Agenda

> Recent Google Algorithm Changes

> Microdata

> Social Media Ranking Factors

> Using Promotional Goods For SEO

Panda Farming

> “Designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites” - Google

> Algorithmic change – not a blacklist

> 11.8% of all queries affected

> Lots of “innocent” sites hit

Fixing The Farm

> Low-quality content on part of a site can affect rankings for the whole site

> Evaluate your pages for signals of low quality:

> Not enough content on pages

> Poorly-written content (grammar, spelling, readability)

> Content copied from other sites

> Content that isn’t useful

> Redirect or delete these pages

Fixing The Farm

> Too many ads above the fold

> User Engagement:

> External links to internal pages

> Socially-shared pages

> Check Analytics for signs:

> Pages with search traffic drops

> High bounce rate from search traffic

> Google’s guidance: http://bit.ly/pandagoogle

Penalised Page Example

Panda In The Food Chain

> Links from penalised sites are likely to be less valuable

> Article marketing now has to be questioned as an SEO tactic

> Can be replaced with guest blogging/articles on unaffected sites

> Likely to mean higher-quality writing required

Paid Link Punishments

> JC Penney, Overstock, Forbes, Beatthatquote.com outed & punished

> Outed by the media – not an algorithm

> Demonstrates the risk, benefits, widespread nature & difficulty for Google

> Sites back in search results after 90 days

> Unlikely to go away any time soon

Exact Match Domains Next?

> “…we have been thinking about… turning the knob down within the algorithm, so that… it wouldn’t necessarily help you as much to have a domain name with a bunch of keywords in it.” – Matt Cutts

> No longer able to rely on keywords in domains

> Favours brands more than ever before

Schema.org - Microdata

> Mark up for content, e.g. reviews, products, events (microdata)

> Can help you get listed for relevant searches

> Produces “rich snippets” – better for CTRs

> Covers all three major search engines

> Likely to lead to users spending more time on search engines, less visiting sites in the long term

> www.schema.org

Microdata Usage Example

Social Media Ranking Factors

> In December 2010, all the major search engines confirmed that they are using “social signals” in their ranking algorithms

> Not yet clear what the signals are; likely to be:

> Amount of sharing (Likes, Tweets etc.)

> “Authority” accounts likely to carry more weight (follower:followed ratio?)

Social Network Recommendations

Google +1 Button

> Adds a “+1” button to search results (including ads) & websites

> Users need to be logged in to Google

> Used in the ranking algorithm

> Shows searchers who in their network has “+1’d” a page

> Aggregate number of +1s if none in their network

Google +1 Button

> Uses your Google Profile connections (Gmail contacts, Talk, Reader, Buzz)

> See http://profiles.google.com

> Will add third-party connections, e.g. Twitter

> Will appear in YouTube searches too

> Get the button for your website here:

> google.com/webmasters/+1/button/index.html

Social Media Signals For SEO

> Quality, fresh content leads to sharing

> Compelling offers, news, information

> Regularly shared by others

> Your own ever-growing social network

> Self-promotion best done by adding value

Using Promotion Items For SEO

> Include website addresses on all promotional items

> Run giveaways or competitions to win branded goods in return for links

> Use promotional items as incentives for social media engagement

> Competitions on Twitter (follow or Tweet us)

> Rewards for Liking on Facebook

Questions?

www.boom-online.co.uk

0845 474 0974

Twitter: @boomweb