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Francis SkipperVP of Digital Marketing
617-259-1605
linkedin.com/in/francisskipper
@fskip
www.451Marketing.com
#451Workshop
A Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Agenda…• Intro to SEO• Code, Content, Connections• On Page SEO• Off Page SEO• Open Q & A
Search engine popularity has increased
4,717,000,000 Per Day
Worldwide, 1,722,071,000,000 searches conducted on Google last year.
(Yes, that’s trillion)
What is SEO?• SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the
process of improving a website to make it more relevant to searchers and search engines.
• AKA:• Natural search• Organic search
What SEO is NOT…
• Paid Search (but it’s also not free)
• Fast
• Guaranteed
• Fire & forget
SEO Has Three Core ComponentsContentCode Connections
• Crawlability• HTML• XML sitemaps• URL Structure• Robots.txt• Navigation• 301’s• 404’s• Canonical
• On-Page• Keyword Density• Title Tags• Meta tags• H1, H2 etc• Anchor Text• Navigation
• Linking• Directories• Social, blogs, articles• Press releases• Partners• Internal links
Paid Results
OrganicResults
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)SearchQuery
Code
Code - Technical Considerations User Input Requirements Site Security Cookie Implementation Robots.txt Frames Broken Links & 404 Trapping Server Load Balancing URL Redirection <Noscript> Tags Internal Navigational Elements Internal Linking Domain and URL structure Session IDs Flash
Technical issues limit search index
inclusion
Check for Indexing
Use the “site:” command on Google, Bing, & Yahoo.
If site is not indexed, need to find what is preventing search engines from crawling.
Optimized URL
Short, descriptive urls are optimal.
It is very important the url for your webpage contains your keyword phrase and is no longer than 100 characters.
Search Friendly URLshttp://www.451marketing.com/services/search-marketing/
Search UN-Friendly URLs
SEO Friendly URL - Solutions• Wordpress: Turn on “pretty permalinks”• Drupal: Install URL alias plugin• Magento: Install SEO Links• LAMP/WAMP: use .htaccess and mod rewrite*• IIS 7.0: URL Rewrite extension*
*Get your developer to do it
Information Architecture
As few clicks as possible for user to get to content they are searching for
RedirectsThe Power of 301 Redirects
Robots.txtWhat is Robots.txt?The robots exclusion protocol (REP), or robots.txt is a text file webmasters create to instruct robots (typically search engine robots) on how to crawl & index pages on their website.
http://www.451marketing.com/robots.txt
Robots.txt
Best way to insure blocking by spiders?<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
Block all spiders and bots:User-agent: *Disallow: /
Block a specific spider from a folder:User-agent: GooglebotDisallow: /uploads/
Content
Everything in SEO, and broader online marketing, starts with content
Content - Performance Considerations Site Optimization Tags Content Gaps Optimizing Website Content Internal Linking Convention Mirror Domains and
Duplicate Content Sub-Domain Strategy
Opportunities to increase search visibility
Keyword ResearchTo get optimal traffic from search engines, need to create content around ht
Keyword ResearchHow can you find the best keywords to include in your content?
Before You:• Consult a keyword tool• Analyze keyword density• Rewrite any content
Sit down and perform a Google search.
Keyword ResearchAnalyze SERPS for Your Keywords
• Who is ranking? • What are they doing effectively?• Create a list of competitors • Is your search too broad?• Can you add modifiers?
Keyword Research
Q: For what Google search should you rank #1?
A: “innovative, creative, game-changing”
Q: What do you do/make/sell?
A: “Oh. Cloud-based storage for small business”.
“Keyword Research begins by admitting that you may not have all the data” – Totally wise man
Keyword Research
Determining User IntentNavigational Queries
80%of all Searches
Transactional Queries
Informational Queries
The Long Tail
Keyword Research
I. Brainstorm Search QueriesKeyword Research
• What would users who know my products type in? • e.g. full suspension mountain bikes
• What about users who don’t know about my products?• e.g. mountain bike car racks
• What are some searches I DON’T want to show up for?• e.g. BMX bikes
II. Research Chosen KeywordsKeyword Research
adwords.google.com/o/KeywordToolwww.wordtracker.comwww.keyworddiscovery.comwww.compete.comwww.spyfu.com
II. Research Chosen KeywordsKeyword Research
Use “Exact Match”
Be careful about “Phrase” + “Broad”
Google Trends
http://www.google.com/trends
Internal Search Logs
#2 Searched Term: “bed spreads”
Competitive Research
Restrict queryto competitor’s
domain
On Page SEO
Optimized Titles and HeadingsThese are the strongest on-page indicators to the crawlers of what your content is about.
Title Tag
Heading (H1 Tag)
Keyword Density
Percentage of times a keyword appears
on a web page compared to the total number of
words on the page
(Nkr/Tkn) * 100
Rule of Thumb: 4% - 250-500 wordshttp://tools.seobook.com/general/spider-test/
Optimize HTML TagsView Source
Right click web page and select view source
Primary objectives should be accomplishedfrom the homepage
Optimize HTML TagsTitle Tag
Title tag is main text that describes an online document. It is the single most important on-page SEO element (behind overall content) and appears in three key places
I. BrowserII. SERPIII. External Websites
(esp. social media sites)
Optimize HTML TagsTitle Tag
Optimal FormatPrimary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand Name or Brand Name | Primary Keyword and Secondary Keyword
Best PracticesLess than 70 characters, as this is the limit Google displays in search results
Optimize HTML TagsMeta Description
Meta Descriptions, provide concise explanations of the contents of web pages.
They are used by search engines on search result pages to display preview snippets for a given page
Optimize HTML TagsMeta Description and Tags
The meta description should employ the keywords and create compelling description that a searcher will want to click
Direct relevance to the page and uniqueness between each page’s meta description is key
Best to keep meta descriptions between 150-160 characters
Optimize HTML TagsH1 Tag
At a minimum, make sure that your primary keyword or phrase for the page is enclosed in an H1 tag
Optimize HTML TagsMeta Keywords
The meta tags are the main keywords for the page
Address & Phone NumberAdd to every page
Company NameStreet AddressCity, State Zip555-555-5555
Copyright DateEnsure it is updated annually
Check Browser Compatibility
View site in Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.
Remember to do this on Mac and PC
Set Up Google Analytics
Sign up/verify Google Analytics.
Let GA run for two weeks before doing any SEO to determine a baseline
Evaluate Visual Design of Site
If site drives people away, no amount of SEO will help
Off Page SEO
Ranking Factors
43%
The Basicsof
Link Building
#1 - Manual Link Submissions/Requests
#2 - Competitive Link Research/Acquisition
#3 - Linkbait & Viral Campaigns
#4 - Link Reclamation
SEO Tools
• Bing Webmaster Tools • Google Analytics• Google Webmaster tools• Google Trends• SEOMOZ• Raven Tools• Rex Swain Http viewer
Questions
Francis SkipperVP of Digital Marketing
617-259-1605
linkedin.com/in/francisskipper
@fskip
www.451Marketing.com
#451Workshop
– National Communications Agency Founded in 2004
– 30 Experienced PR, Social Media, and Search Marketing Professionals
– Named a 2011 & 2012
Integrated Communications Campaigns
The experienced team at 451 Marketing specializes in integrating public relations, social media, and search marketing tactics into dynamic communications campaigns. We work with brands to build awareness, engage customers, and drive business using custom, integrated communications campaigns.
