SEO for beginners and small business

THE BEST PLACE TO HIDE A DEAD BODYis the second page of a search result.

Presented by Gordon Paterson

• How do search engines work?

• SEO is a long-term play

• Keywords

• White hat vs Black hat

• Organic and Paid Search Results

• Content

• Social

OVERVIEW

If the internet is a library, Search

Engines like Google and Bing are the

librarians.

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES WORK?

CHECKLIST Page Titles

Words matter – headings and text on page

Links - when one site has a link to another, it’s

usually a recommendation

Link titles - again, words matter here.

Reputation - search engines care about

reputation

Sites with a consistent record fresh

relevant engaging content rank highly

With 60% of

organic clicks going

to the top 3 search

results, more than

ever, the content

on your page is just

as important as the

design.

Good SEO is about

making sure your

website has great

content supported by

the elements

mentioned above.

SEO is a 6 - 12 month investmentThere is no quick fix here.

• optimize pages

• post new content

• attract links

• drive traffic

• improve your site’s structure on a regular

basis.

If you lose momentum, your rankings will inevitably suffer.

Your competitors don't takethe time to rest or sit idle, so you can’t afford to either.

“Using keywords relevant to your product or

service in website and ad copy to achieve a

top listing in the search engines. Proper

keyword research is vital to determine which

keywords your business should be targeting.”

KEYWORDS

KEYWORD TARGETING TIPS

• Page targets a single user intent (and

associated keyword phrases)

• Primary keyword phrase is the first

words of the title element

• Primary keywords appear prominently in

the pages headline

• The primary keyword appears on the

page more than 2 times

Well-researched keywords that are accurately placed into your text, headlines, subtitles, images, video descriptions, and links are your way to success.

Keyword research tools:Serps.com.Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush,Webmaster tools, Google trends,Moz's Keyword Explorer

WHITE HAT BLACK HATVS

Definition: The usage of

optimization strategies,

techniques and tactics that

focus on a human audience

opposed to search engines and

completely follows search

engine rules and policies.

Definition: The use of

aggressive SEO strategies,

techniques and tactics that

focus only on search engines

and not a human audience,

and usually does not obey

search engines guidelines.

THE DIFFERENCEBETWEEN SEOAND

PAID SEARCH RESULTS

CONTENT

Content needs to be relevant and engaging.

Design is no longer enough to drive significant traffic leading to conversions on your website.

Content is the X factor when it comes to SEO.

SOCIAL

• Create a digital

ecosystem

• Begin with your

website

• Drive traffic to your

sales page

• Rinse and repeat

REVIEWKey takeaways

• Search engines need to be able to understand your

pages

• SEO is not a ‘Quick Fix’

• Best practices include: content, titles, links, and

reputation

• Keywords: What do you want to rank for?

• White Hat vs Black Hat

• Content: Create engaging fresh and relevant content

• Paid ads do not necessarily = traffic

• Social → Start with your website

• When in doubt, consult an SEO professional

RESOURCES• Moz.com

• Yoast.com

• SEMrush.com

• Google Keywords

• Google Analytics

• Webmaster Tools

Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to talk to you today!

Questions?