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Hey Tom,

That's great. Just the sort of confirmation I was looking for.

I'll get on to the process of removing these links now.

Hey guys,

After this week's Penguin update, I've noticed that one of our clients has seen a dip in rankings.

Because of this, I've had a good link at the client's back link profile in comparison to competitors and noticed that over 37,000 footer links have been generated from one website - providing us with an unhealthy balance of anchor terms.

Do you guys believe this may be the cause for our ranking drops?

Would it be wise to try and contact the webmaster in question to remove the footer links?

Thanks,

Matt

I typed in "DIY Kitchens", yeah. I believe that site is just an eCommerce website -rather than a physical store.

Hey guys,

I've just been doing a bit of searching to give the new Penguin update a good going over and came across the following result on the right side of the page.

As you can see, it's a link to the site that's sitting at the top of the SERP.

At first, however, I thought it was some snazzy AdWords feature. Although, having clicked into the link "20 hours ago", it seems that Google has pulled the snippet from the diy-kitchens.com's Google+ feed.

Anyone seen this before? Is it a new thing? Is it only the top result that's able to get a snippet from Google+?

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Yep, this would work within the travel sector - The UKs No1 Destination etc etc.

I think it would only benefit the CTR, if the offering is indeed the best, or the client is happy to claim they are the best at what they do.

Thanks Guys

I was thinking more on the lines of improving CTR, as opposed to focusing blindly on a keyword stuffed title purely for the rank, like all the others in the top 5 in this niche.

Now the sites ranking, a more prominent way of attracting / making the listing stand out is required, so looking for valid options.

Hi All,

Quick question - is it illegal, against any rule etc  to use phrases such as

'The No 1 rest of the title tag | Brand Name'

on a site?

Hey there,

One of the clients we're working with has lost about 1,000 or so backlinks over the last two or three months - mainly old article and directory links - and it has massively affected the site's search rankings.

The site was ranking for pretty much all of its keywords in prominent positions on Google (mostly first page) but has now seen positions dive to 50, 90 and even outside of the top 100.

Is there any immediate action we can put into place to help restore our rankings?

I think you have a good approach to this, and so, all things being the same, a refresh of the site should not hurt.

You mention that "content, url structure, internal linking structure" will all remain the same - if this is true and you keep everything in this bracket 'as-is' then you should be fine.

The most common reason rankings are lost when implementing a new site is re-directs, or the lack a redirect strategy to be more clear.

As your site structure / url structure is going to remain in-tack, then you wont really need to consider mass redirects.

However, here is what I would do just in case:

Before Launch:

Create a report of top linked to pages using Open Site Explore

Create a report of top content from the last few months from Google Analytics

Map all the URLs from the current site, use screaming from or something

After Launch:

Submit XML sitemap to webmaster tool

Review and improve on-page content

Monitor traffic in Google analytics, view top content for the period after launch and compare to the report you created prior to launch

Monitor and fix crawl errors in webmaster tools if any

Attract new links

Submit new XML sitemap (two weeks post launch)

Keep developing great content

Hey Jonathan,

It's still showing for me.

Under "About" and then the blue-trimmed "Links" section.

Hey Sha,

Thanks for that.

It would seem that would be the best bet.

Sorry, I don't quite follow. How would this work?

Hey Mark,

Thanks for your response.

I'm aware of that link but it only allows you to submit one link at a time. In this case, there are tons of domains that I'd have to submit. So, is there anyway to submit multiple sites?

Ok, so within one of my client's sectors it has become clear that someone is trying to manipulate the SERPs by registering tons of domains that are all keyword targeted.

All of the websites are simply duplications of one another and are merely setup to dominate the SERP listings - which, at the moment, it is beginning to do.

None of the sites have any real authority (in some cases 1 PA and DA) and yet they're ranking above much more established websites. The only back links they have are from dodgy-looking forum ones. It's all a bit crazy and it shouldn't be happening.

Anyway, all of the domains have been registered by the same person and within a two-month time period of each other.

What do you guys think is the best step to take to report these particular websites to Google?

Hi Jesse,

Now your talking! I'd say I agree with you know on this - it may not have much value in terms of aiding a sites rank, but then again it may have some slight advantage in terms of rankings - as long as its played by the book, is relevant, not stuffed and is in line with all the other on-page 'best practices'.

It certainly wont hurt.

Id agree with Lynn.

To deliver not only rankings long term, but to develop traffic that counts, then you are much better off spending time researching and structuring a piece of content that is of actual value to your sites potential visitor.

It looks like you will be spending time churning out content because you have a timeline to fill, with the sole purpose of structuring a link profile - from sites that have been overdone with this type of strategy.

Think about what is useful to your visitor, what can you create that they can engage with and share naturally? What will add value to your site? What will drive people to visit your site and share your content?

Come up with a solid content strategy for your own site, if its good enough, you will start building links without even trying - and in doing so, ensure your site stays clear of any updates to algorithms that may target the very sites your trying to gain links from.

Although I agree with the bulk of what you mention, and indeed it would seem there are some spam notes in the post, I would not go as far as to say 'it gives no ranking benefit'.

I say this as a few sites i've amended the h1 on, have seen very slight improvements, not this could also be down to the fact i'd also looked at the content on those sites at the same time, however, I would not discount the fact the h1 'might' of helped in some small way.

I also point to a video, a couple of years old I know, by Matt - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgy3Oc9zfOw

Who suggests they may still help, again, the video may be outdated - but perhaps worth noting.

The jury is out on whether they add much benefit, however, I would not discount them altogether and categorically state they have no benefit. Based on the tests I've run, and a number of others have run, such as http://cbutterworth.com/do-h1-tags-still-help-seo/, then i'd say it could still help, even in a small way.

The more things you do correctly, the better?

It really isn't that simple though, is it?

We're always at the mercy of Google's Algorithm and, unfortunately, the search engine is still in a certain state that it can still give preference to websites that don't have great content. In fact, websites with rubbish content.

You can still use the good ol' Google keyword tool for this...

It will at least give you an idea of viable targets and search volume.

Make a list in a column, as you usually would, of your keyword targets in excel - make a another column for the translation. Open  Google Translate and add each of your keywords.

then, copy the translations and add them to Google Keyword Tool, run your usual search (exact match) - however, make sure you define the search location and the language in Advanced options and filters.

You should now have some idea of the search volumes for those terms. Not an exact science, but worth a look to get some numbers.

Hi Sylvana,

I watched this Webinar a while back by SEO Moz: http://www.seomoz.org/webinars/pinteresting-marketing-and-content

It'll explain all you need to know about how to get the best out of Pinterest, with proven results! I'd recommend it