Improve your Search Engine Ranking · What is SEO? Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process...

ImproveyourSearchEngineRankingPAULINERANDALL– FLORIZELMEDIALTD

HousekeepingvCoursetiming

v Firealarmsandfireexits

v Toilets

vBreakforcoffee,teaandphones

vWiFiaccess

vDownloadingcourseslides

IntroductionsvWhoyouare

vWhatyourbusinessdoes(orwilldo!)

vAnythinginparticularthatyou’relookingtogetfromtoday’scourse

AbitaboutSEO

WhatisSEO?Searchengineoptimization(SEO)istheprocessofaffectingthevisibility ofawebsiteorawebpageinawebsearchengine'sunpaidresults—oftenreferredtoas"natural","organic",or"earned"results.Ingeneral,theearlier(orhigherrankedonthesearchresultspage),andmorefrequentlyasiteappearsinthesearchresultslist,themorevisitorsitwillreceivefromthesearchengine'susers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

WhydowefocusonGoogle?

MarketshareheldbytheleadingsearchenginesintheUnitedKingdom(UK)asofApril2017

https://www.statista.com/statistics/280269/market-share-held-by-search-engines-in-the-united-kingdom/

Howsearchworks– fromGoogle

https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/

Whatdoesthismeanforyourwebsite?Youneed:vGoodqualitycontent

v Internalandexternallinks

v KeywordsinTitles,DescriptionsandHeadings

v Keywordsinthecontent– enoughbutnottoomanytimes

vQualitywebsite(notspammy)

v Suitableforthedevicebeingused(mobilefriendliness)

Search– fromthesearcher’spointofview

Maps

Detailsandreviews

Theansweryouwerelookingfor

Alternativequestions

Otherwebsiteresults

Advertising

Map,directionsandtimes

Advertising

Websiteresults

Alternativequestions

Noadvertisingthistime

Checklistq Searchforyourbusinessbynameandcheckwhatappears

q RegisteryourbusinesswithGoogleMyBusinesstoensurethatyouhavecontroloverthecontentsuchasopeninghours,phonenumberetc

q Searchforgenericproducts/servicessimilaryourbusinessandseewhatcomesup

q KeepaneyeonAutocomplete– itcangiveyoucluesaboutwhatotherpeoplesearchfor

q SearchonadifferentsearchenginethanGoogleandseehowyouappear

KeySEOTerms

v altTag- Textthatshowsinplaceofanimage

vAnchorText- thevisibletextonahyperlink,thatonceclicked,leadstothedestination,eitheronyourwebsiteoronanother

vBlackhatSEO– underhandactivitiestoimprovewebranking.Whenyougetcaughtyourrankingwillbeheavilypenalised

vHeadings (or<h1>to<h6>tags)– usedtodefinetheimportanceofheadingsonawebpage

vKeyword- asinglewordorphrasethathelpsusersfindyourwebsiteonsearchengines

v Longtailkeyword- phrasesor3-4wordsthatarehighlyspecifictoyourbusiness

v InboundLinks - (alsoknownasbacklinks)linksfromotherwebsitesthatlinkbacktoyourwebsite.

vOrganicornaturalsearch– resultsthatsearchenginesshowthathavenotbeenpaidfor(asopposedtopaidsearch)

vPageTitle– showsastheheadingofyoursnippetinsearch

vPageDescription– Showsasthedescriptionofyourpageinthesearchsnippet

v SEO – searchengineoptimisation

v SERP – searchengineresultspage

v Sitemaps - afile,normallywritteninXML,whichtellssearchenginesabouthowthecontentonyoursiteisorganized.

