Selected Independent Funeral HomesMay 1, 2014 – St. Charles, MO

Kip Johnson - FuneralNet

GOOGLE AND SEARCH ENGINE SUCCESS

HOW TO RANK WELL ORGANICALLY, LOCALLY, AND WITH OBITUARIES

THIS MORNING’S TOPICS

1. How search engines work and what they’re looking for2. Types of search results and how-to’s for each3. Reviews and their role in search results4. Navigating the Google Zoo

Pandas, Penguins, and Hummingbirds5. Examples and case studies

1. HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK

• Enormous indexes in many dimensions• Keywords and phrases• Page titles and headers• A mix of text, photo, and video• Position of content on page

• Easy to find contact information (NAP)• Name, address, phone number

• Original, current, and relevant content

TEXT, PHOTO, AND VIDEO

PAGE POSITION: EYE TRACKING “HEAT MAPS”

2. TYPES OF SEARCH RESULTS AND HOW-TO’S

• Organic• Local• Paid

ORGANIC KEYWORD SEARCH RESULTS

Organic

Local

KEYWORDS FOR WINNING SEO

• Keys to Keywords• Think titles, tags, and text• Strike a keyword-rich balance• Use analysis tools to help ID keywords

TITLES AND TEXT

KEYWORDS FOR WINNING SEO

• Keys to Keywords• Think titles, tags, and text• Strike a keyword-rich balance• Use analysis tools to help ID keywords

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Google AdWords Keyword Planner

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Google AdWords Keyword Planner

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Google Trends - www.google.com/trends

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Google Trends - www.google.com/trends

THE IMPORTANCE OF OBITUARIES

• Integral part of the website• 60-90% of most death care industry websites’ visits are

obituary related• Naturally generates current and original content• Rich-snippets enhancing search results

OBITUARY SEARCH RESULTS

OBITUARY SEARCH RESULTS

TYPES OF SEARCH RESULTS AND HOW-TO’S

• Organic• Local• Paid

LOCALIZING FOR WINNING SEO

• Stake your claim• Business claiming (Google, Bing, Yahoo)• Google Places and Google+ Local example

• Other on-line sources for local information• Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), Yelp, Manta, etc.

• A Tale of Multiple Cities• Metros, suburbs, towns, neighborhoods

LOCALIZING FOR WINNING SEO

• Stake your claim• Business claiming (Google, Bing, Yahoo)• Google Places and Google+ Local example

• Other on-line sources for local information• Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), Yelp, Manta, etc.

• A Tale of Multiple Cities• Metros, suburbs, towns, neighborhoods

CLAIMING YOUR BUSINESS

There are 15 million businesses in the United States . . .

Less than 4 million have been claimed . . .

And of those, less than half are reasonably complete.

Chances are, for 90% or more, this is currently a big search opportunity missed.

CLAIMING YOUR BUSINESS

CLAIMING YOUR BUSINESS

LOCALIZING FOR WINNING SEO

• Stake your claim• Business claiming (Google, Bing, Yahoo)• Google Places and Google+ Local example

• Other on-line sources for local information• Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), Yelp, Manta, etc.

• A Tale of Multiple Cities• Metros, suburbs, towns, neighborhoods

IYP AND DATA PROVIDERS

• Acxiom• CitySearch• Dex Knows• Kudzu• Manta• Superpages• Yahoo• Yellowpages• Yelp

IYPI – InternetY – YellowP- Pages

IYP LISTINGS

IYP LISTINGS

LOCALIZING FOR WINNING SEO

• Stake your claim• Business claiming (Google, Bing, Yahoo)• Google Places and Google+ Local example

• Other on-line sources for local information• Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), Yelp, Manta, etc.

• A Tale of Multiple Cities• Metros, suburbs, towns, neighborhoods

REACHING INTO MANY MARKETS

• Location-specific content• Dedicated location pages• Titles, tags, and text (location keywords)• Footer content

• Sub-landing pages

SUB-LANDING PAGE EXAMPLE

PHOTOS AND VIRTUAL TOURS

http://www.majorfamilyfuneralhome.com/_mgxroot/page_10787.php

3. ONLINE REVIEWS

• Why they matter• What they look like and where they are posted• Legitimate vs. ‘manufactured’ reviews

WHY ONLINE REVIEWS MATTER

• Ever-increasing importance to SEO• More users looking at reviews

• 89% of people now use the web as an influencing part of their purchase decisions

• More users leaving reviews• 47% of people reported leaving an online

review about a recent experience

SEARCH AND REVIEW EXAMPLE

SEARCH AND REVIEW EXAMPLE

Google Review

Superpages Reviews

LEGITIMATE VS. ‘MANUFACTURED’

• Only use actual statements and testimonials

• Do not ghost write reviews• Avoid promises of ‘web saturation’ through

dozens/hundreds of reviews

ASKING FOR FAMILY PARTICIPATION

• When a family is very with satisfied with the services you’ve provided, help them share that with the world:• While letters of thanks are nice, ask that they submit

online• Be prepared to point them to your Google Places and

Google+ Local profiles, Facebook, and others• Selectively contact via mail

OBSTACLES TO SUCCESS

• Technical know-how (or lack thereof) for older demographics

• Mandatory profiles to leave on-line reviews with major review sites (e.g. Google+, Yelp)

4. WELCOME TO THE GOOGLE ZOO

• Panda anti-pandemonium• Quality user experience with relevant results

• Penguin punishes purveyors of poo• Getting rid of spam and link-factory sites

• Hummingbird lifts quality sites and content• Beyond keywords to match quality content with user intent• Sophisticated natural language methods applied

5. EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDIES

• Carmon Funeral Homes (Hartford, CT area)• Results of on-site vs. off-site SEO techniques

• Wichmann-Fargo (Appleton/Fox Cities, WI)• On-site obituaries vs. third-party obituaries

• Bliley/Nelsen Funeral Homes (Richmond, VA)• Site rich in content vs. corporate/chain template

CARMON FUNERAL HOMES

• A firm with numerous location outside of Hartford wanting to do well on Hartford searches• Started non-existent in Organic Search results (not in

first 100 listings), and now ranking #5• This is separate from Local Search results

WICHMANN-FARGO

• Comparing website traffic for 90 days after de-integration of obituaries vs. 90 days before:• Number of visits was down by 20%• Number of unique visitors was down by 23%• Average visit duration was reduced by 30%

• Obituary visits, even if no other site content is viewed, represent significant branding time

BLILEY / NELSEN

• Bliley and Nelsen used to duke it out for the #1 and #2 search rankings

• Nelsen was sold to SCI and they implemented their SCI corporate umbrella template to the site

• Bliley is now solidly #1 both Organically and Locally, and the Nelsen entity is several organic notches lower, and not even first page on Bing

RICHMOND SEARCH RESULTS

BLILEY HOME PAGE

NELSEN (DIGNITY / SCI) HOME PAGE

SUMMARY OF BEST PRACTICES

• Original, current content in multiple formats• Proper keyword use – NAP, titles, tags, text• Photos and virtual tours• Treat obituaries as an integral part of your site• Claim and complete business profiles• Encourage on-line reviews

Selected Independent Funeral HomesMay 1, 2014 – St. Charles, MO

Kip Johnson - FuneralNet

GOOGLE AND SEARCH ENGINE SUCCESS

HOW TO RANK WELL ORGANICALLY, LOCALLY, AND WITH OBITUARIES