SES Chicago - Assess. Diagnose. Fix. - Become an SEO Mechanic November 2013

Chicago • November 4–7, 2013 • #SESCHI @SESConf

Assess. Diagnose. Fix. How to Become a Leading SEO Mechanic

Grant Simmons Director, SEO & Social Product The Search Agency

Chicago | November 4–7, 2013 | #SESCHI | @SESConf

The Search Agency

Grant Simmons @simmonet

Father. Marketer. SEO. Sailor. But not necessarily in that order when there’s a fair wind…


Assess. Diagnose. Fix.

Agency scenario •  Business Development •  2 audits a week •  No access to historical data •  No access to analyTcs •  Provide insights & opportuniTes •  Show value of fixing / engaging •  Ask & inspire quesHons


The Fix Dilemma

•  Always ask •  Don’t think you’re smartest guy in the room •  There are oYen concerns or challenges •  Strive for “least imperfect”


Assess / Diagnose

tools

@simmonet


“ Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the (SEO) world. ”

Archimedes

@simmonet


Affordable is nice….

… Free is beèr!

☺

@simmonet


From the Horse’s Mouth


•  Webmaster Tools /webmasters •  AnalyTcs /analyTcs •  Real Time Insights /think/tools/real-‐Tme-‐insights.html

•  Pagespeed /developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/ •  Trends / Correlate /trends /trends/correlate •  Keyword Planner /adwords.google.com/keywordplanner

Google has great (free) SEO tools!

… and the Google search results!


But… Don’t Forget Bing*

Content is the reason Keyword research is the beacon Quality is your watch word Authority is your goal Niche is your star8ng point User Experience is your religion…

…and use the free tools provided. Duane Forrester, Sr. Product Manager – Bing Webmaster Tools

*Bing = Bing Is Not Google


Okay… Now Forget Bing

☺ @simmonet



☺ @simmonet



Sorry Duane @simmonet


Google Search Results

SERP

@simmonet


Google SERP is great…

… and who is going to argue with Google?


Key SEO Components •  Onsite Relevance •  Offsite Authority

Google SERP is great to assess:


•  Core SEO elements •  Crawl challenges •  Content issues •  Internal linking •  Markup

Onsite Relevance

Image: My Local SEO Guy


•  “Digital Footprint” •  ReputaTon

Offsite Authority

Image: Travel Research Online


How many of you…

☺ @simmonet


How many of you…

☺ Google yourselves?

@simmonet


How many of you…

☺ Google your brand?

@simmonet


Google Brand

•  Shows what’s brand relevant •  Shows order of relevance •  Highlights digital footprint •  Demonstrates reputaTon •  Provides compeTTve insights

++ Image: Content Verve

Danger Will Robinson! Sign Out!


Google Brand

•  Homepage 1st

•  Title / Meta •  Knowledge Graph •  Sitelinks •  “Digital Footprint”

–  Social, News, Universal •  Paid Ads •  Authorship •  ReputaTon

@simmonet


Examples

@simmonet


Title / Meta (with caveats) Google may show brand only | Google decides what to show

Fix?


ReputaTon

•  Results that suck (traffic) •  Assess difficulty

– Age / authority – Friendly assets

Fix?


Sitelinks ~ Internal Linking

Fix?


Digital Footprint

•  Social visibility •  Universal results

What can you influence? What can you control? Where are the opportuniTes? Fix?


Markup / Authorship

•  See nothing when you should – RaTngs / reviews – Authorship headshot – OpportuniTes

Fix? Assess / Diagnose: www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets Learn: www.schema.org


Discoveries

Click through min. 3 pages

Fix?

•  Found old affiliate page •  STll in index


@simmonet

Possibly find

• Robots.txt • HTML sitemap

• XML Sitemap

–  In robots.txt? ☺

Quick site: Tp


Quick Fact > 20% of queries on

Google every day have never been seen before

☺ 38% are about Miley Cyrus Twerking

@simmonet


Are you tweeHng this stuff?

