Jenn Mathews (SEOGoddess)

Search Engine Optimization

Who am I?

Twitter.com/SEOGoddess

Facebook.com/theSEOGoddess

SEOGoddess.me

What We Will Be Covering:

• What is SEO?• How people use Search Engines• Keyword Research• Keyword Placement• Checklist –

• Internal SEO Checklist• External SEO

• SEO & Social Media• What not to do• Panda and Penguin• Mobile 2015

?

What is SEO?

External

Website

Keywords

How Search Engines WorkUser searches with key word

Database of information about web pages

collected by robots, crawlers, and spiders

User Interface

Results

Search Engine

World Wide WebWeb robots,

crawlers, and spiders

Keywords

User Types: 1. Key Word2. 2 Word Phrase3. “Long Tail” Key Term

Search EngineComputers

As the user is researching they will type more specific words and phrases to find exactly what they are looking for.

Search

Keywords

User Types: 1. Key Word2. 2 Word Phrase3. “Long Tail” Key Term

Search EngineLaptop Computers

As the user is researching they will type more specific words and phrases to find exactly what they are looking for.

Search

Keywords

User Types: 1. Key Word2. 2 Word Phrase3. “Long Tail” Key Term

Search Engine2TB Laptop Computer

As the user is researching they will type more specific words and phrases to find exactly what they are looking for.

Search

The Results

The Results Based on the search query, Google thinks the user is trying to find a product. These are usually paid for by the advertiser.

Advertisements – Pay Per ClickAdvertiser bids on term to obtain a desired position and pays when the user clicks the result.

The Results

Based on the search query, Google thinks the user is trying to find a product. These are usually paid for by the advertiser.

Advertisements – Pay Per ClickAdvertiser bids on term to obtain a desired position and pays when the user clicks the result.

What We SeeWe see styles, fancy fonts, images,

interactivity, and general user experience.

What a Search Engine Sees

Search engines see letters (symbols), words (symbols grouped together parted by spaces), punctuation, and limited html tags like <a href=“link”> and <img src=“picture” alt=“text for image”>

What Users Look At

User stays within the first couple of results then scans the rest of the page briefly

Robert Stevens – February 25, 2013

Keyword Research• Google Keyword Planner

How to Select the Right Keywords

• Type in your general word and/or phrase• Add your website (optional)

How to Select the Right Keywords

• Type in your general word and/or phrase• Add your website (optional)• Select Category• Type Location• Click “Get Ideas”

Your Suggested Key Terms

Your Suggested Key Terms

• Selecting Terms• Choose the terms that are closest to

your target.• Average Monthly Searches

• Number of times that term is searched in a month

• Competition• Other advertisers bidding for the term

• Suggested Bid• Google recommends a bid price for

advertisers

Organize Your Terms

• Add your terms into categories (Google Adgroups) that make sense.• Example:

• Laptop Computers• Desktop Computers• Monitors• Accessories

• Keyboards• Mice

Terms Hierarchy

Broad Terms

Longtail Terms

Terms Hierarchy

Broad Terms

Longtail Terms

• Broad Terms• Select few broad terms that represent the whole

website• Categorical Terms

• 2-3 word phrases describing each section of the website (directory or microsite)

• Specific Terms (or longtail)

• 4-5 word phrases for specific pages (or files)

Broad Term(s)

• The 2-3 broad words you chose that “describes” your entire website

1. Homepage Title and within every title of every page within the website.

2. Within the Meta Description of the Homepage, and on every page of the entire website (somehow)

3. Within the body of the homepage (preferably within a 200-300 word description of your business, website, product, etc that if for the user to quickly understand what your website is about)

4. Within the body of every page of the entire website at least once – preferable once at the beginning of the content on each individual page, and again towards the bottom. (Do not just place the terms in commas, with periods, or standalone in the same spot on every page. They MUST be within the content and naturally flow with the rest of the copy)

5. Within Image alt tags (in a way that still describes the image if possible, if not possible don’t do it)

• The 2-3 word phrases (terms) that describes a section of the website.

Categorical Terms

1. Within the Title of the main page and the supporting pages in that section.

2. Within the Meta Description of the main page and the supporting pages in that section.

3. Within the body content of the main page and the supporting pages in that section. (preferably at least once and up to 3 times – beginning, middle, and end of the unique content.)

Longtail Terms

• 4-5 word phrases that an individual page is about.

