the down-low on seo: an overview

THE DOWN-LOW ON SEOAn Overview of Search Engine Optimization – What it is, what it does, and how it relates to other marketing efforts

SEO DEFINED: A VISUAL FRAMEWORK

Other online marketing types include:-Banner ads-Email marketing

WHAT IS SEO?

Search Engine Optimization – the process of getting found by

Search engines Target audiences

SEO shares goals and tactics with public relations and social media efforts:

Building the organization’s reputation Attracting attention and interest Improving and creating external

relationships Driving, connecting, and matching people

to services they need that we offer

THE CUMULATIVE CYCLE OF SEO

SEO TASKS IN THE CYCLE

Keyword research continues,

informs

Page/site optimization tasks signal authority, credibility to search engines

Good SERP listings; competitor research

Page/content optimized

Social media platforms, content accelerate sharing

Link – building boosts rankings

Analytics reports should show increased ranks, traffic, conversions

SERP: SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS PAGE

Paid Search Ads

News

Keyword

SEARCH ENGINES… Google (including image search, etc) Yahoo Bing You Tube, Twitter, Facebook, iTunes,

Amazon…

SEO TASKS: DETAILS

•Page optimization•Link building•Analysis, tracking•Content strategy

ONLINE PRESENCE

•Social media•Press releases •Website content

KEYWORD RESEARCH PPC

KEYWORD RESEARCH

On the most basic level: Keywords are the terms or phrases people use when performing a search on the web.

Keyword research answers the question what are people looking for and how are they finding it? And:

Forms the foundation of any SEO strategy Constantly evolves, shifts Involves identifying effective, common terms on both

broad and specific scales Must take into account complex factors, including

competitor performance, existing website content, trends

OPTIMIZING PAGES

For a page to be found, it must clearly and accurately identify itself and its content to both search engines and

users.

This means both the content users see and the metadata search engine robots read must clearly state the topic and its relevance – so users know if they want to click and robots know where to rank the page.

LINK BUILDING

Why? Search engines give more weight to websites

with a large number of links from other credible websites

Inbound links maximize the ability for users to find the site

Most desirable connections:- Government, education sites- Directories, industry associations- Reputable blogs, recommending sites

ONGOING CONTENT PLAN

It’s not enough for a website or page to be accessible through search; to maintain high search engine rankings over time requires that users consider the content on the site itself

Worthwhile User-friendly

Customer-centric Trustworthy

Appealing

SEO & PR: GOOD FRIENDS

“SEO PR,” a sub-branch of SEO, is defined as:

…a blend of search engine visibility and traditional public relations that disperses a company’s message across the Internet by way of online media outlets and search engines. SEO PR not only helps disseminate an organization’s messages, but it also incorporates search engine-friendly communication through techniques such as optimizing copy in online content such as press releases, articles, whitepapers, blogs, RSS feeds and websites.

SEO-OPTIMIZED PRESS RELEASES SUPPORT SEO EFFORTS BY GENERATING:

Media relationships that can lead to valuable linking and social media connections

Backlinks from credible news sites Visibility in search engines Ranking in Google News and Yahoo Tens of thousands of headline impressions

across hundreds of blogs, websites, and news sites that run RSS headlines

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTRIBUTES TO SEO EFFORTS BY:

Identifying inbound-linking opportunities Providing inbound links Helping cover the first page of a SERP with

brand sites (company, blog, twitter, facebook, linked in, press releases, news)

Giving traffic: 60-75% of web users read blogs; websites with blogs get 55% more traffic than those without

Ramping up site value with fresh content

SEO VS. PPC

Organic search results are based on the web pages’ relevancy to the keywords typed into the search engine

Paid search is a quick way to have a site listed on or near the top; it is based on the keyword chosen and the highest bid for that keyword; includes Google AdWords as well as Facebook ads

SEO & PPC: BENEFITS

WHEN IS IT BEST TO USE SEO?

WHEN IS IT BEST TO USE PPC? 

CONDUCTING SIMULTANEOUS CAMPAIGNS

Some of the most powerful SEO strategies blend PPC and SEO, taking advantage of both systems:

- Dominate results page- Attract all kinds of users- Use PPC to inform SEO strategy- Note: Adwords campaigns DO NOT increase

organic rankingsAn SEO strategy, built up over time, should reduce

the cost-per-click price of a combined strategy. If a site ranks well for expensive terms, then you may be able to switch PPC bidding away from these terms and use the funds on covering other terms.

HOW CAN WE WORK TOGETHER?

Keep the SEO informed about the dates of events and campaigns to enable tracking of the affects of these on website traffic

Help ensure all materials use the same URLs Use keywords and links in press releases and

other communications (e.g., emails) to help drive traffic to uvahealth.com

Find and share ideas on magnetic content Find and share other sites – partners,

competitors – for benchmarking, linking

RESOURCES & REFERENCES

http://www.adamsherk.com/seo/newsroom-editorial-seo-tactics/http://www.slideshare.net/searchmojo/how-pr-and-social-media-impact-seo-5706825

“An

Empirical Study Of Paid Listings In Product Search And Purchase” (PDF)

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-social-media-marketers-seo-checklist