seo starter guide in the entertainment industry ... · welcome to creativefuture’s search engine...

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

SEOStarterGuideWelcometoCreativeFuture’sSearchEngineOptimizationStarterGuide!Let’s face it, search engine optimization (SEO) can be overwhelming for beginners. With tons ofinformationandguidesreadilyavailableonline,knowingwheretostartishalfthebattle.In the entertainment industry specifically, effective SEO practices can help ensure that legitimatesourcesof contentwillappearaheadof illegitimate sources in search rankings.SEO isan importanttoolforyoutoprotectthevalueofwhatyoucreateandtoreduceonlinepiracyofyourcreativeworks.That’swhywecreatedthisSEOstarterguidetohelpyoubuildandoptimizeyourwebsitetoreachmorepeopleandstayontopofsearch-enginerankings.

WhatisSEOandwhyisitimportant?Searchenginesaretheintermediarybetweenyourwebsiteandtherestoftheonlineworld,sohavingyoursiteappearamongthetopfewsearchresultsisessential,itisestimatedthatthetopthreesearchresults constituteover50%of search referrals.Essentially, thesecondpagemightaswellnotexist. Iflegitimate links to your creative content appear higher up on the first page of search results, youimproveyourchancesofprotectingthevalueofyourwork.Search engine optimization (SEO) is a marketing practice that enables website owners to increasevisibilityinorganic(non-paid)searchengineresults.Sincepeoplearemorelikelytoclickononeofthetop suggested search results, andbecause SEOhelpswebsites to appear in these top results, it is animportantpartofyourmarketingstrategy.Inthisguide,webreakdowneverythingyouneedtoknowaboutSEOsoyoucanstartoptimizingyourwebsitetoday.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

TableofContents

1. SEOBasicsa. BuildBacklinksb. TitleTagsc. MetaDescriptionTags

2. ImproveYourSiteStructurea. ImprovetheStructureofYourURLsb. MakeYourSiteEasiertoNavigate

3. OptimizeContenta. CreateContentThatCanBeIndexed

4. ResearchandTargetKeywords5. LeverageSocialMedia

a. GrowandEngageYourFollowingb. MakeYourContentSearchableandShareablec. TakeAdvantageofSocialMediaMetaTagsd. LinktoYourWebpage

6. MeasureandTrackSuccess7. MoreSEOReading

1. SEOBasicsIn this section,we’ll explain thebasic thingsyouneed toknowwhen thinkingaboutSEO for the firsttime.AnoptimalSEOstrategywouldincludealittleofeverythingdescribedinthistutorial–butifyou’reshortontime,focusyoureffortsonthestrategiesinthissection.Thatwillgoalongwaytoimprovingtheperformanceofyourwebsite.It’sworth remembering that searchenginesbuild their understandingof your sitebasedon readabletext.Entertainment sites are often graphics heavy, so it is crucial to remember that to search engines, allgraphics lookthesame–youshould includeappropriatetextonthepagetoensurethat it isproperlyindexed.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

BuildBacklinksWhatarebacklinksandhowdotheyhelpmysite?Backlinksarelinksfromotherwebsitesthatpointtoyoursite.Theyhelpshowsearchenginesthatyourwebsite ispopular, therebyboosting its ranking.Thenumberofbacklinksyouhave is thesinglemostimportant factor that search engines consider when ranking your website. Some industry expertsestimatebacklinksmayaccountforasmuchas80%oftheweightthatsearchenginerankingalgorithmsgivewebsites.HowdoIbuildbacklinks?Youcan’tcontrolotherwebsites,ofcourse,butby linkingyoursite toothersites,youwillencouragethoseothersitestolinkbacktoyours.Agoodplacetostartislinkingtotwoorthreerelevantwebsitesperweek–perhapsinblogposts,forexample.Bydoingthis,thosesitesaremorelikelytolinkbacktoyours,whichsignalstosearchenginesthatyourcontentisrelevantandpopular,therebyincreasingitssearchranking.Abacklinkfromawell-rankedsitewillcountmorethanonefromalow-rankedsite.But remember, search engines can identify whether you have paid for backlinks, and because mostdon’t condone paid-for SEO practices, paying for backlinks could actually end up getting your sitedemotedinthesearchrankings–makingitevenmoredifficultforpeopletofindit.Othermethodsforbuildingbacklinksinclude:Ø Linktoyourwebsitewhencommentingonrelevantblogs.SettingupGoogleAlertsforkeytopicson

