SEO in 2014: Fact, Fiction, & Sensationalism

www.act-on.com | @ActOnSoftware | #ActOnSW

SEO in 2014

Fact, Fiction and Sensationalism

Kaila Strong, Sr. Director SEO Services

VerticalMeasures.com |


About Your Speaker

• VerticalMeasures.com• Phoenix, AZ • Search, Social & Content

Marketing Agency • 5+ years at VM• Clients like Act On, Fortune 500

& SMBs



Animal Updates


Via techlila.com


SEO Evolved


Via gShiftlabs.com


Measurement Changed



Less About Keywords



Search in 2014


Old strategies & KPIs simply aren’t effective

any longer…


Redefine Search KPIs



SEO KPIs


Define SEO KPIs

• Visits & Unique Visitors• Conversion Rate• Per visit value • Time on Site• % of New Visitors• Low Bounce Rate• Just to name a few….


SEO in 2014

Algorithm Updates

• Promote better content• Aimed to fight spam of all kind• Rise of mobile and voice search

spike



SEO in 2014

Knowledge Graph & Structured Data

Collection of information Google will show within the search results itself, to enhance usability. Structured data is a uniform way to share information a search engine may use, not necessarily for the knowledge graph. • Google Maps• Carousel • Images• SERPs



SEO in 2014

Encrypted Search

• Google default encrypted search for logged in users ’11• Globally in 2014, Chinese users already• Effort to improve information security in light of

government surveillance last year• Encourage adoption of stronger security standards



Search in 2014



+ Affected

Walmart, JcPenney, AirBnB – steady growth

Why?• Content, content, content• On page focus• Quality > Quantity



+ Affected


Via semrush.com


- Affected

CheapOAir.com• Cheap flights, cheap tickets, airline tickets• Suspicious backlinks and unnatural profile• Search visitors reduced est. 500,000 visits/mo• Recovered in about 90 days



- Affected

MyBlogGuest.com• Guest blogging site deindexed• Google deemed links suspicious• Not recovered • Recommends adding nofollow to all guest blog links



Overreactions


Abandon Disavow ALL Denial Partial Acceptance

To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.

–Isaac Newton


Common SEO Myths

#1 Online marketing activities aren’t risky.

• Know your risks• Invest in the right professionals• Regularly audit• Measure & test



Common SEO Myths

#2 You can’t get out of a Google penalty.

• You can do it!• May take several attempts• Machete vs. scalpel approach • Automated vs. Manual



Common SEO Myths

#3 Guest blogging doesn’t work any more.

• Bad guest blogging is dead• Valuable content wins every day• Guest blogging-only sites affected



Common SEO Myths

#4 SEO is too expensive and time consuming.

• Brand is important • Being able to buy your way to the top is gone• Good SEO should be indistinguishable from good

marketing



Common SEO Myths

#5 Build it and they will come.

• Ineffective content marketing strategy• Distribution and promotion channels important• Paid organic social promotion – Marty Weintraub• Have a plan!



SEO Moving Forward


1. Strategy Development2. Ideation3. Content Creation4. Optimization5. Content Promotion6. Distribution7. Lead Nurture8. Measurement


What You Can Do Today

Start Today

• Invest in Google +• Clean up your backlinks regularly• Optimize for voice search• Develop a well researched content strategy



What You Can Do Today

• In-depth content publish frequently• Build a social community • Integrate Schema• Earn natural links • Follow the 8 steps



Questions?

Contact us!Kaila StrongKailaS@VerticalMeasures.com888.476.1881VerticalMeasures.com


mailto:[email protected]