SEO:Past, Present, FutureMike VolpeVP Marketing, HubSpotTwitter: @mvolpe

SEO Tips from Website Grader

Lessons from 2,602,042 websites

Timeline of SEO

Time Period Ranking Algorithm

Before 2000 • Context (web page content)

2000 to 2010 • Context• Authority (links)

2010 and Beyond• Context• Authority• Personalization (social media and personal info)

SEO Before 2000

Ranking Algorithm:f(n): Context

Which Page Gets #1 Ranking?

Search: “business software”

Result: HubSpot.com = #1HubSpot has stuffed all the metadata and text fields with lots of keyword phrases, including “business software”, “business”, etc.

vs.

On-Page SEO (Context)

• Page Title

• Clean URL

• Headers & Content

• Description

Keyword Selection

“Cosmetic Dentist”vs

“Prosthodontist”

Attractive to Whom? (Context)

www.seo-browser.com

Pre-2000 SEO Tips

• Lots of pages• Search spider friendly• Keyword-rich content

SEO from 2000 to 2010

Ranking Algorithm:f(n): Context + Authority

Which Page Gets #1 Ranking?

Search: “business software”

Result: Salesforce.com = #1Salesforce.com has more links and authority since it is a larger company and has been around longer.

vs.

Authority is Determined by Links

Why Links are Votes to Google

• Recommendations from friends1. “I know HubSpot”2. “HubSpot is a marketing expert”3. You trust the person saying this

• Links are online recommendations

1. A link: www.HubSpot.com2. Anchor text: Internet Marketing3. Link is from a trusted website

More + Better Content = Links

A Few Links Matter A Lot

Source: SEOMoz

Publish Everything

• Blog• Podcast• Videos• Photos• Presentations• eBooks• News Releases

Publish Everywhere

Link Worthy Content

Blogging Attracts More Links

Source: Data from over 1,500 small businesses - http://hub.tm/BlogROI

2000 to 2010 SEO Tips

• Lots of pages• Search spider friendly• Keyword-rich content• Link-worthy content• Promote content to get links

SEO in 2010 and Beyond

Ranking Algorithm:f(n): Context + Authority

+ Social / Personal

Which Page Gets #1 Ranking?

Search: “business software”

Result: It depends!It depends on who you are and when you search.

vs.

What influences the results?

• Browser history of searcher• Location of searcher• Social graph of searcher• Social authority of pages• Up to the second news / trends

What Does SEO Rank Mean?

SEO rank is nowa meaningless metric.

What Does SEO Rank Mean?

At any one time you rank #1 or #8 or #40

based on who is searching, where they

search, and what is happening.

Where is Search Going?

Where is Search Going?

Major Trends in Search / Information

• Search fractionalization• Personalization• Content volume• Social graph data• Social discovery• Real time content

Searches Per Second

Google: 34,000 / second

Yahoo: 3,200 /second

Bing: 927 / second

Source: http://searchengineland.com/by-the-numbers-twitter-vs-facebook-vs-google-buzz-36709

Top Search Engines

Words Per Search Growing

Source: http://blog.comscore.com/2010/06/facebook_search_engine.html

Posts Per Second

Facebook: 700 / second

Twitter: 600 / second

Google Buzz: 55 / second

Source: http://searchengineland.com/by-the-numbers-twitter-vs-facebook-vs-google-buzz-36709

50 Million Tweets Per Day

NEW: Facebook = The Web

Coming to SEO: Likes = Links

= =

What should I do to prepare for what’s next in

SEO?

Build Your Reach to Build AuthorityReach Metric HubSpot Salesforce.comInbound Links 451,000 78,676MozRank SEO Authority 1-10 6 6

LinkedIn Group Members 45,000 14,400LinkedIn Company Followers 458 276Facebook Fans 11,900 6,500Twitter Followers 34,000 6,800Google Buzz Followers 1,000 NoneYouTube Views 300,000 400,000Slideshare Views 375,000 3,000Twitter Mentions Per Month 34,000 9,500

Evolution of the Database

Content Makes You Interesting

Blogging Drives Social Success

Source: Data from over 2,000 businesses - http://bit.ly/a6SrWh

Make Sharing Easy

Auto-Post New Content to Social & Email

New Blog Post: A CEO’s Guide to Internet Marketing

Build Network - Keyword Search

Start Groups on Topics

Groups

Group & Page

Lists

Participate in Q&A

• Facebook Discussions

• Yahoo! Answers

• LinkedIn Q&A and Discussions

All Your Employees Are Marketers

Empower Employees by Sharing Info

SEO Tips for 2010 and Beyond

• Lots of pages• Search spider friendly• Keyword-rich content• Link-worthy content• Promote content to get links• Publish more often• Build a large social following• Engage your social following

Suggested Next Steps

The Basics:• Read the “Inbound Marketing” Book• Grade your website:

www.WebsiteGrader.com

More Advanced:• Tips for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn:• www.HubSpot.com/marketing-hubs

Q & A

Mike VolpeVP Marketing @HubSpotTwitter: @mvolpe

These Slides: www.MikeVolpe.com/AAN