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The PDF rel=canonical question: This Moz post gives advanced directions on HTTP headers (for using rel=canonical in non-HTML files) and cited this and this information from Google.

However, I would add one other issue now that I understand more about your situation. Your PDF files are ranking over the HTML landing pages likely because the PDF "pages" contain more information and are probably better "quality." It's a real possibility that the HTML pages will not rank as highly as the PDF pages currently do even after doing all of this.

Landing pages rarely rank high in organic search results because they are thin -- such pages are usually used to convert advertising and paid traffic. Good, informational pages are what rank highly in organic search. So, if you want HTML pages to rank like the PDF files, I'd make those HTML pages as "quality" as the PDF ones. I hope that makes sense!

The first thing to understand is that you have a duplicate content issue. If you have a PDF and HTML page of the same content, then Google will likely show only one of them in search results -- as you are probably seeing. Therefore, you need to decide which set of pages you want to appear in the SERPs. I presume that you want the HTML pages to appear.

So, I would do all of the following:

1. Add a rel=canonical tag on each PDF page that points to the corresponding HTML page so that Google knows that the HTML page is the "main" one for indexing purposes

2. Add a "no-index" tag to each PDF page (or, you can list each PDF page in your robots.txt file) so that Google knows to remove the PDF pages from the index

3. If the PDF pages serve no purpose at all (to humans or to search engines), then you may just want to 301 redirect each PDF page to the corresponding HTML one. If you want to keep the PDF pages themselves visible on your website for any reason, this can be ignored.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions.

Yes, when you setup a website normally, this will usually be a default issue that needs to be addressed. It's an overall problem (though easy to fix) that has yet to be addressed. So, no, it's not your fault -- but it's on you and every other site owner to fix it.

I hope this isn't too technical, but just do a 301 redirect from either www.xyz.com to xyz.com or vice versa (your choice) for all pages on your website. That should solve the issue! (You can and should also set one of those as the canonical domain in Google Webmaster Tools.)

If that doesn't make sense, just reply!

I wouldn't worry too much about this.

1. Matt Cutts says in this video that what you describe is generally not a problem (because you're not being a spammer who is trying to game the system).

2. I'd review the international best SEO practices described here by Google. Google says you shouldn't worry too much about it, either. But I'd be sure to follow all of these guidelines -- geo-targeting settings for each domain in Webmaster Tools, for example -- in general to "tell" Google that you've got two different TLDs targeting two different countries.

3. Yes, hreflang is placed in the section.

So, having two sites with similar content at .com and.ca should be fine as long as you do what GWT says in the link above. Good luck! I hope everything's clear.

The first thing to understand is that "duplicate content" is normally not a penalty. It's just that if two of your pages have identical information, then only one of the pages will usually appear in search results. It's not a penalty per se, it's just Google's way of not providing redundant pages in search results. (Note: You can get penalized if you aggressively plagiarize and steal other websites' content and put it on your own -- that is something different.)

In regards to your specific question:

1. Matt Cutts says in this video that what you describe is generally not a problem (because you're not being a spammer who is trying to game the system).

2. I'd review the international best SEO practices described here by Google. Google says you shouldn't worry too much about it, either. But I'd be sure to follow all of these guidelines -- geo-targeting settings for each domain in Webmaster Tools, for example -- in general to "tell" Google that you've got two different TLDs targeting two different countries.

So, having two sites with similar content at .com and.ca should be fine.

Good luck! I hope everything's clear.

Ah, OK. So, when you say "automated" content, what does that mean, exactly? And why is there thousands of pages? Are they all unique somehow? How are you deciding when it is worthwhile to create a new page?

I'd need more insight into your website hierarchy, content strategy and more to give more of an answer.

My concern is whether your content is duplicated in ways that offer no additional value to search engines and website visitors. For example, do you have two pages that have pretty much the exact-same text except that one uses the phrase "average sales price" and another has "median sales price" instead?

While I know that "average" and "median" mean two different things, if the only difference in the text of two pages is that one uses "average" and the other uses "median," then I would be very concerned about a Panda hit from Google. Panda hits websites that have duplicated, low-quality, and/or unoriginal content on a large scale.

My question: unless a website has thousands of products or thousands of blog posts, do you really need thousands of pages? Most websites that have thousands of pages have spun content to target one specific keyword on one specific page -- and doing this many, many times over. One of my first "SEO" jobs years ago was to rewrite website pages in different words for exactly this purpose. (I know now that it was a black-hat job.) Today, Google is smart enough to know that a single page can be relevant for multiple keyword variations and themes -- so such actions are not necessary. And rightly so!

My other concern is your use of the word "automated." 99% of the time, anything automated will appear to Google -- and, more importantly, to users -- as spam. Original, authoritative, quality, human-created content is always better. Five pages of this is better than 500 pages of automated text. I would look into consolidating a lot of your pages into a smaller set of completely-original pages that each targets a set of related keyword themes.

Again, I don't know your specific case, so I could be wrong. But your post set off a bunch of warnings. If you need any clarifications, please feel free to reply!

