[garry22]

i know a few SEO companies that are trying to push ongoing seo

That is the only way to do it properly, especially if (allegedly) search engines are tracking link building trends.

[Kev Loomes]

I think someone mentioned earlier about google penalising domain names with keywords in them i.e. carpetcleaningyourtown.com.

These EMD's (exact match domains) were always a great way of getting good positions on google and the big boys didnt like this so things changed.

Yes they have penalised them I tested this to some extent, and some of the sites I built took a hit thats for sure. However, its not the end of the world some of mine still list No 1 so it is still worth doing them - but so long as you done 'expect' them to get somewhere.

Very hit and miss, I'm sure Garry would confirm this as he knows his onions too.

Kev

[Allan Simmons]

Hi Kev

Yeah, it was me that posted about domains.  I was at a presentation and Google are not penalising those domains, they will just be greatly reducing the relevance of them, definitely NOT penalising.  Basically it was explained that if the rest of the site is great then the domain name is now just another tick in the box that helps, as oppose to been very important.  It is indeed brands which have been pushing for a change as most brands use their company or brand name in their domain much like we do on our Chem-Dry sites.

Al.

[garry22]

I cannot disagree with the above. If you can get EMD s then great. It won't hurt you but it will not do all the work on it's own.

It comes down to how many sites / pages are competing with you. If you are relying only on an EMD and have a lot of competition you may be disappointed.

Incidentally, it has not stopped some SEO companies from peddling the line that EMD s are all you need.

I spoke to a friend's sister who runs a small company. She said "You do web stuff don't you? Will you check mine? I think I've been ripped off"

She had dropped from page 1 to page 3 (from what I can see, it's down to increased competition over the last two years).

A search company cold called and offered her a "generic domain name" that was guaranteed to get her back to the top of page 1.... FOR £240.00! She paid up a month ago and heard nothing.

When I checked, the domain name was still available (they had not registered it) and we bought it for the princely sum of $ 6.49 (about four quid).

Her daughter, who is legally trained is now trying to recover the £ 240.00. They have asked me not to name the scumbag SEO firm until they have recovered the money.

[Craigp]

I've noticed the multiple home pages don't work to well anymore, eg.

www.goldcarpetcare.net/london

www.goldcarpetcare.net/cambridge

Etc.

[Allan Simmons]

Hi Craig

Apparently that's true if the cambridge bit is the last page of the breadcrumb and everything about everything is on that page.  However I'm led to believe if that /cambridge is supported by other pages it can beneficial. Hence /cambrige/carpetcleaning, cambridge/upholsterycleaning etc.  If there is a pyramid of pages below that page supporting it i think you're okay.

Again it's to try and get away from the hundreds of single subpages off the homepage.  You still have to watch the duplicate content on those pages, so don't just change the word london for cambridge on the page content.

Al.

[Craigp]

I don't use this technique myself, just an observation.

[Kev Loomes]

If you can get EMD s then great. It won't hurt you but it will not do all the work on it's own.

It comes down to how many sites / pages are competing with you. If you are relying only on an EMD and have a lot of competition you may be disappointed.

Totally agree Garry.

Google are not penalising those domains, they will just be greatly reducing the relevance of them,

I think that is a form of penalisation Al. I think Google sugar coating it to say 'reducing relevance' sounds better doesnt it!

I've noticed the multiple home pages don't work to well anymore, eg.

www.goldcarpetcare.net/london

www.goldcarpetcare.net/cambridge

Etc.

Correct Craig. Although duplicate content has a big bearing on this too.

[Allan Simmons]

Google are not penalising those domains, they will just be greatly reducing the relevance of them,

I think that is a form of penalisation Al. I think Google sugar coating it to say 'reducing relevance' sounds better doesnt it!

They were quite specific at a presentation "the domain name is now just another tick in the box that helps", Oh go on then, they've sugar coated it.

[Garyj]

There are major updates in the next 2 weeks, although mostly unheard of its called The Venice Update.  

It seems to be quietly tucked away but it is a MAJOR change , and believe it or not I think it is good news for local businesses like carpet cleaners.

Basically Google are making the search results local, this is good news for tradesmen like carpet cleaners because if someone just types in "carpet cleaner" they will get local searches by default. Seems to me the trick is to get your town name in as often as you can which most people have done anyway.

