State of Search 2015Oct 21st

Craig Paddock

Slide 1 of 347

State of Search in 2015

Commercial queries = Google ads

Google doesn’t like you if you don’t like mobile

Google likes sites that users like

Utilize ALL possible Adwords ad extensions

Only bid where profitable

Google Rankings

External factors

Link popularity

Link quality

Anchor text

Internal Factors

Site structure

Title tag

Header

Body text

URL

Meta description (not directly)

Meta keywords (not)

Structured data

Usability

Engagement metrics - Bounce rate

Load time

Mobile compatibility

Secure hosting

Link Equity

Google – first engine to measure link popularity

Editorial links – not advertisements

Links are a vote of confidence for the recipient site

PageRank Formula=

The PageRank value of a page reflects the chance that the random surfer will land on

that page by clicking on a link.

PageRank Formula=

Link Equity

Hierarchy of your site

(buried page)

Link from authority site

Link from deep page

Link from page w/ # of links

Link Equity

Link equity is a “factor”

999,999 x 0 =0

999,999 x 0 = 999,999

Content is NOT King when your link equity is 0.

www.5minutesite.com/local_keywords.php

Case Study:

• 1,538 keyphrases

• 325 cities nearby

• 560 nearby zipcodes

• Ordered by proximity!

5MinuteSite.com

Link Equity

Link Equity

Google Quality Rating Handbook

“Vital”

“Useful” - highly satisfying, authoritative, entertaining

“Relevant”

“Slightly Relevant”

“Off-topic”

“If a page exists only to make money, the page is spam.”

Be an Authority

Don’t just target top sales terms

Authority in your industry

Interesting

Encourages links

Encourages sharing via social channels

Increases site user experience – lower bounce rate etc.

Buying guides, How To, FAQ content

Lists – “Top Ten Reasons to…”

Acquiring Links

Business cards?

Consistently promote business (with single domain)

You’re running for political office:

Don’t buy votes

Always use the same name

Acquiring Links

From indexed page directly to your site (no tracking URLs)

Request references be changed to live links

What links do your competitors have?

Moz – Open Site Explorer

Majestic SEO

SEOBook Toolbar

Link social channels to primary site

Links with no traffic probably have little value - footer links/hidden links

What sites do you have access to? Family links

Don’t expect Google to think a site is important that you don’t think is important.

Acquiring Links

Redirect old URLs! This is FREE $$$

Check traffic going to 404 pages

Paid search – indirect impact

And the #1 way to get links…..

Acquiring Links

Run a great business

Acquiring Links

Articles/media mentions

Partnerships

Vendor relationships

Recommendations

Reviews/Testimonials

Paid search (yes, I said Paid Search!)

Acquiring Links

1,186 external websites

CNN

Forbes

CNET

CBSNews

Consumer Reports

Link Equity (borrowed)

Publish content at existing

domain!

YouTube pages rank well and

quickly for niche keyphrases

On-site Elements

Internal Factors

Title tag - Important for ranking and usability

Reverse breadcrumb:

Product > Subcategory > Category > Brand

Header - Important for ranking and usability

Body text - moderately important ranking - synonyms

URL - slightly important for ranking, important for usability

Meta description - not used for ranking, important for

usability

Meta keywords - not used for ranking or usability

***Content does not cross pages!

Internal Factors

Deleting the primary keyphrase from your Title tag could drop you from #2 to #13

( a single occurrence in body text of primary keyphrase)

Schema

NAP – name, address,

breadcrumb

phone

category

map URL

hours

events

logo URL

social medial URLs

site search URL

reviews

Mobile compatibility

HTTPS encryption

Site speed

Ranking factor

Impacts usability

GA report:

Behavior > Site Speed > Page Timings

Do Users Like Your Website?

Keyphrase Research

Google Keyword Planner

Historical organic data

Google Search Console (GWT)

Paid search data

Internal site search

Brainstorm around the office

Competitors terms – SpyFu / SEMRush

Competitors Title tags

Google Auto Suggest

Keyphrase Research

Not Provided – “Paid vs Organic Report”

August 2013 Google launched paid vs organic report

Adwords account, but no specific budget

Connected to GWT (Search Console) account

Under “Dimensions” tab

More specific than GA data

No historical data

Downloadable into Excel

No performance data or landing page

Paid vs Organic Report within Adwords

Site Structure

Site live ASAP!

Domain itself has little impact (news.com doesn’t rank for “news”)

Make sure all content is indexable

Use friendly URLs-

.com/?ID=324628&content=27491&Sqw=39165

vs

.com/ham-sandwich

1:1 Relationship between URLs and content

SAY WHAT YOU DO!

SAY WHAT YOU DO!

Site Content

Create TARGETED pages of content around your products and services

“Punching bags”

Site Hierarchy

Google ranks individual pages

Every page represents an opportunity for

rankings

Important content at the top!

Internal pages receive link equity from site

structure

A global nav page rank will rank 3# vs 3

page for 3 layer

SEO Myths

XML Sitemap will increase your ranking

Meta keywords

Keyphrase rich domain name – www.cheap-blue-widgets.net

Fresh content

Duplicate content will get you penalized

Value of Press Releases

SEO = 5 things right, 0 things wrong

Respected domain

Proper internal link structure

Indexable content – clean URL

Realistic keyphrase targets

Targeted pages of content:

Title tag

Header

Body text

SEO = 5 things right, 0 things wrong

Paid Search vs Organic Search

Almost 2/3 of Google clicks go to

paid ads for queries with

commercial intent

(wordstream.com/blog/)

Paid Search vs Organic Search

18 paid links above organic:

Paid Search

Paid Search

Paid Search

Guaranteed profit!

If traffic is worth $2.00 per click, don’t bid more than $2.00!

If traffic is only worth $.50 per click, don’t bid more than $.50!

Volume vs ROI

Split-Testing

Headline

Ad Copy

***Display URL***

Landing Page

Quality Score

Ad Position

Ad Rank = Max. CPC Bid * Quality Score

CTR impact on bid price

25% CTR @ $.085% CTR @ $.32

Adwords Call Outs

Call Outs – Sept 2014:

Adwords Structured Snippets

August 27th, 2015

Highlight specific aspects of Products and services

Minimum of 3 Snippets

25 character limit

Negative matching (Don’t trust Google)

jobs/employment

free

cheap

news

time travel

Impression share – Beware of Daily Caps!

Content Network/Display Network

Turn Off at launch!!!

66% conversion rate of search

Adwords Customer Match

DSA and Google Shopping

DSA – Dynamic Search Ads

Google Shopping Ads

Search Tools

Screaming Frog

Google Search Console (previously Google Webmaster Tools)

Moz / Majestic

SpyFu

SEMRush

Google Ad Preview Tool

Google Alerts

Search Conferences

Pubcon – $850 Vegas

SMX – $1,600 - New York, San Francisco, Seattle (Advanced)

SES - $1,700 New York, San Francisco, Chicago

Brad Geddes Workshops