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When it comes to answering your webmaster related questions, we just can't get enough. I wanted to follow-up and answer some additional questions that webmasters asked in our latest installment of Popular Picks. In case you missed it, you can find our answers to image search ranking, sitelinks, reconsideration requests, redirects, and our communication with webmasters in this blog post.



Check out these resources for additional details on questions answered in the video:

• Duplicate Content: check out Susan's blog post, Demystifying the "duplicate content penalty."
• Website Design: we've written a thorough set of Help Center articles on creating a Google-friendly site.
• Meta tags: you can read our Help Center article on how to block or remove pages using meta tags.
• Local Search: Some tips to rank well for local searches include signing up with Google's Local Business Center, registering the appropriate top level domain or using the geographic target tool in Webmaster Tools.
• Problems with Webmaster Tools: check the Webmaster Tools subgroup in our Help Group. If you're experiencing errors, other webmasters may be experiencing the same. In the past, we've pinned a message at the top of the Webmaster Tools subgroup to let users know we're aware of a problem and working to fix it.

Video Transcript:

Hi everyone, I'm Reid from the Search Quality team. Today I'd like to answer some of the unanswered questions from our latest round of popular picks.

Searchmaster had a question about duplicate content. Understandably, this is a popular concern from webmasters. You should check out the Google Webmaster Central Blogwhere my colleague Susan Moskwa recently posted "Demystifying the 'duplicate content penalty," which answers many questions and concerns about duplicate content.

Jay is the Boss wanted to know if e-commerce websites suffer if they have two or more different themes. For example, you could have a site that sells auto parts, but also sightseeing guides. In general, I'd encourage webmasters to create a website that they feel is relevant for users. If it makes sense to sell auto parts and sightseeing guides, then go for it. Those are the sites that perform well, because users want to visit those sites, and they'll link to them as well.

emma2 wanted to know if Google will follow links on a page using the "noindex" attribute in the "robots" meta tag. To answer this question, Googlebot will follow links on a page which uses the meta "noindex" tag, but that page will not appear in our search results. As a reminder, if you would like to prevent Googlebot from crawling any links on a page, use the "nofollow" attribute in the "robots" meta tag.

Aaron Pratt wanted to know about some ways a webmaster can rank well for local searches. A quick recommendation is to add your business to the Local Business Center. There, you can add contact information as well as store operating hours and coupons as well. Another example, or a tip, is to take advantage and purchase a country-specific top-level domain, or use the geotargeting feature in Webmaster Tools.

jdeb901 said it would be helpful if we could let webmasters know if we are having problems with Webmaster Tools. This is an excellent point, and we're always thinking about better ways to communicate with webmasters. If you're having problems with Webmaster Tools, chances are someone else is as well, and they've posted to the Google Webmaster Help Group about this. In the past, if we've experienced problems with Webmaster Tools, we've also created a "sticky" post to let users know that we know about these issues with Webmaster Tools, and we're working to find a solution.

Well, that about wraps it up with our Popular Picks. Thanks again for all of your questions, and I look forward to seeing you around the group.

Written by Reid Yokoyama, Search Quality

Your presence is our favorite present -- thanks for joining us for another year of making your site, and therefore the web, a better place.


Every day we see new people commenting and joining the discussion. This holiday season we'll try to update our blog to accommodate your growing needs. Always feel free to let us know how we're doing (especially if we publish a typo! :), because first and foremost and everywhere in the middle, we're trying to improve for you.

Happy holidays from all of us at Webmaster Central.

Written by Maile Ohye, Developer Programs Tech Lead

Posted by Ríona MacNamara, Webmaster Tools Team

The Set Geographic Target tool in Webmaster Tools lets you associate your site with a specific region. We've heard a lot of questions from webmasters about how to use the tool, and here Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa explains how it works and when to use it.

The http://www.google.ca/ example in the video is a little hard to see, so here's a screenshot:

Want to know more about setting a geographic target for your site? Check out our Help Center. And if you like this video, you can see more on our Webmaster Tools playlist on YouTube.