DomainnamesandpageURLs

Ifyoudon’thaveadomainnamevItshouldmatchyourbusinessname– aimforauniquenamevEasytorememberandtotypeintoabrowservAvoidhyphensvTrytomakeitpronounceablevAimforqualitytopleveldomainslike.comand.co.ukvBecarefulwith‘cleverspelling’e.g.mcplummer.co.ukvKeywordsindomainnames– canmakesearchenginessuspiciousvAvoidinfringingexistingtrademarks– thetrademarkownercouldseizeyourdomain

vMakethenameintuitive– someonelookingatitshouldknowwhatyoudovIfyoucan’tgetthenameyouwantthinkofprefixesorsuffixesyoucanadd

PageURLsvMakethemreadable

v Shorterisgenerallybetter

v KeywordsinURLs(butdon’toverdo)

vMatchURLstopagetitles

vBewaryofcasesensitivity– insomesituations:◦ /page1◦ /Page1◦ /PAGE1

canbeseenasthreedifferentpages.Thiscouldgiveriseto404errors(pagenotfound)

vUsehyphensorunderscorestoseparatewords

https://moz.com/blog/15-seo-best-practices-for-structuring-urls

Checklistq Ifselectinganewdomain,thensearchforthenameyouwanttouseandseewhatcomesup.

q Doyouhavecompetition?q Isyourdesirednameunique?q Aretheretrademarkissues?

q Ifyouhaveanexistingsite,checkyourpageURLsq CanyousimplifypageURLs?q Ifyouchangeanythendon’tforgettoputaredirectinplacesothatyoudon’tbreakinboundlinksq Moreaboutredirectshere:https://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection

KeywordsIT’SNOTJUSTABOUTVISITORSTOYOURSITE– IT ’SABOUTTHERIGHTKINDOFVISITORS

Keywordsareimportant…vMostvisitorswillsearchusingwords

v Searchenginesindexusingwords

v Knowingwhatyourpotentialcustomerssearchforisvital

vUnderstandingchangesinterminologyiscrucial

v Searchenginesunderstandcontextsotheywillunderstandthat“highqualitydining”and“upmarketrestaurants”areonthesametopic

FindingkeywordsvMoz– KeywordResearch – paidaccount

vGoogleKeywordPlanner – freewithadwordsaccount

v KeywordTool– free(ish)

vWordtracker – freetrialandthenpaidaccount

vGoogleTrends– worduseovertime

GoogleTrends- Golf– since2004

Don’tdothisvDon’tbotherwiththekeywordmetatag– thesearchenginesdon’ttakenoticeofit(apart

fromBaiduandthen,onlyinMandarinChinese)

vDon’tstuffyourpagewithkeywords– ifitsoundslikeyou’rerepeatingyourselfthenyouhaveprobablydonethis.Forexample:◦ “Cometoourgolfshopandbuygolfclubs,golfbags,golfballs,infacteverythingforyourgolfingneeds.Wearethegolfexperts- talktousaboutgolfandeverythingtodowithgolf”

Checklistv Spendtimeresearchingyourkeywords

v Lookatthealternativewordsthatpeopleuse

vGothroughyourwebsitecopyandmakesureyouhaveidentifiedauniquekeyword/phraseforeachpage

vCheckthatyouhaven’toverusedyourkeywords

Titles,descriptionsandheadings

Title

Description

TitletagvOneofthemostimportantpiecesofon-pageSEO(theMOSTimportantiscontent)

v Itappearsinsearchresults,browsersandexternalwebsites

v Itshouldbeanaccuraterepresentationofthepagecontent

v Idealformat:◦ Primarykeyword- Secondarykeyword|Brandname

vDon’trepeatwordsinthetitleeg◦ Redwidget,yellowwidget,bluewidget

v Eachpageshouldhaveauniquetitle– noduplicatesonyoursite

v 70-71characters

DescriptiontagvNotsoimportanttothesearchengine

vVeryimportanttothesearcher– hastobeattractiveenoughtomakethemclickthroughtoyourwebpage

v Itshouldmatchthecontentofthepage– ifyoutrickpeople,Googlewillpenaliseyourpageinsearchresults

vApproximately160characterslongalthoughlongerdescriptionshavebeenseenonGoogleSERPs(approx 250characters)

ChecklistqCheckallthepagesonyoursiteforuniquetitlesanddescriptions

qRewriteiftheyaretoolong(searchengineswillchopofftheexcessinmidsentenceotherwise)

q IfyouuseWordPressthenconsiderinstallingYoast(oranotherSEOplugin).ThiswilltellyouifyouhavepreviouslyusedatitleoradescriptionandwhetherthelengthisOK

OrderingcontentonthepagevHeadingsandsubheadingsmakereadingpagecontenteasierbybreakingitupintosmall

chunks

v ThereshouldonlybeoneH1tag(Heading1)onthepage– thisisthemainheading(thinknewspaperheadline)

v Youcanhaveseveralsubheadingsandsubsubheadings(usingH2toH6

vDon’tskiplevels

ChecklistqCheckyourpagesandblogpostsforheadingstyles

qMakesurethatyouhaven’tjustusedalargerfonttomakeaheadingappearbigger– youneedtherightformatting.Searchengineswon’tworkouthierarchiesbyfontsize.

qDon’tforgetyourpage’skeywords!

