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Search Engine 101: An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

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Paid Vs. Organic Search Results

Paid SearchPaid SearchResultsResults

(sponsored)(sponsored)

Organic Organic SearchSearchResultsResults

(natural)(natural)

According to Nielson / Net Ratings, 46% of Web sites are found through search, and 55% of all online purchases result from Web sites found through search engines. Savvy SEO

professionals think about content creation as writing for this audience.

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For More Information on Paid Search…

http://adwords.google.com/select/Loginhttp://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/index.php

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• The engines don’t think, they simply use pattern matching and scoring attributes

How Do Search Engines Work?

• Search engines collect all of the words on each web page taking note of – Where they are placed on the page and

– How they are formatted • Search engines look at all of the pages on the web and take note of– How they are connected– The themes running through them

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On Page Influencers of Search Results

• Page Title– The single most important element on a web page for SEO– Each page should have an unique title

• Description Meta tags– May appear in the search results snippet– Should utilize important keywords– Each page should have an unique description

• Header tags– Provide additional information to the search engine of what the page is about

• Content– Must include keywords– The first 250 words are the most important

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The Importance of Page Titles

Page Title

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The Importance of Page Titles

This is how page titles appear in search

results

Does this search result inspire your confidence that this website will meet your needs?

Compare this result to this one. Which one better meets your request as a searcher?

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Compare this description to this one. Which one better describes what you are looking for?

Does this description inspire your confidence that this website will meet your needs?

The Importance of Description Tags

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The Importance of Header Tags

•Header tags help the search engines understand what the page is about much like a headline in a newspaper.•Header tags also help tie the page content to the page title.

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Content - Writing Tips for Search• Do your keyword research. Think like your audience and be specific.

• Look at each page in your site — what words do you think are relevant for each page? Now look again at the pages — are you actually using these words?

– Try searching your own site for these words. If you can't find them, search engines won't.

• Choose one keyword phrase that is targeted for each page

• Include each keyword phrase three to four times each within your copy — more if it makes sense. If your text sounds “awkward” to you, slice your keyword phrase usage.

• Use the exact term — “small business accounting software” is not the same as “accounting software for small business.”.

• The first 250 words on a page are the most important. Search engines prefer body text that contains 300 to 500 words per page. The longer the better opportunity for keyword placement that sounds good — your text always needs to sound natural.

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Levers

SEO Basics =

On Page Factors- Title Tag- Description Tag- Keywords in Body- Heading Tags

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Avoid Unethical SEO• Hidden Text• Duplicate Content• Link Farms

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Keyword Research- Search volume- Competitiveness- Relativity

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Link Building• Navigation• Internal • External

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To Learn More

•Search Engine Optimization Blogs–www.seomoz.org–www.searchengineland.com–www.searchenginewatch.com

•Books–Moran, M. and Hunt, B. (2008) Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site (2d Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: IBM Press.