4 pillars for seo and online discoverability in 2014

#SEO2014

Bernie BorgesChristine O’Kelly

@BernieBorgesLinkedIn.com/In/BernieBorges

@OnlinePRMediaLinkedIn.com/In/ChristineOKelly

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

Why website architecture mattersOriginal, quality, optimized contentLink earning, not link buildingSocial sharing

Website ArchitectureSpeed and Performance Matters

PILLAR #1

Curb Appeal

Plumbing & Wiring Matters

A Clean Website!After careful planning you launch a clean website

that is “clutter free.”

One Year Later….Still Clean?After a year or more online, new and revised content has impacted your site.

How Cluttered Architecture Impacts Your WebsiteNo website can avoid clutter building up over time. Website

clutter buildup can negatively impact incoming traffic leading to less leads and sales.

Speed & Performance Optimization

More than 80 factors to study in website architecture optimization.Are URLs SEF friendly/optimized?

Can URLs be accessed by Upper Case & Lower Case versions?Are there WWW & Non WWW versions of the site? Are titles optimized?Are meta descriptions optimized?Are H1s optimized? Are 301 redirects set up properly?Is the site using 302 redirects?Are there 404 pages?

Is the site organization intuitive (silo’d)? Is there a logical category / subcategory hierarchy?Are there related links in each category?Are all pages crawlable by robot without a sitemap? Orphan Pages?Are there broken links?

Is there an HTML sitemap?Is there an XML sitemap?Are URLs duplicated in the sitemaps?

How does the site function when you turn off CSS, JavaScript?Is Flash used for important elements?Does the site use AJAX pages? Is content in PDFs also in HTML? Is there duplicate content within the site?Is there duplicate content between subdomains?Is there duplicate content with other sites? What internal pages do they link to the most?What is the quality of outbound linking?Are there too many links on a page? Speed and CodeIs the HTML minified & compressed?Is the CSS validated?Are JavaScript and CSS linked to external files?

URL Structure

Website Architecture Summary

Audit for clutter annuallySweat the URL structureLoad speed matters

Original, Quality, Optimized Content

PILLAR #2

The Two Critical Jobs of Content in SEO

in terms of SEO and website ranking

Content serves

Critical Jobs

2

JOB # OPTMIZED CONTENT

The Two Critical Jobs of Content in SEO

1 JOB # EARN INBOUND LINKS

2

1st Critical Job of Content in SEO

JOB #

OPTMIZED CONTENT is a crucial element that

determines the ranking of a web page

People won’t find your content in a search if it is

not optimized for the terms for which they are

searching

1

Well Optimized Content

On Page Content Optimization: Past vs. Present

Stuffing exact match keywords on pages – even at the cost of readability

Using the same keyword phrase again and again to achieve a specific density

Creating pages with a variety of related and relevant keyword themes

Using semantically related terms that “anchor” and give contextual relevance to your target keywords.

“Intent” Is More Important than “Exact”

Google’s goal has remained consistent since inception. Their

ability to interpret patterns and signals

has improved.

A “Hidden” Fact That Many People Overlook…

Your own website isn’t the ONLY place where you can publish optimized quality content to gain search engine visibility

We’ve Talked About Optimizing YOUR Website…

But that’s not where online discoverability ends

Different Search Terms Have Different Result Types

“How to Bind a Book”

“Spiral Binding Machines”

Different Search Terms Have Different Result Types

Palm Desert Printers

Multi-Platform Publishing

After analyzing the SERPs of various keywords, create valuable optimized content and publish on the content platforms that tend to rank the best.

Publish Different Types of Content on Appropriate Platforms

By publishing optimized content on various platforms, your content can dominate more than one position in the search results

Why appear just once in the SERPs

When you can dominate multiple

positions?

Multi-Platform Publishing

Multi-Platform Publishing

Why appear just once in the

SERPs When you can dominate

multiple positions?

Bottom Line…EVERYTHING on the search results page is a

form of CONTENT

Content Creation Recap

Identify your keywords

Produce useful, information rich, contextually relevant content for your website

Analyze the search engine results for your keywords

Create an optimized presence on 3rd party sites that have search presence

Link EarningPILLAR #3

JOB #

INBOUND EARNED LINKS are another crucial element that determines a website’s

ranking

The way to earn valuable influential links and social shares is to create unique, quality content that people feel COMPELLED to link to

The Two Critical Jobs of Content in SEO

2

Link Building: Past vs. PresentPublishing user generated content anywhere and everywhere to build links back to a website.

Embedding links in exact match keywords

Creating quality content that people feel compelled to link to – thus generating earned links from a wide variety of places around the web

Links embedded in a range of natural keyword phrases

QUANTITY QUALITYSELF-CREATED EARNEDVS

Link Earning Vs. Link BuildingIn the SEO days of old, we asked…

How Can I Build Links?

Link Earning Vs. Link BuildingToday we need to ask…

How Can I Build Links?

What would compel others to talk about

us?

Link Earning Vs. Link Building

• What proprietary “trend” data can analyze and interpret?

• How can you poll your customer base?• Are there any trending news stories that

you can respond to?• Do you have predictions about what is up

and coming in your industry?

Link Earning Vs. Link BuildingToday we need to ask…

How Can I Build Links?

What can I create for

others that will help THEM

increase their authority?

Link Earning Vs. Link Building

• Which magazines, trade journals, and blogs can you contribute content to?

• Which podcasts and radio shows cover topics to which you can contribute?

• What types of awards or certifications can you issue?

“The Knot” Case Study

“The Knot” Case Study

“The Knot” Case Study

People Like To Share What Makes Them Look Good…

What Type of Award or Certification Can You Give?

Best Family Safety BlogChose what they felt were the “best family safety blogs divided into various categories

“Successful Outstanding Blogger” AwardLiz Strauss awards regularly to bloggers that she feels are outstanding

HubSpot Certified

Defined certification criteria and program

and awards pride badges to those who

achieve this certification.

Link ReclamationGather the Low Hanging Fruit

Search for mentions

Check links for validity

Ask for link inclusion / link repair

Link Earning RecapWrite/contribute useful, original, interesting content that people naturally want to reference and share

Ask “How can I compel others to naturally want to link to me,” vs. “Where can I place links”

Find places where people are talking about you online but not linking and ask them to include a link

Social SharingPILLAR #4

Social Signals…Coming Soon

Social is the new SEO

From your LinkedIn profile

From your LinkedIn Company Page

Social is the new SEO

From your Google+ Profile or Page

From your Facebook Page

Social is the new SEO

Key take-aways:Why website architecture mattersQuality content that is optimized for searchLink earning, not link buildingSocial signals are important

Tune Into The ….

Watch the full episode at thesocialbusinessengine.com.

https://www.youtube.com/user/socialbusinessengine

Our Gift to You!

Bernie BorgesChristine O’Kelly

@BernieBorgesLinkedIn.com/In/BernieBorges

@OnlinePRMediaLinkedIn.com/In/ChristineOKelly