Bob, here's what I would do if I owned your website. Note: I have not done any keyword research and am speaking only in theory.

1. Optimize the site in general for local SEO for your city or area (address in schema code, Google+ page and local, and so on).

2. Since keywords pertaining specifically to weight loss and hypnosis always include local search data, I would use the following strategy for broad/national terms in the general industry.

Create a site hierarchy with content  for all the grouped keyword themes (one themed page might cover five specific keywords): one targeting terms around weight loss tips, another for weight loss programs, and so on. I'm sure there are many possibilities. Create the best, authoritative content on these general topics on the Internet. I know it's easier said than done, but that's what you have to do. See what pages currently rank highly for those broad terms, and try to do one better with your content.

3. Conversion strategy. Of course, people searching for these terms aren't looking specifically for weight-loss hypnosis therapy -- but they are interested in weight loss in general! Alongside your great content, include calls to action to get people to contact you, submit a form, or something similar. Here's a basic example. Say that you have a page about diet pills. People come to the page after looking for diet pills. BUT your page will include a call to action such as: "Diet pills not working? Contact us to see how hypnosis can help shed the pounds!" Or something like that.

4. Social media. If you want to rank highly, you'll need a Google+ strategy. Websites that people have +1ed (or that their friends have +1ed) often show up higher in (personalized) search results. Become active on Google+ -- I would specifically recommend that you create a weight-loss Google+ community and advertise it on your site so that people join. The bigger you are on Google+ specifically, the better for organic search. Build your brand there.

5. Content. PR. Social media. I have a talk at SMX West on what I call the PR-based SEO strategy. Feel free to see an overview here on Moz. The nutshell: Do something newsworthy pertaining to weight loss. Create shareworthy content based on what you've done. PR your action and the content in the traditional media and social media. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Build a brand, get links, and grow your followings, traffic, and customers. Again, it's hard -- especially in this competitive field -- but it's the only way.

I know I'm talking in general terms and only in theory, but I hope this makes sense and is helpful. Feel free to reply if you have any questions! Good luck!

Wow -- thanks for the links! I learn something new every day. I'll defer to others on your specific question since I haven't ever worked with sites that specifically do what you do. I hope someone will give you a good answer!

The answer to your question lies in another question: Do search engines see one thing and users see another? If the answer is "yes," then you are using "cloaking" -- which is a very bad black-hat SEO technique. It can get you penalized and possibly banned.

Users don't see the text if they don't click "read more" but search engines will see the text either way? That's cloaking. I'd stop doing this right away.

To stay ahead of any future Google algorithm changes, I would disavow any links now that could seem questionable and hurt you in the future. But what is "questionable" is a complicated question. I would ask yourself these questions for every directory link you have gained:

1. Would I want this link if Google did not exist? (i.e., would the link send me valuable referred traffic anyway?)

2. Is this link curated by a human who is an expert in the field and who does not accept each and every submission?

3. If this link is being paid for, does it not pass PageRank (i.e., is it a no-follow link that adheres to Google's guidelines as such)?

If the answer is "yes" to all three questions, the link is usually safe. Since this is not the case with nearly all generic directories, I would likely want to disavow nearly all of them.

Note: You say that the links are no-follow, but that tag is still under the control of the directory websites and could change in the future (though likely it won't). I'd still disavow them just to be safe because you have no control over those links or what those sites may do in the future. However, this is a low priority since the links are no-follow -- I'd focus first on disavowing worse backlinks or doing your own positive online-marketing work to build your site further.

Poor grammar can be a spam signal to search engines. A typo here and there will not hurt you -- but major mistakes with spelling and grammar in every word and every sentence will likely hurt you. There's a middle ground somewhere, but only the search engines know what that is.

Of course, I would copyedit and proofread so that all text is perfect. Not for search engines -- but so that users do not see poor spelling and grammar and then judge your website to be less quality and authoritative. In the end, it's all about usability for humans. Search engines generally aim to show what websites users think are the best.

Since the SERP shows product information such as price and the fact that it is "in stock," I assume that you are using scheme markup? (Which, of course, you should.) I don't know if there is (and/or if you're using) product-image scheme markup, but that would be why if it appears. If there is no product-image scheme markup, then Google still thinks that it is valuable to the user to show the image on the page in the SERP.

As far as the image appearing only sometimes (when you're NOT using Icognito mode): Google decides what to include in each SERP every time that the search results are processed and your website is included. And that decision may involve the exact search query, the search history of the user, the location and device of the user, and many other factors. Google may even decide to use text for the meta description other than what the website owner has specified.

So, what appears is always up to Google. Not all schema markup (or anything else on the page) will appear every time. Since Google seems to understand that you "own" the website and are specifically interested in it, perhaps Google wants to show you more of the elements on the specific page. In contrast, Google may think a random person searching for that keyword (as in you under Incognito search) who is "less associated" with your specific website may want to view more general results overall and see fewer specific details about one particular website.