1. Within the Title of the individual page.2. Within the Meta Description of the individual.3. Within the body content of the individual page.4. In the URL of the file5. In the heading of the file6. Within the anchor text of the link pointing to the page (either

internally or externally)

In general, the page should be focused on these terms

Server Folders and Files

ServerFolder

Index.html

robots.txt

Index.html

file.html

Folder

Index.html

Folder

Index.html

Hierarchy + Keyword Buckets

DomainBucket 1

Index.html

robots.txt

Index.html

Sub 1.html

Bucket 2

Index.html

Bucket 3

Index.html

Blanket Terms

Hierarchy + Keyword Buckets

DomainBucket 1

Index.html

robots.txt

Index.html

Sub 1.html

Bucket 2

Index.html

Bucket 3

Index.html

Blanket TermsCategorical Terms

Hierarchy + Keyword Buckets

DomainBucket 1

Index.html

robots.txt

Index.html

Sub 1.html

Bucket 2

Index.html

Bucket 3

Index.html

Blanket TermsCategorical TermsLongtail Terms

Simple Right? …Not Really

• Keyword Placement• Title• Description• Body content• URL (domain, directory, filename)

• Keyword Densities• Internal Linking• External Links• Age (Domain/files)

KeywordsKeyword in URLKeyword in Domain nameKeywords - HeaderKeyword in Title tagKeyword in Description meta tagKeyword in Keyword metatagKeywords - BodyKeyword density in body textIndividual keyword densityKeyword in H1, H2 and H3Keyword font sizeKeyword proximity (for 2+ keywords)Keyword phrase orderKeyword prominence (how early in page/tag)Keywords - OtherKeyword in alt textKeyword in links to site pages (anchor text)NAVIGATION - INTERNAL LINKSTo internal pages- keywords?All Internal links valid?Efficient - tree-like structureIntra-site linkingNAVIGATION - OUTGOING LINKSTo external pages- keywords?Outgoing link Anchor TextLink stability over timeAll External links valid?Less than 100 links out totalLinking to AuthorityOTHER ON-Page FactorsDomain Name ExtensionTop Level Domain - TLDFile SizeHyphens in URLFreshness of PagesFreshness - Amount of Content ChangeFreshness of LinksFrequency of UpdatesPage ThemingKeyword stemmingApplied SemanticsLSIURL lengthOTHER ON-SITE FactorsSite Size - Google likes big sitesSite AgeAge of page vs. age of siteNEGATIVEON-Page SEO FactorsText presented in graphics form onlyNo ACTUAL body text on the pageAffiliate site?Over optimization penalty (OOP)Link to a bad neighborhoodRedirect thru refresh metatagsVile language - ethnic slurPoison wordsExcessive cross-linkingStealing images/ text blocks from another domainKeyword stuffing thresholdKeyword dilutionPage edit - can reduce consistencyFrequency of Content ChangeFreshness of Anchor TextDynamic PagesExcessive JavascriptFlash page - NOTUse of FramesRobot exclusion "no index" tagSingle pixel linksInvisible textGateway, doorway pageDuplicate content HTML code violationsPOSITIVEOFF-Page SEO FactorsINCOMING LINKS :Page RankTotal incoming links ("backlinks")Incoming links from high-ranking pagesAcceleration of link popularityFOR EACH INCOMING LINK :Page rank of the referring pageAnchor text ofinbound link to youAge of linkFrequency of change of anchor textPopularity of referring page# of outgoing links on referrer pagePosition of link on referrer pageKeyword density on referring pageHTML title of referrer pageLink from "Expert" site?Referrer page - Same themeReferrer page - Different themeImage map link?Javascript link?DIRECTORIES :Site listed in DMOZ Directory?Site listed in Yahoo Directory?Site listed in LookSmart Directory?Site listed in inktomi?Site listed in other directories (About, BOTW, etc.)Expert site? (Hilltop or Condensed Hilltop)Site Age - Old shows stability Site Age - Very New BoostSite Directory - Tree StructureSite Map and more site mapSite SizeSite ThemingPAGE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR:Page trafficPage Selection Rate - CTRTime spent on pageDid user Bookmark page?Bookmark add/ removal frequencyHow they left, where they wentSITE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR :Site TrafficReferrerKeywordTime spent on domainDOMAIN OWNER BEHAVIOR :Domain Registration TimeAre associated sites legitimate?NEGATIVEOFF-Page SEO FactorsTraffic BuyingTemporal Link AnalysisChange of MeaningsZero links to youLink-buyingPrior Site RankingCloakingLinks from bad neighborhoods,affiliatesPenalties - resulting fromDomain Hijacking(work with Google to fix)Penalty - Google TOS violationServer Reliability - S/B >99.9%Pages being dropped from large sitesRank Manipulation byCompetitor Attack

