SEO Myths & WP Magic - WordCamp Boston 2011

SEO MYTHS & WP MAGIC

#wcbos

THINGS TO KNOW

• NAME: Casie Gillette

• TWITTER: @casieg

• COMPANY:

• THERE ISN’T ACTUALLY ANY MAGIC

#wcbosdon’t leave though

MYTH #1

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SEO = CONTENT + LINKS

GO OFF PAGE

• URL STRUCTURE

• REDIRECTS

• ROBOTS.TXT

• ERROR SETUP

• XML SITEMAPS

#wcbos had to get one in

TOOLS TO USE

• ALL-IN-ONE SEO PACK

• Title tags• Duplicate content

• GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS

• PERMALINK SETTINGS

• XENU

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awesome

oldest seo trick

MYTH #2

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SITE SPEED MATTERS

LET’S GET FAST!

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“Like us, our users place a lot of value in speed — that's why we've decided to take site speed into account in our search rankings.”

- Google Webmaster Central Blog

TOOLS TO USE

• GOOGLE, GOOGLE & GOOGLE

• Google page speed • Analytics & Webmaster tools

• WP-SUPER CACHE

• WP SMUSH.IT

• BYE INACTIVE PLUGINS!

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you won’t

miss em

MYTH #3

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DON’T LINK OUT

BECOME A GIVER

• HELPS YOUR VISITORS (really)

• YOU WON’T LOSE “LINK JUICE”

• MAKE SOME FRIENDS! (aka links)

• NO-FOLLOW (*cough* paid)

• BUT…..

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BE A LITTLE SELFISH

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you d

eserv

e it

TOOLS TO USE

• ZEMANTA

• Images • Related articles

• SEO SMART LINKS PREMIUM

• YARPP

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what up mitcho

MYTH #4

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SOCIAL ≠ RANKINGS

CURRENT EVENTS?

https://www.google.com/webmasters These things matter:

“WHAT ABOUT US?”

that matters

TOOLS TO USE

• SOCIAL SHARING PLUGIN

• Sharebar

• GOOGLE ANALYTICS FOR WP

• Social engagement in GA

• BIT.LY CUSTOM SHORT URLS (see)

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sooo many!

THANK YOU!

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@CASIEG – CASIEG@GMAIL.COM

TAKE IT WITH YOU

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• SITES• SEOMoz• Search Engine Land• Search Engine Guide

• ARTICLES• http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-beginners-checklist-for-small-business-seo

• http://mashable.com/2009/03/20/wordpress-seo-plugins/

• http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

• http://munchweb.com/effect-of-website-speed