Introduction to SEO

August 2011NowSourcing, Inc.

SEO Defined

• Wikipedia: “Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.

• SEO = Search Engine Optimization

In Other Words…• SEO = Optimizing webpages,

images, videos, locations, products, articles, etc. to make them show up higher on search engine results, without paying for it (unless you are hiring someone to do it for you).

• SEO ≠ SEM– SEM = Search Engine Marketing

• Paying for results to show up on page 1 results of search engines (advertisements)

– These terms are sometimes confused

On-Site vs Off-Site Optimization• On-site Optimization – Anything that is optimized within the website itself

– Meta Data (description, title)– Image titles and alt text– Keywords on site– Anchor text (text containing key words that links to website when clicked)– Site Map– URL Redirects– Webmaster Tools (tracks on site optimization)– Loading Speed

• Off-site Optimization – Anything that is optimized on other websites to help your website’s search engine ranking

– Links from other websites– Keywords off site– Anchor text– Google Analytics (helps determine what pages are ranking well and why, as well

as where web traffic is coming in from)– Local SEO (Google Places, Bing Local, Yahoo Local, etc.)– Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, etc.)

US Search Engine Market Share

Keywords• Words associated with

the website or content you are optimizing that help to identify it

• Goal: To have your content rank high when desired keywords are typed into search engine

• Keywords can be combined into phrases, such as “Louisville go-cart track”

Choosing Keywords• Research• Use Keyword tools such as Google’s Adwords Keyword

Tool– https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool

External• Analyze competition

– Type keywords into search engine while logged out of Google, Bing, Yahoo, Etc.

– What are they doing right/wrong?– Amount of links on other sites– Anchor Text– How likely is it that you will rank higher than the

competition in the future?

Where to use keywords

• Anchor text (text containing link to your website or content)– Internal and external links

• Meta Title and Description

• Text within content on webpages– Internal and external

• In title and alt tag on related images located on website

Keyword Tips• Investigate what keywords are working for other

sites and how they are using them• Select a few different keywords and experiment

with them to see which work best• When using keywords, make sure the content

still makes sense and seems natural– It should not appear as if you intentionally included

certain words as much as possible

• Use Google’s keyword tool!– https://

adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Meta Description and Title• Domain and Pages

– Helps Prevent Duplicate Content– May show up in search results

• Meta Title – <meta name="title" content=“(insert title

here)">

• Meta Description– <meta name="description" content=“(insert

short description here)">

Image Optimization• Relevant and descriptive titles

Good: thunder-over-louisville-fireworks.jpeg

Bad: big-fireworks.jpeg, firework-show.jpeg,

fireworks.jpeg, etc.

• Use Alt text in HTML for short description– <img title=“Thunder Over Louisville Fireworks” src=“(URL)” alt=“2010

Thunder Over Louisville Firework Show Grand Finale”>

• Use keywords wherever possible

Crawl Errors• “Crawlers” to scan the internet and index all of the web

pages• Google Webmaster Tools includes reports on crawl

errors (when the page fails to be indexed) www.google.com/webmasters/tools

• Use Webmaster Tools to determine the reason for crawl errors

• Research how to fix the problem (in most cases, either the URL has changed and it needs a redirect to the new URL, or the page has been removed altogether [redirect to home page or similar page in this case])

• How to redirect: http://www.webweaver.nu/html-tips/web-redirection.shtml

Link-Building• It is very important to get links on other websites to your website

– Crawlers scan number of external links and this is a major influence on ranking

• Ways to build links– Search for online directories that allow you to include your website and

sign up– Guest post on blogs with link back to your site– Search for niche websites that suite your content and see if they offer a

place to provide a link to your site– Social Media

• Include in descriptions on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc.• Share links

– Post on online forums• Most important way to build links is to have quality content on your

website that people will find fulfilling and naturally want to share with others online

• Use anchor text whenever possible

Local SEOOptimizing location-based search results

Local SEO• Make sure all fields for providing

details are filled out in order to get the place page to %100 completion– This enhances the search rankings

• Use keywords wherever possible• Make sure there are no duplicate

listings• Make sure location is claimed and

verified• Encourage satisfied customers to

leave reviews!• Monitor your place page for new

reviews and technical issues that may arise

• Respond to negative reviews

SEO on Twitter• Aaron Wall @aaronwall• Barry Schwartz @rustybrick• Debra Mastaler @debramastaler• Tim Nash @tnash• Dan Thies @danthies• Mike Blumenthal @mblumenthal• Vanessa Fox @vanessafox• Wiep Knoll @wiep• Dave Harry @theGypsy

Final Tips• Spend a lot of time on keyword research and investigating the

competition – Sufficient results can take months in SEO, so it is important to be on the

right track• Make sure webpage and link-building on external sites appears

natural (not overly loaded with keywords to the point where it seems like spam)

• Think outside of the box and experiment– Google and other search engine companies do not reveal exactly how it

works, or the algorithm for ranking results• Avoid duplicate content! – meta data and webpages (webmaster

tools will help report duplicate meta data)• Follow the following Twitter list and research other individuals who

are influential about SEO.– http://twitter.com/#!/ToddMillett/seo-influencers

Contact

Todd Millett

todd@nowsourcing.com

502.442.7914

NowSourcing.com

@ToddMillett

linkedin.com/in/toddmillett