Algorithms

Checklist – Internal SEO Keywords

Keywords in <title> tagKeywords in URLKeyword density in document textKeywords in anchor textKeywords in <alt> tagsKeywords in metatags

Metatags<Description> metatag<Keywords> metatag

Links - InternalAnchor text has key term(s) in links

(unless it’s a “click here” or “more” link)Content Around-the-anchor text is relevant

ContentUnique contentFrequency of content changeAge of documentFile sizePoor coding and designDuplicating Content = NOInvisible text = NO

Domains & URLsURLs and filenamesSitemapWebsite sizeWebsite/Domain ageFile Location on SiteDomains versus subdomainsHyphens in URLsURL length

Otherrobots.txtRedirects (301)

Social ActionsGoogle +1Facebook 'Like' or 'Recommend"Facebook commentsTwitter "tweet"OGP - Open Graph Protocol

Checklist – External SEO

Links - ExternalQuality of source of inbound linksLinks from similar sitesLinks from .edu and .gov sitesAge of inbound linksLinks from directories = noLinks from Social MediaLinks on pages that include social actions

Social ActionsWebsite sharedPages shared+1 in search results (Google)Shared links 'Like'd (Bing and Facebook Graph)

• Open Graph Protocol• Basics

• og:title• og:url• og:image• og:description• og:site_name

• Location• Contact Info• Video• Audio• Product

OGP.me

Socially Internal for SEO

• Open Graph Protocol• Basics

• og:title• og:url• og:image• og:description• og:site_name

• Location• Contact Info• Video• Audio• Product

OGP.me

<head> <title>website/page title</title> <meta property="og:title" content=“Title of Website/Page" /> <meta property="og:url" content=“http://website.com/page.html" /> <meta property="og:image" content="http://iwebsite.com/images/pic.jpg" /><meta property="og:tdescription" content=“The description of the website or page." /> ... </head>

Socially Internal for SEO

Socially External for SEO

• Profiles/Pages

Use social networking websites to establish a solid presence in the search results.

Socially External for SEO

• Content• Sharable Content• Profile Content• Tweets/Updates

Don’t

• Hidden text• Hidden links• Keyword stuffing• Artificial traffic• Cloaking scripts• Doorway pages• Duplicate content• Buying links• Link exchanges• Frames• Title stacking• Spam blogs with comments

Panda• Released February 2011• Push down rank of “lower quality sites” or “thin sites”

• More information:• More Guidance on Building High Quality Sites – Google• Testing Google’s Panda Algorithm - CNet

Panda – What to avoid

• Content Farming• Low quality content• Outdated content

• Spammy Links• Commenting links• Profile links

• Over Advertising

Penguin• Launched April 2012• Decrease rank of sites that violate Webmaster Guidelines

• More Information:• Webmaster Guidelines – Google

• Automatically generated content• Participating in link schemes• Cloaking• Scraped content• Loading pages with irrelevant keywords

Penguin – What to Avoid

April 21, 2015

• The update:• Affects only search rankings on mobile devices• Affects search results in all languages globally • Applies to individual pages, not entire websites

Mobilegeddon

Posted February 26, 2015: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.htmlPosted April 21, 2015: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/04/rolling-out-mobile-friendly-update.html

Mobile Options for WebsitesResponsive web design: Serves the same HTML code on the same URL regardless of the users’ device (desktop, tablet, mobile, non-visual browser), but can render the display differently (i.e., “respond”) based on the screen size. Responsive design is Google’s recommended design pattern.

Mobile Options for Websites

Dynamic serving: Uses the same URL regardless of device, but generates a different version of HTML for different device types based on what the server knows about the user’s browser.

Mobile Options for Websites

Separate URLs: Serves different code to each device, and on separate URLs. This configuration tries to detect the users’ device, then redirects to the appropriate page using HTTP redirects] along with the Vary HTTP header.

Thank You!