Optimize Your Bottom Line:

What You Need to Know About SEO (Search Engine

Optimization)

presented by seOverflow

• seOverflow is a Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search marketing company in Denver, CO.

• We specialize in offering solutions that enable web design companies, marketing consultants, and other solution providers to offer high end SEO services to their clients.

• We are a Google Adwords Qualified Company, Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassadors, and SEMPO members.

• http://www.seOverflow.com

Who Is seOverflow?

• Chris Hickey – Director of Business Development– Twitter: @hicculus

– Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishickey

• Mary Bowling – Director of SEO– Twitter: @marybowling

– Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marybowling

• Reid Fenlaw – Director of Link Building & Social Media– Twitter: @rfenlaw

– Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/reidfenlaw

Today’s Presenters

What Is SEO?

presented by seOverflow

• Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine.

• Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

SEO Is…

Anatomy of a SERP

Organic

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click

Local Ten Pack

Organic vs PPC

Who Gets The Clicks?

Source: Enquiro, 2006

Who Gets The Clicks?

Source: Enquiro, 2006

Search Engine Market Share

What Rankings Are Worth

• #1 - 42.13%• #2 - 11.90% (3.5x less)• #3 - 8.50% (4.9x less)• #4 - 6.06% (6.9x less)• #5 - 4.92% (8.5x less)• #6 - 4.05% (10.4x less)• #7 - 3.41% (12.3x less)• #8 - 3.01% (14x less)• #9 - 2.85% (14.8x less)• #10 - 2.99% (14.1x less)

* This data does not take into account Local Search

Who Gets The Clicks?

• Wizardry or a myth• Keywords in the meta tags only• $29.95 per month• Submission to 1000 search engines every month• An overnight success• A one time activity• Something purchased from any site “Yellow”

What SEO Is NOT:

• On-page Optimization– Research, planning and implementation.

Anything and everything that can be controlled on the website.

• Off-page Optimization– Includes Link Building, Local Search

Optimization, Social Media

SEO From 30,000 Feet

On-page Optimization

Research, Planning and Implementation

Keyword Research is the process of discovering for which keywords you should optimize. KW research is critical. Without it, your SEO efforts may be misdirected.

Keyword Research: The Cornerstone of SEO

Keyword Research Steps

1. Brainstorming

2. Use Keyword Research Tools

3. Check The Competition Levels, Choose The Keywords

• How much traffic does the keyword receive?

• How likely is someone using that keyword to reach your site going to convert into a customer/lead/sale?

• How competitive is the keyword?

• How much budget and time do you have?

Is This A Good Keyword?

Google Keyword Tool• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal• FREE

WordTracker• http://www.wordtracker.com/• Paid service (FREE trial)

Keyword Discovery• http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/• Paid Service (FREE trial)

Keyword Research Tools

Match Types• Broad Match

– “similar phrases and relevant variations”

• Phrase Match– “searches that match the exact phrase”

• Exact Match– “match the exact phrase exclusively”

**Broad Match is up to Google’s interpretation**

Source: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6100

Google Keyword Tool

Keyword Competitiveness• Google operator searches

– Intitle• Intitle:”My search phrase”

– Inurl• Inurl:”My search phrase”

– Inanchor• Inanchor:”My search phrase”

• Example of Inanchor operator– restaurants Denver inanchor:kid-friendly

• Search for pages on Denver restaurants for which links to the page say they are "kid friendly.")

Gauging Keyword Competition

Keyword Research: The Long Tail

• The Keyword Matrix is an optimization map showing which pages will be optimized for which keywords.

• Typically we target 1-5 closely related keywords per page. (3 on avg.)

• Many times we suggest adding new pages to existing sites.

• We use the keywords identified in the matrix as your main ‘rank checking’ keywords.

The Keyword Matrix

Keyword URL1

seo outsourcing http://www.seoverflow.com

outsource seo http://www.seoverflow.com

seo outsourcing company http://www.seoverflow.com

keyword research services http://www.seoverflow.com/services/keyword-research.html

keyword research report http://www.seoverflow.com/services/keyword-research.html

outsource keyword research http://www.seoverflow.com/services/keyword-research.html

outsource ppc http://www.seoverflow.com/services/pay-per-click.html

ppc outsourcing http://www.seoverflow.com/services/pay-per-click.html

outsource pay per click http://www.seoverflow.com/services/pay-per-click.html

outsource link building http://www.seoverflow.com/services/link-building.html

link building outsourcing http://www.seoverflow.com/services/link-building.html

link building services http://www.seoverflow.com/services/link-building.html

The Keyword Matrix Example

• Title Tags– <TITLE>Specific to Each Page</TITLE>

• Header Tags– <H1>Main Heading</H1>– <H2>Sub-Header</H2>

• Unique Content– Duplicate Content is BAD!– http://www.copyscape.com

TOP 3 On-PageOptimization Components

• Spiderability• Accessibility (Broken Links, W3C, File Size etc.)• Meta Tags (keywords & description)• Image Optimization

