sempdx: seo 101

Internet Marketing 101: SEO

John McPhee, Formic Media@jwmcpheejohnm@formicmedia.com

John McPhee

• Vice President, Formic Media• In charge of sales & partnership

development at Formic Media• Honed digital marketing chops at

Anvil Media• Focused on travel, hospitality &

B2B• Participate in local community

marketing organizations

Agenda – SEO 101

• SEO Basics• SEO Ranking Factors• Design & Development• Keyword Research• On-Site Optimization• Link Development• Local SEO

SEO 101

SEO Ranking Factors

SEO 101: SEO Ranking Factors

Design & Development

SEO 101: Design & Development

• Do• Use HTML text whenever possible• Use text navigation • Incorporate SEO elements• Use transcripts for audio/video

• Don’t• Use too many images• Use too much JavaScript• Use too many Flash files

SEO 101: Design & Development

• Why Flash sites aren’t ideal for SEO

This is what Google sees

This is what we see

SEO 101: Design & Development

• Build an internal link structure

SEO 101: Design & Development

• Utilize an XML sitemap to help Google

Keyword Research

SEO 101: Keyword Research

• Keywords are the building blocks of SEO• Google uses keywords to determine relevancy• It’s imperative to identify the right keywords

SEO 101: Keyword Research

• Which keywords do I choose?

SEO 101: Keyword Research

• Perform keyword research

SEO 101: Keyword Research

SEO 101: Keyword Research

SEO 101: Keyword Research

• Other keyword research tools…• Google Analytics• Google AdWords• KeywordSpy• Keyword Discovery• Ubersuggest• WordTracker

On-Site Optimization

SEO 101: Tag Optimization

• URLs• Title Tag• Meta Description Tag• H1 Header Tag• ALT Image Tags

SEO 101: Tag Optimization

• URLs• Include keywords in URLs• Static is better (than dynamic)• Use URL rewrites if possible

• Use hyphens (instead of underscores)• Avoid duplicate content issues• FormicMedia.com/index.html• FormicMedia.com/home.html• FormicMedia.com

• Use 301 redirects if you suffer from this

SEO 101: Tag Optimization

• Title Tags

SEO 101: Tag Optimization

• Meta Description Tag

SEO 101: Tag Optimization

• H1 Header Tag

SEO 101: Tag Optimization

• ALT Image Tag

Link Development

SEO 101: Link Development

• Google uses link signals for ranking purposes:• Global popularity• Get links from popular/trusted sites

• Topic-specific• Get links from websites that focus on the

same/similar topics• Anchor text• Obtain links with targeted keywords

• Freshness• Links go stale, always be seeking new

• Social sharing• Becoming much more important

SEO 101: Link Development

• Where to get links?

SEO 101: Link Development

• Link Development Tools• Open Site Explorer (SEOmoz)• Link Diagnosis• Majestic SEO• Raven Tools

SEO 101: Link Development

• Open Site Explorer

What About Local SEO?

SEO 101: Local SEO

• Still need to focus on the on-site & off-site tactics you just saw

• Additionally….• Claim & verify local listings• Include NAP (name, address, phone) on site• Submit NAP to major data providers• Submit NAP to online directories• Use GetListed.org

Thank you!

John McPhee@jwmcphee

johnm@formicmedia.com503.517.9059 x122