seo: maximizing online business visibility

Maximizing Online Visibility

Brad Smith July 2013

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Overview

• Quick Bio

• SEO Strategy Basics

• Increasing Business Visibility Online (Local SEO)

• Maximizing Online Sales (E-Commerce SEO)

• Free SEO Tools & References

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Quick Bio

• Director of Product Management @ ARI– BA in New Media Development

– MBA with Marketing & E-business emphasis

• Life-long power sports enthusiast

• Part-Time Aaron Rodgers look-a-like

• Connect with me via http://www.bardsmith.com

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SEO Strategy Basics

Key Terms“SE” Search Engine

“Spider” & “bot” Search Engine indexing robot

“SERP” Search Engine Results Page

“CTR” Click Through Rate (percentage of clicks/exposure)

“Inbound Links” External links to site pages

“Anchor Text” Text anchor display of a link

“PageRank” Google page quality score

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SEO Strategy Basics

Current Search Market Shares

Source: karmasnack.com

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SEO Strategy Basics

Ensure your site is crawlable

FLASH ALL GRAPHICS RICH HTML

Online Visibility

Social

Product SEO

Local Search

Align online marketing strategy with business strategy

Brick & Mortar Local SEO

Pure E-Tailer Product SEO

Bricks & Clicks Local & Product SEO

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Local Search

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Local SEO

Local Search Intro• Critical focus for Brick & Mortar businesses• Tight geographic relevance• Increasing representation in SERPs• Increasingly including social/reputation elements• Core to capitalizing on Mobile search trends

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Local SEO

Optimizing Online Representation for Local SearchClaim Google Places/Google+, Bing Places pages

Enrich Google+ Business PageBusiness Images, VideosHoursLocationContact Information

EventsVideosBusiness Categories

Only 37% of businesses have claimed local search listings- MDG Advertising

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Local SEO

Key Places to Establish Business Profiles

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E-Commerce SEO

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E-Commerce SEO

E-Commerce Search Engine Optimization Process

Self-Assessmen

t

Keyword Research

Execution

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E-Commerce SEO

Self-AssessmentHow

Sample Searches

What to researchCurrent rankings and presentationKeyword traffic trends Inbound Links

Self-Assessm

ent

Keyword Research

Execution

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SEO Strategy Basics

Sample Research

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E-Commerce SEO

Keyword ResearchHow

Competitive Keyword ReviewGoogle TrendsGoogle AdWords Keyword Planner

What to researchCurrent Keyword Traffic / CTRKeyword Search Volumes & TrendsKeywords Targeted by Competitors

Self-Assessme

nt

Keyword Research

Execution

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SEO Strategy Basics

Sample Keyword Research

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E-Commerce SEO

SEO ExecutionHow

Core SEO ElementsAdvanced SEO Elements

Self-Assessme

nt

Keyword Research

Execution

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E-Commerce SEO Domain Name

Domain Age

URL Structure

Canonical & Redirects

Structural Elements

Inbound Links

Inbound Anchor Text

Social Signal/Mentions

Off-Page Elements

Page Titles

Page Descriptions

Heading Tags

Page/Product Content

Accessibility Tags

On-Page Elements

Core SEO Elements

Page Title

Page Description

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E-Commerce SEO

Best Practice Keyword & Content Flow Inbound Link • “GoPro Hero3 Camera"

URL • Camerashop.com/GoPro/Hero3.htm

Page Title • GoPro Hero3 Camera | Black | HD

Page Description• Go pro with the new smaller, lighter HERO3 with

built in Wi-Fi…

Page Heading • GoPro Hero3 Camera – Black

Product Info• Photos w/Alt Tag “GoPro Hero3 Camera”• Rich Description referring to “GoPro” and “Hero3 Camera”• Customer reviews content marked up as Rich Snippets

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E-Commerce SEO

SEO Execution GuidelinesDO DON’T

Create rich, differentiated product content with natural keyword references.

Artificially “stuff” a desired keyword into content repeatedly.

Work with partners and associations to build up in-bound links from industry authorities.

Purchase in-bound links or take part in generic “link circles”.

Regularly review site analytics & reports to check results of efforts; adjust accordingly.

Set minimum search engine optimization in place and move on (set & forget).

Establish and nurture profiles and a social presence to increase visibility of your site and products.

Try to fool the search engines by adding hidden content or presenting other content to Spiders only (“cloaking”).

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E-Commerce SEO

Advanced SEO ElementsHow

Rich Snippets / MicrodataGoogle Shopping Product FeedsPage Load Speed

Rich Snippet (Review, Author)

Rich Snippet (Rating, Price, Availability)

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SEO Tools

SEO ToolsTool Use URL

SEO Quake Browser plugin to review key on-page SEO stats http://www.seoquake.com/

SEM Rush Keyword and link analysis tool for competitive and self-analysis

http://www.semrush.com

Google AdWords Planner

Keyword search volume and competition analysis tool https://adwords.google.com/

Google Trends Keyword trend analysis tool http://www.google.com/trends/

Google Analytics Free website analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/

Google Webmaster Tools

Website index and Google search trends analysis tool http://www.google.com/webmasters/

Lynx Web Browser Text-based web browser – useful for viewing site content as seen by a spider

http://lynx.isc.org/

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SEO References

Additional SEO Reading & References

• Search Engine Land SEO Guidehttp://searchengineland.com/guide/seo

• Web Developer SEO Cheat Sheethttp://s3.amazonaws.com/static.seomoz.org/user_files/SEO_Web_Developer_Cheat_Sheet.pdf

• SEOMoz Blog http://moz.com/blog