You will no longer be competing with the heavily back linked and SEO'd national companies and directories. My thinking is those 'bigger players' with more money will have to find another way to advertise nationally and for that there is Adwords.

I think it is more important than ever to get a good ranking on Google Places, it makes sense that is where they will start to figure out who is local and who isn't.

One drawback..... the automatic location finder on Google is pretty awful and I have to reset mine more than once a week.

In short don't panic too much, those that have dropped like the original poster can get that ranking back and suggest they make it a priority. You say its been SEO'd? REALLY?? Who by? Ask for a refund!

"Carpet Cleaner Dublin" Google first page is littered with rubbish that Venice will hopefully eliminate and get you back up but the site does need a bit of work anyway.

The named domains won't do you any harm, I'm currently doing the SEO on a site that wants to rank for "Gates Hampshire", "Wooden Gates Hampshire" and "Electric Gates Hampshire", and its doing pretty well for a company that has only been in existence for 4 months, guess what that company is called?

For those of you on the fence about spending money on website promotion think about this..... EIGHTY per cent of your customers only use the top 3 places, the traffic drop off to 4th and 5th place is unbelievable, so you have to ask yourself is it worth the £100-150 per month to be in those places?
  

[feldon]

[quote author=Garyj link=topic=149723.msg1239260#msg1239260 date=1332691598

One drawback..... the automatic location finder on Google is pretty awful and I have to reset mine more than once a week.


  
[/quote]

Hi Gary what's the automatic location finder,and how do you check if it's set right?

I must admit I'm having a nightmare with google at the moment, i was in the top 3 for google places for my local area but i had to change my telephone number and google asked me to verify via pin which they would only send by mail which took two weeks, in the meantime my website dropped right off page 1 for google places.  I verity it a couple of weeks ago and its still only on page 3.  For some reason I am listed below the google places but it is still showing my old telephone number. So really not pleased with google at the moment.

[Garyj]

Can take up to six weeks to change a Google Place as it is done manually, yep its pretty dire. Google Places is still in the early stages of their 'take over' of YP, very soon there will be paid listings on Google Places which will be shown in blue rather than red. Nothing you can do about it I'm afraid, it's just the way it is right now, you can't even ask for a refund as its free.

While you wait for it to get back there are plenty of other things to do which will help it in the long run. Citations are very important, get yourself in as many directories as you can (and prepar for the onslaught of advertising calls that comes with it!), start to think of a way you can get your customers to leave a review, again that's very important. Add photos and add a video, make sure you are signed in to your account when you do this as (unbelievably) anyone can post a pic to your Page,so fill up all the spaces you can before someone does it for you.

When you are on Google there is an area on the left which tells you your location.... or where Google thinks you are, you can change it there.

[Garyj]

Quick Update

Go to Google, do a search and then it will show on the left. I just did that and right now it thinks I am in Sheffield! I changed it back to Andover just a few hours ago, my server is near Guildford. Its pretty useless at the moment.

Facebook is no better either, that is also using automatic place finder and I have noticed the last few weeks it is consistently wrong, according to Facebook on Friday night my 13 year old daughter was in Twickenham, thought I was in for a quiet night until she appeared 5 minutes later.
 

[feldon]

Thanks Gary I'll just have to wait it out and hope I get back to where I was.  With the paid for Google places, do you mean the new adwords express? which starts at £80 per month?

[Garyj]

Didn't realise it was already here, I knew it was coming. Yep, that's the one.

[Steve Rothwell]

I'm still No1 on google for carpet cleaning duck sellers in Wallop though 

[Garyj]

I'm still No1 on google for carpet cleaning duck sellers in Wallop though  

Not for much longer, planning on starting a business selling carpets and cleaning ducks, will knock you right off your perch in Over Wallop, might be greedy and corner the market in Neither Wallop too  

[Craigp]

150 to 200 quid to be in top 3 places, I wish!

My area you are looking at £500 a month to be top 3 and that's schedled ads,

Full time easy £800 a month.

[Garyj]

150 to 200 quid to be in top 3 places, I wish!

My area you are looking at £500 a month to be top 3 and that's schedled ads,

Full time easy £800 a month.

Thanks for that, I'll put my prices up.

I don't mean ads, I mean organic listing. I'm THAT good 

[Craigp]

But with ads my no. 1 is really 4 isnt it.

I also think there's a drop off after the ads.

So a 1 and 2 organic won't get as much as the ads above ime