I hope this makes sense. It all comes down to the fact that Google shows different information to each searcher based on what it knows about that searcher. It will be different for each person every time.

If I were Google or even a website visitor, I would ask: Why does every single day of the event need its own page in the first place? It would seem frustrating from both search engine and user standpoints. The website should first and foremost be created with the user experience in mind.

I'm guessing that the answer is that each day will have its own set of event photos. (One page for January 1 photos, one for January 2 photos, and so on -- whenever the dates are.) But that's redundant -- needlessly repetitive, in other words. At most, I would probably place each year in a subfolder -- home.com/2012, home.com/2013, and home.com/2014 and so on. Then each year's subfolder would just have further subfolders each for photos, information, and so on.

Don't make it needlessly complicated. I'm guessing you're trying to get traffic from each specific day from this method, but you most likely don't need to do that. It will just appear to have too much needless duplication both for users and search engines.

If I'm missing something, let me know and I'll reply further!

The prevailing view, in my opinion, is that no one should do anything for the sole purpose of getting links. Google is increasingly getting smarter and seeing through tactics such as widgets and awards banners.

First, review Google's rules on link schemes. Second, see that Google recommends that webmasters add rel=nofollow attributes to links within widgets that other websites use. (I'd also include award graphics and banners.) Third, see this Moz post on "Widgetbait Gone Wild."

What I would say is that you should give awards first to reward other quality websites and promote awareness of your website. Don't do it directly to get links. Make the links within the badgets nofollow. If you promote and PR your contest and awards in the right way, you'll get a lot of referral traffic from the links along with possible mentions of you by other websites and bloggers who will give you (dofollow!) links naturally by themselves when they write about you.

This is earning links the right way -- not building them. It is more difficult and takes more time -- but it's much more worthwhile in the end. Don't do some BS awards to get links. Make it a real, noteworthy award that is worthy of getting coverage by others. Be newsworthy -- see a Moz post of mine on using PR to earn links. Good luck!

Even before the Internet, the key to success has always been to build and promote a strong brand. Today, Google favors companies that have built strong brands online. (See the articles here, here, here, and here as examples.)

Remember this quote from Google: "Brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool. Brand affinity is clearly hard wired. It is so fundamental to human existence that it's not going away. It must have a genetic component."

They key to creating a strong brand has been, is, and always will be through public relations and related publicity methods. What is called social-media outreach, content marketing, influencer marketing, and more today is just traditional public relations by other names. For an introduction to the topic, I'd suggest taking a look at my Moz post on the topic. I address:

1. Goal identification
2. Target marketing identification

3. Messaging and positioning

4. Media list creation

5. Press release development and pitching

Doing PR is crucial to generating interest, traffic, mentions (with or without links), backlinks, likes, shares, +1s, tweets, and a lot more that all combine to create strong brand signals. PR is how a business and website generates these things organically and indirectly. In one context, it is earning links and not building them. This process is not easy (or cheap, if you outsource to a PR agency), but it is the best way to get such awareness and results for the long term.

Good luck!

Short version: Do not do this!

Long version: What the client is asking is for you to create a "doorway page." This was a very popular black-hat SEO tactic years ago. Here's some background and additional links from Wikipedia.

Such a tactic is very bad for many reasons. Here are just a few:

1. It is bad for the user experience. If I click on a search-results page to go to a website and am interrupted by a doorway page, that makes me angry. It's an unnecessary step that makes it take longer to get to where I want to go.

2. It's bad for SEO. Doorway pages are typically associated with keyword spam. As such, Google really, really, hates doorway pages. Here's an old but relevant post by Matt Cutts (Google's head of web spam). I can all but guarantee you that his site will be whacked by Google if he uses doorway pages.

Your client is likely relying on very old (and very bad!) SEO advice. He should be reminded that SEO is not a "bag of tricks" to get a site to rank first in Google very quickly. It is a collection of technical and other best practices that help to improve the experiences of both humans and search engines on a website.

Sorry I didn't see this question sooner -- I hope it worked out!

You're pretty much right! I'd just add a few summary points for clarification:

1. 301-redirect old URLs to the new ones

2. Change any rel=canonical tags on the old pages so that the tags reference the new URLs

3. Add rel=canonical tags to the pages on the new site and make sure that they point to those same pages

4. Inform anyone linking to the old pages that the URLs have changed.

5. Check items on the pages such as media and images so that the URLs of those items themselves are hosted on the new domain and not the old one

I would not delete the old pages (at least not right away) because you never know how long it will take Google to understand that their locations have changed. Only delete them unless you have a pressing need to do so.

If you have any other questions, let me know!

I did some digging around and found some information:

https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=10153294676310223

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/analytics/pHOQxwrYh_s

http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/inaccurate-google-analytics-traffic-sources/

Don't shoot the messenger -- I cannot know whether these reasons are true for you. Just to summarize some possible issues from those links:

Ad clicks is not the same think as website visitors
Old Google Analytics code
People blocking cookies or having other setups that interfere with GA tracking

I hope these resources might help!