartphones, ipads, etc

• ensure your site works as intended i.e. no broken links, forms work correctly, etc

• ensure the site appears correctly in various browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, Safari, Opera)

• provide an intuitive layout along with solid navigation

2. **Provide the best content possible. **

• Create "best on the web" type of content

• Create content for users, not search engines

• Ensure your content is engaging and relevant

• Strive to provide content related to current events

• Ensure any images are sharp and clear

• The site's content should ideally encourage users to like / tweet / +1 / share / link

3. Promote the site.

• Once you have a solid website platform with fantastic content, tell the world about it!

• Use social media to connect with others who have an interest in your product / service

• Read industry blogs to find current information and influencers

• Ask your audience what content they want to read about

• Take every opportunity to tell everyone about the site

Hi Simon,

I find it amazing that in 2013 questions like this are still asked.

The link plan you shared above is great.....if you are intentionally attempting to get your site penalized. This plan is a perfect outline of what some site owners look for in an effort to build links to a competitor's site and try to get them penalized.

You are absolutely free to earn as many links as you want to your site. Neither Google nor Bing would have any problem with it.

What you are talking about is building manipulative links in an effort to manipulate search rankings. It is a very bad idea. Those links are highly likely to damage your site. My recommendation would be to remove every one.

Hi Robin,

It is important to understand the difference between Penguin and Panda.

Penguin focuses solely on a single issue: manipulative links to your site. By far the most effective solution is to remove the bad links. Penguin does not care about whether your content is duplicated or any other aspect of your site's quality.

Panda is a different update which focuses on content quality. While it is possible your site has multiple issues, you have diagnosed your issue as Penguin and stated you experienced a major traffic drop in April 2012. If that drop was on or immediately after April 24th, and you have built manipulative links to the site, it is highly likely the issue is Penguin.

A quick review of your site's backlinks in Open Site Explorer shows a large number of links which Penguin is designed to penalize....directory links and other low quality links.

I hope this information is helpful.