– Use ALT tags• Internal Linking

– Often overlooked, extremely valuable• Outbound Links

– Your site should not be the ‘dead end’ of the internet• Keyword Density• Sitemap (HTML & XML)• Robots.txt• Site architecture / navigation format• Custom 404 Error Page

Other Critical On-pageOptimization Components

• Google Analytics (FREE)• Google Webmaster Tools (also FREE)

More Recommended Tools

Link Building

Strategies For Finding and Acquiring Powerful Links

Link Building Is…

• Link Building is the practice of obtaining links from external websites into your own website in order to obtain higher search engine rankings and/or direct referrals.

Link Building Basics

• Links as “votes”– When another website links to yours,

that site is essentially casting a “vote” for your website.

– The more votes you have the better, although in this game the quality of the votes you receive is very important too.

Link Building Basics, cont’d

• Quality Link Factors– Keyword Rich Text Link

• ‘Click Here’ vs. ‘My Target Keyword’

– Followed vs. No-Followed– Number of outbound links on the page– Age of the link

• Link becomes more trusted with time

– Neighborhoods (good vs. bad)– .edu & .gov– How recently & how often page is indexed– Page Rank (PR)

• General indicator

Getting Links

• Directory Submissions– Paid Directories– Free Directories– Niche Directories– General Directories

• Article Distribution– Plenty of free sites (such as Article Alley) that allow you to create

a profile and submit articles that include text links.

• Content Creation and Publication– In addition to articles, also consider creating videos, slideshows

etc and distributing across the web– Guest Articles

Getting Links

• Press Releases– Not just a tool for the traditional PR company anymore– Easy way to generate some text links for your product or service– Press releases often will show up quite high in search results, at

least for a while• Exposure, plus a lasting link for relevant keywords

• Resource Pages– Look within relevant industry– Often can get these links for free– Present your website as a resource that should be included in

the owner’s list– Quality

Getting Links• Paid Links

– Against Google webmaster guidelines, much controversy– Still a widely used technique

• Sponsorships– Within relevant industry

• If your site deals with cars, consider sponsoring a car club

– Local Sponsorships• Sports leagues, parks, etc.- the Page Rank surprise!

• Community Involvement

• Video Distribution– http://www.TubeMogul.com

Getting Links

• Social Media– Social Media categorizes online tools that people use to share

content, opinions, profiles, and news itself. This sharing causes conversations and interactions between people online.

– Examples include• Voting style sites- Digg, Mixx, Sphinn

• Online communities- Myspace, Facebook

• Video based communities- YouTube

• Niche communities- health, auto lovers, etc.

Getting Links

• Link Bait– “Fishing for links”– Content developed from a unique angle on a relevant

topic that people will want to link to– Text (article), pictures, video, software or other tools– Host on your own site, and use Social Media sites to

give it a boost and generate links– Link Bait “market” is competitive and is often flooded

with material- stand out!– Link Bait can be loosely related to your actual site– End goal is links, not conversions

• Strategic Link Bait– Very manual distribution, most likely deals

within a certain niche

• Viral Link Bait– Can appeal to a broad audience, easy to

spread wide via social media

Two Types of Link Bait

Strategic Link Bait Example

Viral Link Bait Example

Links That Will Not Count

• 302 redirects

• Javascript / AJAX / Flash

• ‘Nofollow’ links

• Links on pages that are not indexed

Back Link Analysis• Backlink Analyzer

– http://tools.seobook.com/backlink-analyzer/

• Yahoo! Site Explorer– http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

• SEOmoz Linkscape• Hubfinder• SEObook Toolbar

Link Building Tools

Measuring SEO Success

Tracking, Measuring and Analyzing an SEO Project

• Rank checking is the most obvious key performance indicator (KPI).

• Beware that rankings can be different from user to user due to Personalized search and the use of multiple data centers.

Analytics and Tracking SEO

• The success of an SEO campaign is not just based off rankings. There are many other factors to measure and analyze.– Increases/Decreases in search volume– Conversion rates– Quality of Organic Visitors (time on site, pages viewed,

bounce rate, etc)– Number of Unique Keywords Used– Pages Indexed– Brand to Non Brand Mix of Keywords

Analytics and Tracking SEO

• 40+ Page custom SEO audit– Identify SEO Opportunities– Avoid SEO Pitfalls– Learn How to Make Your Site More Powerful– Analyze Your Competition

• http://www.seOverflow.com/seOverview• COUPON CODE (use at checkout)

– $200 off until 8/31 (SBDC200)– $100 off until 9/15 (SBDC100)

Quick Plug: seOverview

• Questions???

Q & A