whichyoumaywanttocommentcanhelpyouidentifygoodopportunitiestopostyourbacklinks.Ø Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO). HARO is one of the best ways to get backlinks from

authoritativenewssources,whichsearchenginesrecognizeashighquality.Aftersigningup,you’llreceive three emails a day from reporters looking for sources. In exchange for your tailoredresponse,thereporterwillbacklinktoyourwebsite.YoucansignupforHAROhere.

Ø Engage in discussion on question-and-answer platforms such as Quora, Yahoo, and Reddit, andreinforceyouranswerbylinkingbacktoyourwebsite.

Ø Includeyourwebsiteandlinksinotherpromotionalmaterials,suchaspressreleases.

TitleTagsWhataretitletagsandhowdotheyhelpmysite?Atitletagtellsusersandsearchengineswhataparticularpageonawebsiteisallabout.Itshowsupasthebigbluelink insearchengineresults(shownbelow),providingsearchenginesandwebsitevisitorswithinformationaboutyoursite.Thetitletagistheboldest,mostobviouselementinasearchresult,soitplaysamajorroleinthedecision-makingprocessofwhethersomeonewillclickonyourlink.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

HowdoIleveragetitletags?Eachof yourpages shouldhaveaunique title tag thatdistinguishes it fromotherpagesonyour site.Title tags shouldbecompelling, concise,andattentiongrabbing.Avoiddefaultorvague titles suchas“Untitled”or“NewPage1.”Mostsearchenginesonlydisplaythefirst65-75charactersofatitletag,sotrytokeepyourtitleswithinthatrangeformaximumimpact.

MetaDescriptionTagsWhataremetadescriptiontagsandhowdotheyhelpmysite?Themeta description tag gives search engines a summary ofwhat your pages are about and enticespeopletoclickonyourwebsitewhenitappearsinsearchresults.Whereasthetitleofapagemaybeafewwordsoraphrase,apage’smetadescriptiontagmightbeasentenceortwo:

Metadescriptiontagsaren’timportanttosearchenginerankings,buttheyareextremelyimportantforgetting people to click on your website once it appears on the search results page –and the morepeoplewhoclickonyoursitewill,inturn,helpincreaseitssearchrankingovertime.HowdoIleveragemetadescriptiontags?Metadescriptiontagsshouldbebothinformativeandinterestingastheytypicallyappearbeneaththetitleinsearchresults.Youshouldn’twritemetadescriptiontagsthatdon’trelatetothecontentofyourpage (obviously). You should also try to avoid the following: (1) using generic tags, (2) filling pagedescriptionswithonlykeywords,and(3)copyingandpastingtheentirecontentofadocumentintothemetadescriptiontag.Addingmetadescriptiontagstoeachofyourpagesisalwaysagoodidea.Google’sWebmasterToolsoffersacontentanalysissectionthatrevealswhethermetadescriptiontagsaretooshort,toolong,orunnecessarilyduplicative.

2. ImproveYourSiteStructureWhether your website already has a streamlined structure or it’s just a jumbledmess of pages, thissectionwillhelpyoumakesurethatyoursiteisoptimizedtohelpsearchenginesleadpeopletoit.