Content,imagesandvideoWHATIT ’SREALLYALLABOUT

Pagecontent– THE mostimportantthingonyoursitevMostimportantbothforsearchenginesandforyourhumanvisitors

v Searchenginesreadthecontentand,togetherwithalltheotherpartsofthesite,makeajudgementastowhetheraparticularpageisthecorrectonetoshowtoasearcher

v Keepontopicandrememberyourkeywords(andvariants)

v Easytoreadtext

vMostimportantcontentatthestartofthepage

v Fresh,newcontent(don’tcopyfromothersites)

vWriteforyourhumanvisitors

ImageandvideooptimisationvWhichmakesmoresense?◦ Dogreadingnewspaperor◦ IMG45639-452

vGiveimagesandvideoclear,descriptivenames

vUsealttext– thiscanbereadbyascreenreaderforvisitorswhohavevisualdifficulties

vAddacaptionifappropriate

v Keepfilesizessmall(fasterloadingandbetterSEOranking)

vUploadtherightsizeofimage

vUseyourownimages/videoifyoucan– thisgivesthemuniqueness

VideovVideogetsahighbiasinsearch

v ‘Howto’isaveryhighlysearchedphrase

v Ifvisitorswanttoknowhowtodosomethingtheywilloftenoptforavideowhichshowsthemratherthantellingthem

vCanyoucreateany‘howto’videosforyourbusiness?

vYoudon’tneedtoaimforhighproductionvalues,yoursmartphonecancreateexcellentvideo

vYoucanalsomakeonefromstillimages

vDON’Tsetthemtoautoplay!

ChecklistvGothroughyourcontentandmakesurethateachpageisontopic

vBeconsistentwithterminology

vGetsomeoneelsetoreadthroughyoursiteandgetthemtotellyouwhateachpageisabout

vUseacopywriterifyouaren’tgoodwithwords

v Takeoriginalimages/videoforyoursite

vCheckyourimages/videohavebeenoptimised

LinksINBOUND,OUTBOUNDANDINTERNAL

Islinkbuildinggood?“Ingeneral,I’dtrytoavoidthat.Sothatyouarereallysurethatyourcontentkindofstandsonitsownandmakeitpossibleforotherpeopleofcoursetolinktoyourcontent.Makeiteasy,maybe,putalittlewidgetonyourpage,ifyoulikethis,thisishowyoucanlinktoit.MakesurethattheURLsonyourwebsiteareeasytocopyandpaste.Allofthosethingsmakeitalittlebiteasier.Wedouselinksaspartofouralgorithmbutweuselotsandlotsofotherfactorsaswell.Soonlyfocusingonlinksisprobablygoingtocausemoreproblemsforyourwebsitethatactuallyhelps.”

JohnMueller,GoogleWebtrends Analyst

vArticleandvideo

LinkJuice– sharingthegoodandthebadv Inboundlinkspassqualityvaluetoyoursite

vValuableiftheycomefromhighqualitysites– someofthegoodnessrubsoff

vDetrimentaliftheycomefrompoorqualitysites– someofthebadnessrubsoff

v Sameeffecthappenswhenyoulinkfromyoursitetoanotherwebsite– youpassonsomeofyourqualitytothem.

