ama phoenix 2016- creating organic search strategy that works
TRANSCRIPT
How to Build an Organic Strategy That Works
Ralph Miller and Elise Gould
February / 11 / 2016LaneTerralever.com
Agenda 01 Introduction
02 Reciprocity
03 Customer Journey
04 Keyword Research
05 Competitive Analysis
06 Putting it all together
What is SEO in 2016?
What SEO is
• Matching search intent to the content provided
• Providing value to the end user
• Anticipating a searchers next steps
• Answering questions before they’re asked
• Speaking the language of the consumer, including the use or peripheral terms associated with the primary keyword
What SEO is NOT
• Optimizing pages to a single keyword
• Optimizing title tags and meta descriptions to manipulate the search engines to get you to rank
• Building or buying links to get a page to rank
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Reciprocity is a social rule that says we should repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. That is, people give back the kind of treatment they have received from you. This sense of future obligation associated with reciprocity makes it possible to build continuing relationships and exchanges.
Reciprocity
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Blogging: Giving great content is a way of helping people and often in turn leads to them liking you, trusting you and often even willing to do something for you in return.
Guest Blogging: Offering free pre-written guest posts (abstract) and including links, quotes and your byline.
Free Guides/ White Papers: Providing this exceptional content for free often provides the perfect venue to give you an email address in return for it.
Promotion/ Seeding: Groups: Inbound.org, Reddit, and of course any social site like LinkedIn, FB or Twitter have groups/ lists either built naturally or purposefully to promote your content.
Marketing Examples of Reciprocity
Put yourself in the mind of your customer, and start at the beginning of their journey, from the moment they have the awareness of what they might want, to the moment they make the commitment to purchase a product or service. Positioning yourself to be of service.
• What’s motivating their desire?• What questions are they asking?• What words are they using?• What tools do they need?• What experience are they looking for?• What are their emotional needs?
Customer Journey
Customer: Someone who wants to go back to school to get a college degree
Customer Journey Example
Motivation: I want to get a better job, or I want to make more money
Questions: What do I want to do? What jobs are available? What are the highest paying careers?
Searches: Types of jobs, careers, occupations, salaries
Example: list of criminal justice careers, types of police jobs, highest paying criminal justice careers, criminal justice salaries
Early Research
Motivation: Define area of interest
Questions: How can I narrow my search to a job that matches my interest and financial needs?
Searches: narrow career search, look for general information about the career
Example: how much does a law enforcement officer make, how many hours does a detective work, law enforcement training, police officer salaries
Narrow Search
What words are people using? How could a person refer to law enforcement officer?• police officer• cop• detective• marshall• state trooper• lawman• patrolman• sheriff• traffic officer• traffic cop• deputy• peace officer• trooper• state trooper
Keywords
Motivation: I know the type of job I want, now I want to learn more.
Questions: What are the requirements to get there? is there a particular education, training, or certification I need?
Searches: job requirements, education requirements, training, certification
Example: what are the education requirements for state troopers, how do I become a cop, law enforcement officer requirements
Research
Motivation: Now I know what the requirements are, I want to learn more about those
Questions: how do I fulfill the needed requirements, time, money, convenience
Searches: degrees, programs, online vs campus
Example: criminal justice degrees, criminal justice programs, online degree programs
Specific Research
Motivation: I want to narrow my search
Questions: what are the specific degrees I could get based on my current education level, and desired job outcome?
Searches: bachelors degree, master degree, certifications, training, dual degree programs
Example: B.S. in Criminal Justice, Master of Criminal Justice, BA criminology, B.S. in criminal psychology
Narrow Search
Motivation: I need external validation that I’m making the best decision.
Questions: How do I know I’m choosing the best school or program? Is the program I’m considering reputable?
Searches: Guides, Reviews, Accreditation
Example: How to choose the best criminal justice program, best criminal justice schools, online criminal justice programs, Phoenix Community College criminal justice programs, ASU criminal justice program reviews, University of Phoenix accreditation
Validation
Tools:
Keyword Research and Competitive Analysis
Keyword Research
Competitive Analysis
Google Auto-complete
Google Related Searches
• What sections are they including?
• What words are they using?
• What pages are they linking to externally?
• What pages are they linking to internally?
Example: Search: Criminal Justice Degrees On-page content: benefits of the program, requirements, courses: required and elective, advising checklist, major map, future employment, career opportunities, list of schools, list of programs, overview of online learning, affordability, grants, scholarships, work study, federal student loans, private loans, school/program search tool, 5 major fields of Criminal Justice are Law Enforcement, Courts/Judiciary, Corrections, Forensic Science, and Private Security?
View Top 3 Pages in Google For a Search
WordCount Tool
Goal: Create overarching structure for your website, authority around subtopics, build content consistently to position yourself at various stages of the customer journey
• Organize keywords into categories
• Choose the most lucrative category, and start building out content around that area
• Focus on one keyword search at a time —
• do the keyword research
• put yourself in the searchers shoes and anticipate their needs
• look at what competitors are doing
• don’t write to a word count, include as much information as is needed to make the content complete
• Sub topics can be sections, or if there’s enough content for it to be it’s own search, make it it’s own page
• Over time, you build authority within a category
• Keep working and publishing content — consistency is everything!
Putting it all together
increase in conversions since new website launch.
70%
of all website traffic comes from the digital publication within the last 4 months
29%
increase in first page organic keyword rankings in direct-to-consumer marketing initiative.
17%
Q & A
Thank YouFebruary / 11 / 2016LaneTerralever.com
Ralph Miller SEO Manager [email protected] 602.258.5263
Elise Gould - Director of Acquisition Content [email protected] 602.258.5263