search engine optimization success with wordpress

SEO SUCCESS WITH WORDPRESS

Mark McLaren McBuzz Communications – a Seattle Search Engine Marketing Company

Links to resources covered in this presentation are included on the final slide. Contact me with questions.

My Goal: Show Three Things

1. How to optimize a WordPress site for search

2. How to see if optimization is working

3. How to use feedback from Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to optimize further

You Can Do This

Which keywords should I use?

Common problem: You can use Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to identify keywords that are bringing quality traffic to your website, but how do you identify good keywords if you don’t already have quality traffic coming to your site?

What Does a Well-Optimized Site Look Like?

Many visits via many keywords

Visitors “convert”

source/medium keyword landing page (top ranking

page) pages visited

Sample email from Gravity Forms

Click here to get the Yoast Gravity Forms Add-on Plugin

Optimization Is Working

700 + organic visits a month via a broad range of related keywords

7% of these visitors submit the contact form

Others contact the business by phone

Site generates 50-100 new leads per month

2-3 new customers per month

How Do We Get There?

Who submits the form?

Bounce rate less than 100% View more than one page Spend more time on site than

average

What can we learn from Google Analytics?

What Does a Not-So-Well-Optimized Site Look Like?

Low organic search traffic Low number of organic keywords Most keywords are “branded”:

variations of the business name or owner’s name

Few keywords are about products/services

Very few visitors convert

18 out of top 25

keywords branded

Some days there are no visits from organic keywords

Visitors we love:

Submit the form. Branded (name) searches. Search using “good fit” keywords.

Top 1-6 keywords are all company-name or owner-name, but #7 is not. It’s a “good fit”: a keyword we should use to optimize the site.

Finding Good Keywords

Choose words people actually use to search Google Suggest “Searches related to…” Keyword Tool Analytics to find “good fit” keywords Look at competitors in search results Think Sunday Brunch, not À La Carte Menu

(Use a wide variety of related keywords – a “keyword theme” – rather than use one or two keywords repeatedly.)

Google “Suggest”

Google Keyword Tool

Login to your Google account and click here for a link to the tool

Google Keyword Tool

Use Google Analytics to identify “good fit” keywords that are not company-name or owner-name keywords

Look at competitors’ sites in top search results. What keywords appear in their search result listings? What keywords appear on their web pages?

Keyword Variety

seo presentation seo seminar seo workshop seo class

Keyword Search Volume (Google Keyword Tool)

seo seminar 4400 searches/month

seo seminars 3600 searches/month

seo workshop 3600 searches/month

seo workshops 2400 searches/month

I use keywords like “search engine optimization seminar” on the mcbuzz.com home page.

Keyword Google.com positionseo seminar wordpress seattle 2 and 3wordpress seo seminar seattle 1 and 2seattle wordpress seo seminar 2 and 3seattle wordpress seo workshop 55seo workshop wordpress seattle 36wordpress seo workshop seattle 37wordpress seo class seattle 65

Oops! I forgot to optimize for “workshop” keywords. (In other words, I forgot to use the word “workshop” in my post and on the mcbuzz.com home page.)

I went back and added “workshop” to the HTML title of the post using All In One SEO plugin and to the visible title and body text using the WordPress editor.

Here’s the result.(I also added the words “SEO class” to the body of the post.)

Keyword Google.com positionseo seminar wordpress seattle 2 and 3wordpress seo seminar seattle 1 and 2seattle wordpress seo seminar 2 and 3seattle wordpress seo workshop 1seo workshop wordpress seattle 1wordpress seo workshop seattle 1wordpress seo class seattle 1

I used the Rank Checker add-on for Firefox to collect the ranking information. (Click here to get it.)

Where to Put Keywords HTML Title

Where to Put Keywords HTML Title

Where to Put Keywords HTML Title

Where to Put Keywords

Meta description

Where to Put Keywords HTML Title

title and description on other pages & posts(Using the All in One SEO Pack plugin)

Where to Put Keywords

URLs & permalinks These can be customized

http://mcbuzz.info/web-development/

http://mcbuzz.info/?page_id=32

Permalinks (under Settings)

Use: Custom Structure

Where to Put Keywords

Visible Page Title (Heading)

Visible Page Title (Heading)

Use Keywords!

Subheadings

Use keywords in subheadings

Subheadings

Make content “sticky”, useful, a resource

Hire (or partner with) a writer Add interviews, guest bloggers, Top

10 lists, summaries, reviews YouTube – add rich descriptions! SlideShare PDFs / White Papers

Put Keywords in Body Text

• “keyword density”? Meh.• Add images. Put keywords in image descriptions.• Use captions (text)• Use bullet points• Use numbered lists• Italicize keywords

Some pages that rank well for a particular keyword use that keyword 10-15 times. They are not penalized for doing so.

Links, Links, Links

Golden Rule Use a blog Use social media Use

http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com Use keywords in link text

Refine your content

Analytics Webmaster

Tools Form Submits Goals

Adding a Goal in Google Analytics

Adding a Goal in Google Analytics

Adding a Goal in Google Analytics

Adding a Goal in Google Analytics

Resources

Google Keyword Tool (Login to your Google account when you use this.) All In One SEO Pack plugin Google Analytics plugin by Yoast Webmaster Tools Gravity Forms for WordPress SEO Add-on for Gravity Forms Rank Checker add-on for Firefox

Mark McLaren & McBuzz Communications