ImprovetheStructureofYourURLsWhatareURLsandhowdotheyhelpmysite?URLsdescribeasiteorpagetovisitorsorsearchengines.Theyaredisplayedinsearchresultsbelowthetitleandmetadescription tag.AlthoughURLsaremainly intended tohelpwebbrowsers find specificpiecesofcontent,ifyourURLscontainkeywords,searchenginesaremorelikelytodirectuserstoyoursite.Liketitletags,searchenginesuseURLstohelpdeterminerelevancyandrankingsinsearchresults.ThestructureofdomainnamesandURLsisoneofthemostfundamentalbuildingblocksofSEO.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

HowdoIimprovethestructureofmyURLs?ChooseURLs thatwill be easy for users and searchengines tounderstand.URLswithwords that arerelevanttoyoursite’scontentandstructurearemorelikelytobeclicked.AvoidusinglengthyURLswithunnecessaryparameters,genericpagenames like“page1.html,”orexcessivekeywords.URLs thatareeasytoreadaremorelikelytobeshared.TolearnmoreaboutgoodURLstructure,checkoutthisguidetocreatingsearchenginefriendlyURLs.

MakeYourSiteEasiertoNavigateWhatisanavigationsystemandhowdoesithelpmysite?Awebsite’snavigationsystemservesasaroadmaptoallofthecontentandinformationcontainedonyourwebsite.Aclear site structureandnavigationsystemhelps searchengineshavea senseofwhatroleeachofyourpagesplayinthebiggerpictureofyourwebsite.BuildingasolidfoundationinyoursitearchitectureisabasicprincipleofgoodSEO.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

HowdoIimprovemysite’snavigation?Make it as easy as possible to navigate from general content tomore specific content on your site.Ensure more convenience for users with “breadcrumb lists” –a row of internal links at the top orbottomofthepagethatallowsforeasynavigationbacktoprevioussectionsortothehomepage.

3. OptimizeContentObviouslywhenyoubuildawebsite,it’simportanttomakeitvaluabletovisitors,butyoushouldalsobemindfulofhowsearchenginesviewyoursite.Thatsaid,therearesomestepsyoucantakethatcanhelpsearchenginesunderstandyourwebsitebetterwithoutcompromisingtheintegrityofyourcontent.

CreateContentThatCanBeIndexedWhatisindexingandhowdoesithelpmysite?Search engines understand content in HTML or text format, but they have trouble understandingcontentinothercommonwebformats,suchasimagefiles,Flashfiles,Javaapplets,andothernon-textcontent.Simplyput,awebsitedoesn’talwayslookthesametoapersonasitdoestoasearchengine.Creatingindexablecontentensuresyoursiteisstructuredforbothsearchenginesandpeople.HowdoImakemycontentindexable?WerecommendusingHTMLor textwherepossibleonyour site.Of course, youwill stillwant tousegraphicsorothervisualfeatures,butwhenyoudo,makesureyouhavesupplementaltextthatwillhelpsearchenginesunderstandthecontentonyoursite.Becareful,though–usinganexcessivenumberofkeywords or duplicating content solely to boost your site’s search ranking can lead your site to bedemoted.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

YoucanuseatoollikeSEO-Browser.com,Google’scache,andMozBartoseeexactlyhowsearchenginesseeyourcontentandtohelpyoudouble-checkyourwork.

There are several more advanced measures you can take to make your content indexable. Theseinclude:Ø Provide alternate text (sometimes just called “alt text”) inHTML for images inGIF, JPEG, or PNG

formattogivesearchenginesawrittendescriptionofthevisualcontentØ Supplementsite-specificsearchtools,whichdon’tserveanySEObenefit,withclearnavigationlinks

thatsearchenginecrawlerscanfindandindexØ ProvideatranscriptforvideoandaudiocontentsothatsearchenginescanindexthecontentsANoteAboutMobileGooglenowranks sitesdifferentlyonmobileplatformsanddesktops. If youdonothaveaversionofyour site optimized for mobile devices, then it is likely that your site will be demoted when a usersearchesforitonamobiledevice.Mobilesearchnowaccountsforover50%ofsearches,andcontinuestogrow,soensuringyoursiteisproperlyconfiguredformobiledevicesiscrucial.

