Hi Martijn,

Yep noticed that with Google the keyword data is much different than Moz, but I've read (I believe here on Moz) that the GOOGLE data is apparently unreliable. Seems a lot more accurate than the Moz data at this point.

Guess I'll go back to using Google Keyword Planner for keyword research

I have a client who does patio furniture repair and restoration. When performing keyword research in Moz for terms like "patio furniture repair" I see that only 11-50 people in the entire US are searching for this term according to the Moz data. However, running an Adwords campaign currently and our top keyword is the phrase match for "patio furniture repair" which has generated over 100 clicks in just a couple of months in ONE county.

Is there a better way to research more accurate results on search volume estimates? This makes organic SEO and keyword targeting hard!

Thanks,

Ricky

Hi all,

Anyone have experience with using Schema for restaurants other than the normal local business NAP? Is there a way to use Schema markup for food menus as well? Examples and schema code much appreciated

Thanks!

Hi James,

I hear ya and I agree. But my confusion lies in the fact that Google has explicitly stated that _any _link that requires payment to be acquired is technically not suppose to count toward your site authority and should be no-followed

Hi guys,

This drives me nuts. I hear all the time that any time value is exchanged for a link that it technically violates Google's guidelines. What about real organizations, chambers of commerce, trade groups, etc. that you are a part of that have online directories with DO-follow links.

On one hand people will say these are great links with real value outside of search and great for local SEO..and on the other hand some hardliners are saying that these technically should be no-follow.

Thoughts???

Hey guys,

Good advice, thank you! My navigation is already pretty flat (as flat as it can be) and I certainly understand the concept of links to deeper pages...but how in the WORLD do you build quality links to a service page?

Almost every link opportunity (sponsorship, directory, curated lists of providers, PR hits etc.) seem to funnel to the home page for local biz in my experience.

Thanks again,

Ricky

Hi Deacyde,

I appreciate the reply but I think you misunderstood my initial question. We've already done this and have services pages properly broken out and optimized for different procedures, but we find that Google is increasingly using the HOME page as the ranking page for service terms even though the home page doesn't mention the service at all.

Thanks,

Ricky

Hi everyone!

I've noticed that many of our clients have pages addressing specific queries related to specific services on their websites, but that the Home Page is increasingly showing as the "ranking" page.

For example, a plastic surgeon we work with has a page specifically talking about his breast augmentation procedure for Miami, FL but instead of THAT page showing in the search results, Google is using his home page. Noticing this across the board. Any insights? Should we still be optimizing these specific service pages? Should I be spending time trying to make sure Google ranks the page specifically addressing that query because it SHOULD perform better?

Thanks for the help.

Confused SEO :/, Ricky Shockley

Hi Ronell, definitely appreciate the insights but still not sure I have an answer!

My question is really on the most technical side of this issue as I mentioned above targeting the SAME keyword and not different variations of a keyword. I've heard two completely opposite schools of thought with one side insisting that creating blog posts (for example) regularly on a specific topic geared toward the same exact keyword phrase target can actually help SEO efforts. I assume that theory goes something like this: Google wants to see that you're an expert on the specific topic you're hoping to rank for, so writing about the exact topic (with essentially the same keyword target) several times can actually help establish the correlation that you may be an expert on the given topic/keyword phrase. On the other hand, I've always viewed this as cannibalization. If you have something to write about "link building" for example, it's better to have all of that content in one powerful, comprehensive page vs creating 3-4 posts per year about "link building" in general. Now, I understand that if you want to write about a specific aspect of link building, like "link building for local businesses" you may want a different page, but I'm referring to having several blogs targeting the exact same keyword phrase for SEO.

Thanks all! I actually heard back from Rand and he mentioned they may be adding this as a WBF topic so hoping we get some clarity soon.

Ricky

Hey Guys,

I understand where you're coming from in terms of competitive analysis and figuring out whether you'd be hard-pressed to have multiple pages ranking for more competitive terms. I also understand that there are certain aspects of a topic that may justify different pages (for example, water filters, home water filters and under sink filters may require different page urls while water filters vs. water filtration may not) but I'm more referring to the algorithmic aspect of this.

In general, does Google LIKE to see that you're creating multiple pieces of content on a topic to deem you an "expert", or is there no benefit to doing so from that standpoint? I've seen similar terms that I believe require different pages/urls competing against each other and hurting the top ranking page in the SERPS.

For example, I had a client who had sold CAD software. Their home page was optimized around that term and ranking middle of page one. They had ANOTHER page that was for a free CAD software (stripped down version) that initially didn't rank for the "CAD software" term. At some point, this free CAD page starting creeping up into the top 25 on Google, and as it did we saw a direct correlation with a drop off for our home page. Instead of having one page ranking at #4, we now had TWO pages ranking #10 and #11.

Make sense?

I don't think that would cause any issue as long as the navigation links are all to the same page/url! You should be fine!

From a search perspective, It may be a bit more beneficial to use the directory route but that is often difficult to organize when we are talking about multiple pages (ie a previous years entire website).

In my opinion, the subdomain route seems like the best option. It will allow for the previous pages and content to contribute to the current sites domain authority while also serving as an extremely organized presentation of the previous years events and attractions!

I have a client who does patio furniture repair and restoration. When performing keyword research in Moz for terms like "patio furniture repair" I see that only 11-50 people in the entire US are searching for this term according to the Moz data. However, running an Adwords campaign currently and our top keyword is the phrase match for "patio furniture repair" which has generated over 100 clicks in just a couple of months in ONE county.

Is there a better way to research more accurate results on search volume estimates? This makes organic SEO and keyword targeting hard!

Thanks,

Ricky

I assume not. I believe Google will just use your first line of content as the H1! I think Rand did a video on this not too long ago. I don't think he believes H1s were very important.

Hey guys, i've seen some stuff about this before but I recently found an opportunity to put it into action and wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into!

I am looking at buying a domain (expired and now only 10 dollars) that has a decent domain authority and has some keywords in it related to my clients practice. I plan on using a 301 redirect to pass "link juice" because this client is looking for a quick bump in rankings.

Thoughts? Benefits? Problems with this?

Thanks guys! I've got a solid checklist now to complete to qualify a site!

Though for anyone else reading this thread--@salman...sounds like a very old-school, black hat SEO tactic! Not only do I doubt that would work short term, I KNOW it is something that Google will be looking to penalize. A link network/ link farm like that is not really a legitimate SEO practice and violates Google's guidelines.

I know that rand recommends hosting your blog on a FOLDER of your root domain instead of hosting your blog on a subdomain.

The reason for doing so is that the domain authority of the subdomain will put a slightly larger distance (in terms of authority signals carrying over) from the root.

For example, its better to have your blog at bobsmithdental.com/blog vs blog.bobsmithdental.com.

After that, its really a matter of tightening up your keyword optimization on the blog posts and building and earning quality inbound links!

-Ricky