SocialMediaBacklinksAlthoughtheyareusually’nofollow’andthereforedon’tpassqualityvaluetoyoursite,theyarestillworthdoing:

vMakesurethatallyoursocialaccountshavealinkbacktoyourwebsite

vOnyourpersonalFacebookpageyoucansetlinkstoyourwebsiteaspublic

vConsidersigningoffyourpostswithalinktoyourwebsite

v PutabuttononyourFacebookcoverimagewithalinktoyourwebsite

InternallinksvCrosslinktootherrelevantcontentonyoursite

vDon’trepeatthelinktext(like‘clickhere’)

vOnlyuseaparticularlinkonceonapage

DirectoriesvGenerallyspeaking– don’tdoit

v Theycancausedamagetoyoursite’sSEO

WhenisitOK?

v Ifyouareamemberofaprofessionalbody,youcanlinktoyouronlineentry

v PossiblyYellforsomelocalbusinesses– butrememberthatmostpeoplesearchusingGoogleratherthanYell

MeasuringResults

AnalytictermsTerm Definition

Hit Anitemdownloadedfromthewebserver.Canbetext,animage etc.Asinglepagewillcomprisemanyhits.Bewareofanyonemeasuringyourtrafficinhits.

Pageview Thenumberoftimesapagewasseen.Thiscanbedistortedbyavisitorhittingtherefreshbuttonorthebackbutton.

Session Asessionisagroupofinteractionsthattakeplaceonyourwebsitewithinagiventimeframe.Forexampleasinglesessioncancontainmultiplescreenorpageviews,events,socialinteractions,andecommercetransactions.

Pagespersession Theaveragenumberof pagesviewedduringa session onyourwebsite.More pagespersession meansthatusersaremoreengagedandexploringmoreofyoursite.

Bouncerate Thepercentageofvisitorstoawebpagewhonavigateawayfromthesiteafterviewingasinglepageandwithoutinteractingwiththepage.

AnalytictermsTerm DefinitionTimeonpage/timeonsite

Averageofhowlongavisitorspentonapageoronthesite.Bear inmindthatwecan’tyetmeasurehowlongsomeonewasengagedwithyoursite– theymayhaveapageopenandbereadingabookoronaphonecall.

Directtraffic Directtraffic is defined asURLsthatpeopleeithertypeindirectlyorreachviatheirbrowserbookmarks.

Referring sites AnynonadvertisingwebsitesthathavesentyoutrafficOrganic Trafficthatcomesfromsearch listingsPaid TrafficthatcomesfrompaidadvertisingNewvisitor/returningvisitor

Visitorswhoarecomingtoyoursiteforthefirsttimeorthosewhohavevisited before.Thismetriccanbedistortedifvisitorsclearcookiesfromtheirbrowserastheywillthenbeseenasanewvisitor.

MeasuringandanalysingtrafficvMostwebhostswilloffersomeformofanalytics

v Findoutwhichpagespeoplevisitthemost

vHowlongdotheystay?

vWhichbrowserdotheyuse?

vHowmanyvisitsareonmobile?

vWhatsearchtermsdotheyuse?

v FormoreinformationconsiderinstallingGoogleAnalytics

Don’tdothat– dothis!

AfewthingsNOTtodo!vBuylinks

vBelievethatemailthatpromisesyounumber1onGoogle(orthephonecall)

v Stuffyourpagewithkeywords

vDuplicatetext,eitheronyourownsiteorfromsomeoneelse’ssite

vBetemptedby‘blackhat’practices– gettingbackintoGoogle’sgoodbooksishard

Dothis!v Keepyourcontentuptodate,relevantandaccurate

vCheckyourtitlesanddescriptionsandupdatefromtimetotime

v Keepaneyeonkeywords– aretheychanging?Don’tgetstuckinthepast

vCheckforbrokenlinks– internallyandexternally

vMakesureyourimagesarealttaggedandnamedproperly

v Keepaneyeonyourcompetitors!

ResourcesvGoogle’sSearchEngineOptimisationStarterGuide

vMoz – Beginner’sGuidetoSEO

vGoogleWebmaster

vGoogleAnalytics

v SearchEngineWatch– SEOtipsforsmallbusiness

Whatnext?vMeetwithaBusinessAdviser

vAttendotherBusinessGatewayevents– eventprogrammesareavailable

vUsetheBusinessGatewayInformationService– call08456096611

vCheckouttheBusinessGatewayFifewebsiteatwww.businessgatewayfife.co.uk orfindusonFacebookandTwitter.

v Keepintouch– calluson01592858333