4. ResearchandTargetKeywordsSEOisaboutmorethanjustdirectingtraffictoyourwebsite–it’saboutmakingsurethepeopledirectedto your site findwhat theywere looking for. Your SEO keywords are thewords and phrases in yourcontent thatmake it possible for people to find your site through search engines. Having knowledgeaboutthekeywordspeopleusetofindsiteslikeyoursisanessentialpartofanySEOstrategy.Whatiskeywordingandhowdoesithelpmysite?Keywordresearchinvolvesidentifyingtheactualsearchtermspeopleenterintosearchenginestofindsitesaboutparticulartopics.Havingknowledgeofthesekeywordsandusing ittodevelopa listofkeywords foryourownsite isakeypartofa successfulSEOstrategy. Itwillhelpyou rankhighly for thekeywordspeoplearesearchingforwhenthey’relookingforwhatyoursiteoffers.HowdoIresearchandimplementkeywording?Formaximumimpact,yourkeywordsshouldbewell-researchedandproperlyplaced.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

Thereareseveralresourcesavailabletoaidinyourkeywordresearch.Somegoodtoolsinclude:GoogleAdWords Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Microsoft Bing Ads Intelligence, andWordTracker’s FreeBasic Keyword Demand. Because keyword trends change over time, implementing keywords is not aone-timeoccurrencebut shouldbeanongoingpartof your routine sitemaintenanceefforts.Keep inmind that the relevance of particular keywords has a greater impact on search rankings than thefrequencywithwhichyouuseparticularkeywords(sometimescalledkeyworddensity).KeywordRelevanceWearemobilizing the creative community to speak up about the value of creativity – and speak outagainsttheharmcausedbypiracy. Inorderforourvoicestobeheard,creativesmusttakepart intheconversation.Vs.KeywordDensityWe are mobilizing the creative community to speak up about the value of creativity. We want thecreative community to speak out against the harm caused by piracy. In order for the voices of thecreative community to be heard, and to fight piracy, the creative community must take part in theconversationtopromotecreativityandfightpiracy.Once you have identified your keywords, you should place them in high-attention areas that searchenginesareknowntoconsiderwhendetermining the relevanceofa site toaparticular search: titles,headings,descriptions,content,imagetitles,alttext,anchortext,andURLs.Somesiteownersengage inapracticecalledkeywordstuffing,which involves litteringpages (or theirmetatags)withdozensofrepetitivekeywords,manyofwhichmayhavenothingtodowiththecontentsofthesite.Searchenginescanidentifykeywordstuffingandroutinelypenalizesitesthatengageinthepractice.Considerusingvariationsofahandfulofveryrelevantkeywordsratherthankeywordstuffing.

5. LeverageSocialMediaYour socialmedia presence can have a significant impact on search engine optimization. This sectionoutlineswaysyoucanboostyoursocialmediapresencewhileimprovingyourwebsite’sSEOatthesametime.Whatisitandhowdoesithelpmysite?Weknowwe’re stating the obvious, but socialmedia is a formof electronic communication throughwhichpeoplecreateonlinecommunitiestoshareinformation,ideas,personalmessages,andwhatever(platforms likeFacebook,Reddit, Instagram).Searchengines lookatyoursocialmedia influencewhendeterminingyourwebsite’srelevancyandranking.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

SocialmediamarketingandSEOgohand-in-hand–effectivesocialmedia strategiesnotonly improveyoursocial reach,butalsodirect traffic fromsocialmedia toyourpage,therebyboostingyoursearchrankings. In addition, since people don’t rely solely on search engineswhen looking for information,maintainingastrongsocialmediapresenceiscrucial.HowdoIleveragesocialmedia?While there are many ways you can leverage social media for SEO, you can start with theserecommendations:

GrowandEngageYourFollowingSincethetotalnumberoffollowersyouhavesignificantlyimpactsyoursearchranking,youshouldfocusongrowingyouraudienceorganically.

Searchenginescandetectthequalityofyourconnections,sopurchasingfollowerswon’thelp.Keepinmind,searchenginestakethefrequencyofyourpostsandhowwellyouengagewithyouraudienceintoconsideration, so merely having followers isn’t enough: you must engage with them regularly andencouragetheirengagementwithyou(through“liking”posts,forexample).

MakeYourContentSearchableandShareableYour social media profilesmust be public to reach asmany people as possible. Facebook offers theabilitytomakeyourpostssearchablethroughmajorsearchengines.Todothis,navigatetoyourprivacysettingsandenabletheoption:“Doyouwantothersearchenginestolinktoyourtimeline?”

