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What exactly do you mean by "bad?" They are both undesired. You certainly won't be penalized for having a 404 specifically, but you may see a decrease in ranking if it affects your site structure or if the pages you lost were passing along page authority to other pages. You should do everything you can to limit both. Both are equally bad. Let me know if I understood the question correctly. Cheers!

Hey Sam, by using noindex you wont show up in the serps at all, so this might not be the best idea. Assuming that there aren't any duplicate pages on your domain I'd say try it with a few pages and see if they rank. Worst thing happening is that google attributes the text to amazon and thus not rank you very high. What you could do is wirte a small unique text (300 words) for each page and use the amazon product data. use a SEO plugin and set archives / categories / tags pages to noindex though..

If you no index a page, link juice will flow to that page still. if you no follow it, it will still flow but will not flow out of it again. you should always add noindex,follow if you want the link juice to return to your index pages. Even then some link juice will be lost that stays on that noindex page I tried also could not find it. but here is a quote from Matt Cutts "Eric Enge:  Can a NoIndex page accumulate PageRank? Matt Cutts:  A NoIndex page can accumulate PageRank, because the links are still followed outwards from a NoIndex page. Eric Enge:  So, it can accumulate and pass PageRank. Matt Cutts:  Right, and it will still accumulate PageRank, but it won't be showing in our Index.  So, I wouldn't make a NoIndex page that itself is a dead end.  You can make a NoIndex page that has links to lots of other pages. For example you might want to have a master Sitemap page and for whatever reason NoIndex that, but then have links to all your sub Sitemaps. Eric Enge:  Another example is if you have pages on a site with content that from a user point of view you recognize that it's valuable to have the page, but you feel that is too duplicative of content on another page on the site That page might still get links, but you don't want it in the Index and you want the crawler to follow the paths into the rest of the site. Matt Cutts:  That's right.  Another good example is, maybe you have a login page, and everybody ends up linking to that login page.  That provides very little content value, so you could NoIndex that page, but then the outgoing links would still have PageRank. Now, if you want to you can also add a NoFollow metatag, and that will say don't show this page at all in Google's Index, and don't follow any outgoing links, and no PageRank flows from that page.  We really think of these things as trying to provide as many opportunities as possible to sculpt where you want your PageRank to flow, or where you want Googlebot to spend more time and attention." http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/interview-matt-cutts.shtml

I'm sorry but this is absolute nonsense. Google indexes those absolutely fine. Want proof? Check my site. A search for [wordpress plugins] reliably brings up my meta description. Of course, if you don't have the keyword someone searches for in the meta description, the chance of the meta description showing up is close to zero, and even when you do it doesn't always show. But don't blame the single quote. I mean, he's single already. Have some pity.

For UK searches, google will recognise that a .co.uk site is probably more relevant than a .com if you were just comparing by that factor alone, but there are many, many factors that are more importance than this which make up a ranking. Also, it's worth bearing in mind that if you transfer a domain to a new registrant and the site from a content perspective wasn't existent before or the content is changed dramatically in the process (or around the same time) then the domain age will most likely have very little impact. In fact factors such as how long you renew the domain for will probably have more impact. For example if you buy the domain for 4 years it will look less spammy than a 1 year renewal.

The quality method would be a single domain with folders representing your categories. All the top retailers in the world use this method. You mentioned clothing so think of Overstock.com, zappos, macy's, etc. None of those sites have any keywords in the name and all will appear on the first page of Google results fighting each other for the top spot. The multiple domain approach is a crutch. It's something you can do when first starting out to gain instant results. Like most instant result solutions, it comes at the cost of long term, lasting goals. If you spent the time focused on your primary site, you will do better in the long term.

This is on Topic..a recent email from Robert Bruce  of Copy Blogger: By now, you know that content marketing is the new advertising. Your readers - and those beloved search engines - highly reward those sites that consistently deliver authoritative content that is focused on a topic, industry, niche, or idea. What does this really mean? You've got to write. A lot. Sure, there's other ways to deliver the goods - audio, video, infographic design, etc. But ultimately, the writer runs this show. And, writing - whether in outline, script, or long form - is what underpins all other categories of media. Writing is the cornerstone skill of all great content creation. So, when it comes to building your business on the Internet, you're going to be spending a good amount of your time at the keyboard. Here's a stripped-down system for getting your writing done, fast: 1. Know what you're talking about Obvious, right? If you're going to write authoritatively about anything, you've got to put in your time. You've got to read relentlessly on your subject. Study, research, painstakingly try to understand the movements and theories and motivations behind your product, service, and industry. Stay current on, or ahead of, the news. Get to know the players involved. This step (which, by the way, is an ongoing process) eliminates the dreaded moments of staring out the window for ideas. Research is writing. 2. Outline every time If you don't know where you're going, how will you ever get there? Don't ever start blindly typing your essay, article, or blog post without a map. First, think through what it is you actually want to communicate. Then, write down the skeleton of the thing. Major points, subheads, title. A simple outline takes the guesswork - and in many ways, the actual work - out of the picture. Give yourself a paved road to walk down, and then walk down that road, simply putting one foot in front of the other. 3. The secret lies in 30 minutes I stole this technique from Eugene Schwartz, and it is the single most powerful practice for getting words on a page I've ever used. Get a kitchen timer. Or, use the one on your smartphone. Sit down at your desk with your notes, research, outline, and coffee. Set that timer for 30 minutes and punch the "start" button. DO NOT get up from your desk until 30 minutes passes and the buzzer goes off. Here's the trick: don't try to write. Don't stress about it. After a few minutes of sitting there, staring at the page, your cat, out the window, whatever, you'll get so bored that you'll begin to write. When the 30 minutes is up, go do something else for a while. Then, come back for another 30 minutes of not trying. If you get six or seven of these sessions in during a day, you'll be so far ahead of the game, you'll wonder why you ever struggled to write in the first place. 3. Write a lot It is an immutable law of the universe. The more you do it, the more you'll do it. It may not get easier, but eventually you will become a writer. And that, my friends, can change your life and your business. rb Robert Bruce Copyblogger Media

Hi Sam, Most browsers add the trailing / anyway, so no need for that, adding .html is not necessary either, usually just for static html websites. So, there is no real benefit of adding unnecessary extentions to your permalinks. regards Mark