Attaining Front Page Rankings with SEO

Get Your MBO / October 14, 2008

• Competitive research

• Keyword research

• Keyword selection

• Title tags

• Meta descriptions

• Body content

Basic SEO Techniques – Months 1-3

Slide 2

1. Why and how to develop site maps2. Why and how to cross link3. Why and how to solve indexing issues4. Why and how to track “engagement” analytics5. Why and how to find “content gaps”6. Why and how to generate linking opportunities7. Why and how to use social media8. Why and how to edit and optimize specific pages

Advanced SEO Techniques – Month 4+

Slide 3

• Notes refer to slide numbers

• Every technique includes the “why” and the “how” (WH2)

• Ask yourself, “How *well* am I implementing this technique?”

Three IMPORTANT Notes

Slide 4

WH2 Develop Site Maps

Slide 5

• W: Users and search engines

• H2:– Build HTML version and XML version– http://gsitecrawler.com/– Submit to Google Webmaster Tools– Submit to Yahoo! Site Explorer

WH2 Cross Link

Slide 7

• W: Engage your readers, links are votes

• H2:– Which pages “answer questions” using

other pages?– Which pages are related to other pages?– Which pages are most important?– Which pages might your readers be

interested in?

Increase References to Other Pages

Slide 8

WH2 Solve Indexing Issues

Slide 9

• W: No index = no rank• H2:

– Pages with > 100 unique links to other pages on the site– Pages buried > 3 clicks/links from the home page– Pages requiring a session ID or cookie to enable navigation– Pages accessible only via a form and submit button– Pages accessible only via a drop-down menu– Pages accessible only via a search box– Pages blocked purposefully via robots.txt– Pages requiring a login– Hat tip to SEOmoz!

Stop Characters

Slide 10

Characters in the URL such as & or = or %

Framed Pages

Slide 11

Framed pages can cause confusion about which pages to rank

WH2 Track “Engagement” Analytics

Slide 12

• W: Are you on the right path?– “Chris argues that ‘engagement’ is not a measurable ROI

measure for business. You have to apply the results to the bottom line!” – Hat tip to Doug Karr!

• H2:– Page views per visit– Bounce rate– Time on site– Subscribers/comments (if a blog)

• Blog Indiana presentation– Leave a card or email patrick.east@hanapinmarketing.com

WH2 Find “Content Gaps”

Slide 13

• W: Engage your readers further, rank for additional keywords

• H2:– Look at pages with high bounce rate– Ask yourself what other content could help

paint a clearer picture– Look at long tail keywords

WH2 Generate Linking Opportunities

Slide 14

• W: Links are votes and the more votes, the more “Google juice”

• H2:– 1 on 1 emails– Directory submissions– Cornerstone content– Regular/consistent content– Link bait

WH2 Use Social Media

Slide 15

• W: Influence the influencers, engage your readers, and get profile links

• H2:– Twitter– LinkedIn– Facebook– Face-to-Face

WH2 Edit and Optimize Specific Pages

Slide 17

• W: Not ranking high for a keyword but should be or need to start ranking for other keywords

• H2:– Update title tag, meta description, header

tags, body content, in-bound anchor text– Persistent footer with contact information– Combine pages and use 301 redirects

Action Items

Slide 18

• Ask yourself, “How *well* am I implementing these techniques?”

• Implement 1 technique to start or improve. Just 1. Only 1. This week.

• Blog Indiana *and/or* IU SEO presentations - leave a card or email patrick.east@hanapinmarketing.com

Our Websites:www.hanapinmarketing.com

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