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

Alsoconsiderincorporatingkeywordsandhashtagsintoyourposts,andboostyourmostsharedposts.Puttingmoneybehindthemwillincreasethevisibilityofyourcontentonsocialmedia.Itdoesn’thavetobe a lot of money either – $10 on Facebook can go a long way if you choose the right audienceparameters.

TakeAdvantageofSocialMediaMetaTagsSocialtagsmakeiteasyforpeopletoshareandtheyhelpsearchenginesunderstandwhatyourcontentisabout.ThesetagsgoinyourcodetohelpdeterminewhatinformationappearsonsocialpageswhenpeopleshareyourURL.Addingmetatagstooldposts thatperformedwellcanboostoldcontentandhelpitmaintainrelevance.Considerusingatagtooltomaketheprocesseasierandmoremanageable:Yoast,Socialize,Raven,andthisFacebookPlug-in.

LinktoYourWebpageSince search engines frequently crawl social media, direct links on your page can boost your site’sranking.Makesureyouhaveaworkinglinktoyourwebsiteineverysocialprofileyouhave.

6. MeasureandTrackSuccessOnceyou’ve implemented the stepsoutlined in this guide, you’llwant tokeep trackofwhetheryourefforts have paid off. This section offers some suggestions on how to measure and track your SEOefforts.Whatismeasuringandtrackingandhowwillithelpmysite?MeasuringandtrackingyourSEOstrategy involvesstudyingkeyperformance indicators (KPIs) suchasrankings, traffic, and conversions (peoplewho visit your site and take some action, such as buying aproductorbecomingamember).Measurementiscriticaltosuccess.Trackingtheeffectivenessofyourstrategywillhelpyouidentifyareasthataren’tworkingandprovideactionabledatatohelpmakefuturedecisions.HowdoImeasureandtracksuccess?Keywordrankingsareagoodmetrictotrack.Youshouldknowifyou’retargetingtherightkeywords.Ifnoneofyourpostsrankfortheirtargetkeywords,youshouldconsiderfindinglesscompetitivewords.Ifyour keywords don’t slowly improve in the rankings, it may be time to adjust your SEO strategyaltogether.

5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1650, Los Angeles, CA 90036

+1-323-591-3000 | www.CreativeFuture.org

Youshouldalsoknowhowpeoplearegettingtoyoursite–whetheritisfromdirectnavigation(typed-intraffic), referral traffic (promotional or branded campaigns), or from search traffic (queries that sendtrafficfromsearchengines).Thereare several freeanalytic tools that canhelpmonitorand track success:GoogleAnalytics,ClickyWeb Analytics, Piwik Open Source Analysis, Woopra Website Tracking, and AWStats. We alsorecommend using Google and Bing’s webmaster tools, which provide valuable insight into theperformanceof yourwebsiteon their respective search engines. Thesedashboards reveal howmanypagesareindexedbysearchengines,whichsitesarelinkingtoyours,andimportantwarningsaboutthehealthofyourwebsite.Theyalsoprovidesuggestions for improvingoptimizationand troubleshootingcrawleraccessissues.

7. MoreSEOReadingYouknowthatsayingfromFieldofDreams–“Ifyoubuildit,theywillcome”?Turnsout,notsomuch.SEOiscriticalforincreasingyourvisibilityonlineanddrivingtraffictoyoursite.Youcan’tbuildawebsiteandjustexpectpeopletofindit.ManyorganizationshireSEOprofessionalstooptimizetheirwebsites.Youdon’thaveto.ThestepsoutlinedinthisguidearethefundamentalbuildingblockstobuildingyourownSEOstrategy.Ifyouonlyhavetimetodoonething,werecommendbuildingbacklinkssincetheyarethesinglemostimportantfactorsearchenginesconsiderwhenrankingyourwebsite.TolearnevenmoreaboutSEO,checkoutthesein-depthresources:

• Moz’sBeginnerGuidetoSEO• Google’sStepstoaGoogle-FriendlySite

Goodluck,CreativeFuturemember!