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I believe you will find verbage about historical data in Google's patent. http://www.seomoz.org/article/google-historical-data-patent

You can also read the following from Google's Page Rank Patent 6285999

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning includes:

identifying a weighting factor for each of the linking documents, the weighting factor being dependent on the URL, host, domain, author, institution, or last update time of the one or more linking documents, and

adjusting the score of each of the one or more linking documents based on the identified weighting factor."

It is not specific on if newer links are better or older links more valueable. Since Google does pay a lot of attention to trends and hot topics I think there could be an arguement for newer links being better, but perphaps only on a trendy base. Meaning new links = quick boost, but old links = authority.

I am surprised that as a bunch of SEOs that no one has said SEO friendly.

So can I add:

• Ranks Well.
• Demand Research (Keyword/demand/competition)

Demand researched content also makes for more engaging content, but any of the current list could be classified as engaging. The difficulty with defining "good content" is that it's an opinion. But you've got a great list going. I wonder how individuals would prioritize that list based on their verticals.

Have you had any luck with your flash pages getting ranked? Build links to the pages that are getting ranked. Don't fight an uphill battle.

Looks like you are starting early in your community participation.

Are we to assume that including our own images then would be helpful in getting an approval?

And yes, a simple rejection letter would be appreciated, since spending time on content and seeing it sit for awhile is painful.

... I know patience is a virtue.

I agree. Being able to track links you've aquired and monitor links you may be working on is a big plus to Raven's tool belt.

• 54% Search
• 16% Referring
• 30% Direct

Funny thing about search is that ~18% of my search is for Branded Keywords. CPC falls under my Search... but very low %. I was amazed at how low the search traffic was for SEOmoz and on how high their social media traffic is. Great diversification by SEOmoz. Really tapping into "the other internet".

As stated, having a sub directory works, but I don't think it gives that much of a benefit over the example you gave. But yes location and geo targeting with specific pages can be a great strategy. It works well for me, but I'm a local business so everything I do is defined by location. What you want to avoid is creating pages with duplicate content just to appear local. Simply changing out keyword locations in the content is not going to give you a sustainable advantage. If you are going to create GEO specific pages then make content unique to that location. This is just good for SEO but it's good for selling and converting as well.

I feel that the IP of links is a fairly low ranking factor. But if all of your links were coming from the same IP then your site would be throwing up some red flags.

I agree. In general, I would say that your branded links should always be greater than any single keyword. Sounds like you are doing it right.

If they only service a 50 mile radius then they should only be concerned about localized search terms. If they are ranking well for their area then that's a good sign. Clearly claiming and optimizing their Google Places should be a top priority. Adding citations for their name/address/phone number is going to help. Sprinkle on a few good links and they should be happy. Their best links are going to come from other local businesses in their area.

I had this issue with my main site. Pest control was our big target phrase. Yet we had optimized an internal page for pest control as well, /pest-control.php They were somewhat competing for the same term. So how do I proceed? Well the search engine made that decision easy.

Our main page was ranking for "pest control" so I let that one carry the load for our pest control efforts. This meant internal links were directed back to the home page for that keyword and external links also took this into consideration.

The solution I used for the internal, /pest-control.php, page was to alter this page to "pest control service". So I didn't loose out on any previous efforts for that page. Just modified it a bit. Hope that helps.

In my opinion, your homepage will almost always be your strongest page, so put your core term there.

Very interesting. I was just told the other day not use underscores in my image names... which I have done a lot. But my images seem to rank very well.

Did you note that Wikipedia actually has underscores in their site links? Found on all the variations above.

Also noted that I got local results with all but B_L_U_E_

When doing the search for P_E_S_T_  I found similar video and image results

http://www.google.com/search?q=b-l-u-e#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&pq=p-e-s-t-&xhr=t&q=p_e_s_t_&cp=9&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=p_e_s_t_+&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=822bf32b5c0e0691

But doing the search for p_e_s_t_c_o_n_t_r_o_l _ did not give me image results.

http://www.google.com/search?q=b%20l%20u%20e#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=p_e_s_t_c_o_n_t_r_o_l+_&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=822bf32b5c0e0691

Why would long tail be different?

Fun one to add:

http://www.google.com/search?q=b_l_u_e#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=b_l_u_e_++moon&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=822bf32b5c0e0691

http://www.google.com/search?q=b_l_u_e#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&pq=b_l_u_e_%20%20moon&xhr=t&q=b_l_u_e_+m-o-o-n&cp=16&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=b_l_u_e_+m-o-o-n&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=822bf32b5c0e0691

http://www.google.com/search?q=b_l_u_e#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=b_l_u_e_+M_o_o_n_&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=822bf32b5c0e0691

Again no local results for me on the last one, but yes on the prior two.

Thanks for sharing.

If the bad links are not currently hurting then I wouldn't worry too much about them hurting them in the future. I would advise the owner of the site of what you have found, explain the risks, and then offer him your advice. Not that you are excusing yourself if you advise them poorly, but knowing the risks upfront makes it easier if something does go wrong later.

Do feel the being more consistent is a ranking factor or just a reliable way to get views which helps your rankings?

If you have a site that has been matched with a brand then Google will rarely remove your site entirely from the index. Take JC Penny for example. They didn't suffer any rankings for the term JC Penny. They suffered rankings for other terms that they had been building bad links for. Monitoring your keyword rankings and noticing large drops in positions on a per keyword base might give you a better idea if you have been hit with a penalty.

I have also seen this happen. It seems to happen more often when we are pushing a little harder on a keyword phrase. I wouldn't change anything you are doing. Keep a steady pace and it should spring back up.  Kinda feels like a roulette ball, bouncing around right before it settles in.  COME ON NUMBER #1!!!

Good luck.

1 - Meeting other local business owners and sharing a few promising thoughts on internet marketing then asking them for links.

2- Guest blogging. I love guest blogging!

It could be possible to rank in the 7 pack with an address outside of the target city, but it's very very difficult to do. You would need the local signals like local landing pages, and you would need a very non competitive term. I believe you would have better luck getting a small office in the Houston or Dallas and manning it with some staff.

Outside the 7 pack you can easily rank for cities that you are not located in by traditional SEO methods. Creating a landing page for the GEO area and then creating local links and anchor text links will get you to the front page.

Hey another SEO in Phoenix!  Sweet...

Per Steven's info I would go with the following title:

Tummy Tuck Scottsdale, AZ - Liposuction by Dr. DOCTORNAME

I would also recommend having a different landing page for each GEO target. And you should get some local business links.