☺

@simmonet


Your best friend -‐ Site:

•  Lists pages within domain specified •  Generally lists rank order •  Shows pages in index

– DirecTonal not exact •  Has filters

– Advanced operators

++


Google Site:

•  With www & without – Subdomain visibility

•  Homepage 1st •  RelaTve page import •  URL structure •  CanonicalizaTon •  Title tag / meta paèrns •  # indexed pages


Examples

@simmonet


@simmonet

Homepage Oops •  Would expect homepage 1st

So…


Homepage Oops •  Clicked to homepage •  NoTced redirect •  Site: desTnaTon URL ….hmmm •  Ran redirect checker •  Oops… > 1 year of “temporary”

Fix?


Subdomains

www & without •  Index page count ...hmmm •  Click to discover

Fix?


Subdomain Cross Over

•  Site:site keyword •  IdenTfied:

–  ‘dead’ subdomain – Cross-‐linking opps – Duplicate challenges

Fix?


Paèrns = Problems

•  Looking for spin •  Click through •  Zero engagement •  “Thin”

Fix?


Subdomain Visibility

•  Look for pages that shouldn’t be indexed •  QuesTon: Do they deserve to rank? For what?

Fix?


Content Issues

•  IdenTfy URL structure challenges – Site: domain.com/subdirectory

•  Look for duplicates with different URLs

Fix?


Indexed Content Challenges

•  Filtered results in index = possibility of duplicate or ‘thin’ content signals

•  Challenges of faceted navigaTon

•  eCommerce plaworm – “Least imperfect”

44 Proprietary and Confidential

Fix?


Quick Tip -‐ Content SyndicaTon

•  “Quoted Content” •  16k results? •  Either scraped or given •  Which should rank? •  Ownership is key

45 Proprietary and Confidential

Fix?


Quick Fact 42% of all metrics are made up to illustrate a dumb point

☺ Nuff said @simmonet


It’s a Wrap!

@simmonet


Google SERP is great…

… and who is going to argue with Google?


SERP Assessment / Diagnosis

Brand •  Titles / Snippets •  ReputaTon •  Sitelinks •  Digital footprint •  Min. 3 page result review

– Discovery

SERP



Site: •  Order / Rank •  Indexed pages •  Sub domains •  Paèrns •  URL structure •  Robots.txt / XML sitemap

SERP



Other cool stuff •  Content dupes •  Advanced searches

–  InTtle etc. •  Google instant •  Related searches •  NegaTve searches

SERP


The Fix Dilemma

•  Always ask •  You’re not the smartest guy in room •  There are known unknowns •  Strive for “least imperfect”


Last Fact 43% are not sure if I’m English or American

☺ 72% believe I’m the voice over for the GEICO lizard

@simmonet


Grant Simmons Father. Marketer. SEO. Sailor. [email protected] @simmonet linkedin/in/simmonet +GrantSimmons

Thank you!

Chicago • November 4–7, 2013 • #SESCHI @SESConf

Assess. Diagnose. Fix. How to Become a Leading SEO Mechanic

Grant Simmons Director, SEO & Social Product The Search Agency


Quick Fact Share of Voice is an important metric

☺ ¼ of all barber shop quartet singers believe they get their fair share of voice

@simmonet


Advanced Search google.com/advanced_search

googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html


Robots.txt Blocks? •  Indexing issues •  CanonicalizaTon of pages •  Cause for concern •  Or at least further invesTgaTon

58 The Search Agency | Proprietary and Confidential

Fix?


InternaTonalizaTon Faux Pas

•  Subdomains not language localized

Fix?


URL Structure

•  Can idenTfy errant sub directories •  CompeTTve insights •  Inform new structures / opportuniTes

Fix?


Characters in Titles / Snippets

•  Could be more of a future consideraTon •  Google is the most discriminaTng of users

Fix?

Technology

SES Chicago - Assess. Diagnose. Fix. - Become an SEO Mechanic November 2013