How To Be Found Online

Search Engine Optimisation

Michael Motherwell

SEO Bloke - WMS Consulting

http://www.wmsconsulting.com.au/cebit/

Conference @ CeBIT Australia

Darling Harbour, Sydney

3 May 2007

Why Search Is Important• 70% of online purchases begin with a search• More than 8 in 10 Internet users have gone to

search engines to find information on the Web.• Around one in four Internet users present queries

on search engines on a typical day.• Search listings are 8 times more likely to be

remembered, and 20 times more likely to be clicked on than banners or buttons

• Search Engines will promote your site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

More Importantly

The Internet Now Has A Start Page:

Bottom Line

If You Can't Be Found When Googling, Not Much Else Matters

SEM Defined• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Has Two Elements:• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

– Changing Code To Rank “Naturally”– No Way To Pay Search Engines– Link Building– Content Tweaks– Metadata– Internal Linking

• PPC (Pay Per Click) Advertising– Pay Per Click– Bid Per Term– Ads Running In Around 30 Minutes

Google SERP

Yahoo SERP

NineMSN SERP

SEO• No Way To Pay (Most Search Engines)• Ranking = Relevance * Importance• Relevance = Words Used

– Page Content– Page Titles– Metadata (Descriptions, Keywords)– Words In Links– Word Not On Page (Or In Links To Page), Won’t Rank

• Words Must Be Text– Search Engines Do Not Index Flash, JavaScript Or

Images

Importance = Links• Importance = Links From Other Sites

– Each Link A Vote– More Votes = More Important– PageRank – Some Links Better Than Others– Link Building Part Of Marketing– Ask For Links From Everyone: Suppliers, Friends, Family

Search Curve

• Head Terms– Hotel– Hotel Sydney

• Tail Terms– Hotel Ibis Thornleigh Australia

Keyword Research• Think Like a Potential Customer:

– Use Words People Search For, Not Jargon – Be Specific – Dog Biscuits, NOT Dog– Brainstorm – Office, Customers etc

• Use Online Tools To Verify Keywords– Paid: Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery– Free: Overture Aus (Other Countries)

• Qualifiers and Utilising Extra Terms– Cheap, Colours, Adjectives

• Use Keywords As Relevant– In Actual Page Content– In Metadata

SEO For eCommerce• Coding

– Few URL Variables (Ampersand &), NO Session IDs– www.example.com/cart.php?

cat=43&prod=234&site=example&menu=6&submenu=13&sessid=asddf765324g

– Consistency – Same URL Every Time– MUST Render Without Cookies, JavaScript etc– Dynamically Change Metadata (Titles, Descriptions)

• Not Just Home Page: Every Page A Landing Page – Category Level Pages Good SEO Targets– Slice & Dice Your Content (Colour, Price, Manufacturer And

Combinations Thereof)– Internal Links To Category Pages, Breadcrumbs– Regionalise (Sydney, Melbourne etc)

• “Uniqueify” – Testimonials, Comments, Reviews

Lets Get Practical• Amazon

– Good “Uniqueification”– Good Internal Links– LOTS Of Slicing And Dicing– Titles Backwards

• Deals Direct– Good URLs– Related Links Build Internal Link Popularity

Thanx!

Michael Motherwell

Ph: (02) 9365 4571Em: michael@wmsconsulting.com.auAll URLs: http://www.wmsconsulting.com.au/cebit/Blog: www.insearchofstuff.com

Further Reading• A Quick Kick-Start Guide to Search Engine

Optimization (SEO) -> Cre8asite Forums • Tips For New Seos• Ten Tips to the Top of the Search Engines - Jill Wh

alen

• Search Engine Marketing 101 • Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone • Threads of the Web - Linking for Success• SEO Tools And Online Help

Cost Per Click (CPC)• All About Money

– Pay For Each Click– Only Bid For Terms You Want– Ads Show Quickly

• Targeting Options– Bid For Specific Terms– Negative Terms (-Melbourne)– Target User Location– Set Budgets

Advertising Options• Google AdWords

– https://adwords.google.com/select/ – Google.com and Google.com.au– ~70% Market Share Australia

• Yahoo Search Marketing– http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/en_AU/– Supplies NineMSN and Yahoo– ~30% Market Share Australia

• Sensis BidSmart– https://bidsmart.sensis.com.au/bidsmart/index.jsp– Sensis– ~0.0% Marketshare (Error Margin 0.5%)

CPC and eCommerce• Measuring and Tracking ROI Vital

– ROI Ideally Measured To Individual Terms & Products– Tweak, Test, Repeat

• Choosing The Right Words– Bid On As Many Terms As Possible – Long Tail– Use Multiple Qualifiers – Cheap, Colour, Buy, Sydney– Use Negative Words (-Brisbane)

• Choosing the Right Landing Page– Be Specific – [Buy iPod] To iPod Page, Not Home Page– Search Pages Often Good Landing Pages

• Watch Sold Out Products– Possible Use Of APIs (Google, YSM)