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Maybe you don’t even know what search engine optimization (SEO) is? Search engines are the first place that nearly everyone goes when looking for something. Having your site displayed at the top of results for relevant searches is a powerful way to get visitors to your website. In a sense it’s a way to provide free traffic to your site. Also because when people search, they are usually looking for a specific thing and being able to provide it to them you are gaining a relevant visitor. Unfortunately, when people think about SEO immediately those emails of spammers who guarantee #1 results in search engines come to mind. SEO doesn’t have to be black magic, pixie dust, or snake oil. College websites already have the authority to rank well in search engines, but are you getting the most exposure and relevant traffic that you could be? This presentation will go through the fundamental and approved methods for on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and implementing these best practices into your marketing efforts going forward. These actionable steps will be practices that you can take home and begin implementing on your site right away. More Details: http://2010.highedweb.org/EventDetail.aspx?guid=3d25bd15-1661-4aaa-9d19-f6ca1c0673dc
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SEO Best PracticesHitting the Low Hanging Fruit
Kyle [email protected]
twitter.com/kylejameslinkedin.com/in/jameskm03
kyle-james.com
doteduguru.comnuCloud.comhubspot.com
No Need To Take Notes
doteduguru.comdoteduguru.com/seo
Why Am I Talking to You?
?
What I Do?
If a tree falls in a forest and noone is around to hear it, does it
make a sound?
If people can’t find it,does it matter?
What SEO is NOT
SEO is Usability and Accessibility
Search Engine Crawlers are your blindest users
GoogleYahoo Microsoft
By the Numbers (on one site)• 30% of traffic is delivered by Search
Engines
• 82% of that traffic is delivered by Google
• On a large school website w/ 1,000,000 visits per month that is 300,000 visitors
Search Engine Optimization
3,000 searches per second• Publish more content• Optimize your content• Promote your content
Are you optimized to get that traffic?
It All Starts With Keywords
• “It’s NOT about what you want or what you call it, it is about what people are actually looking for.”
• “Nobody cares about your products (except you)” – David Meerman Scott
The Long Tail
The Long Tail
Long Tail Keywords
• Best Biology College in Cincinnati Ohio• Biology College in Cincinnati Ohio• College in Cincinnati Ohio• College in Ohio• College
Search Trends
Ask = informational
Bing = transactional Yahoo = navigational
Google = commercial investigation
Keyword Research
Adwords Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Powerful Keyword Tools
reference/authorityon-page SEOhow people use your site
20%
15%65%
An SEO Breakdown
Two Parts of SEO
On-Page Off-Page
PageTitle
MetaDescription
MetaKeywords
URL
Headers
On-Page Optimization
Page Title
• Describe The Page• Include Keywords• 70 Character Limit
PageTitle
URL
• Describe The Page• Include Keywords• A Dynamic URL is hard to understand
• What are the following two pages about?• http://tomahawktake.com/2009/04/11/game-no-5-recap-braves-5-nation
als-3/• http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090411&content_id=42259
72&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
URL
Headers• Semantic Markup• Include Keywords• Describe sections of the Page
Headers
Example: UsingHeaders in Word
Meta Description & Keywords
• Unique for Each Page• Only Viewable in Source• Meta Description limit 150 characters• Meta Keyword limit 10 keywords max
MetaDescription
MetaKeywords
Off-Page Optimization
We’ve all heard Content is King, so Links must be the Queen?
Off-Page Optimization
1. Inbound Links2. Site Authority3. Anchor Text
Inbound Links
• Content Creation Strategy• “If You Build It, They Will Come”
Publish Content Worth Sharing
Student Blogs
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/campus_life/studentblogs
RSS & Calendar
http://www.allegheny.edu/news/feeds.php http://www.utk.edu/events/events/
Site Authority
Anchor Text Count!
What are those buildings called?
What are people looking for?
What are people looking for?
Getting Ranked
Search Call To Actions
Page Title and Meta Description are all you get in search results. Make sure that they count.
Page Title
Meta Description
Navigation Helps SEO
• Usability• Cross Linking Content• Sitemap• Footer
Web Analytics Helps SEO
Internal Site Search
SEO also helps with your Internal Site Searchand good for Keyword Research
Visits By Keywords
Know what keywords you are already getting
search traffic from
Web Analytics Helps SEO
Quickly make sure your page titles are
optimized
Web Analytics Helps SEO
Scan referral sources to see where you are
getting links from
404 Pages
404 Reporting tells you where you are
failing to better optimize your site
301 Redirects
• (Almost) Always use 301 Redirects because they pass search authority
http://delicious.com/jameskm03/301redirects
URL Canonicalization
• Avoid “Double Vision”• Every page on your site becomes duplicate
Splash Screens
Flash Websites
• Flash should add not dominate• Search Engines aren’t very good at reading flash
SEO Tools
The Lynx Browser
http://bit.ly/lynx
SEO Book Toolbar
• The Only Firefox Toolbar you will need for SEO• Competitive Research• Keyword Research• Link Information• Rank Checker• Page X-Ray• More…
http://tools.seobook.com/seo-toolbar/
Create
Optimize
Link
Google Instant
Google Instant
How Fast Is Your Website?
Website Speed Tester
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
Final Thoughts
SEO is NOT a sprint… it’s a Marathon
Help People FindYour Buried Treasure
Additional Reading
• www.seomoz.org/blog
• sphinn.com• searchengineguide.com• searchengineland.com
SEO Best Practices: Hitting the Low Hanging Fruit
Kyle [email protected]/kylejames
linkedin.com/in/jameskm03
kyle-james.comdoteduguru.com
hubspot.comnuCloud.com
Questions?
