seo basics & beyond - 2017 edition
TRANSCRIPT
SEO Basics & Beyond: Keys to Search Engine Success
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Agenda
What SEO Means How Search Engines Work Steps to Setting Up a
Successful SEO Strategy Things You Can Do Right
Now to Increase Your Exposure in Search Engines
SEO Trends to Watch
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Q&A
We will have Q&A at the end of each section
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Download Slides
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About Me
Coding since 6 years old Creating websites since
1997 Working in e-commerce
since 2005 Marketing MBA Agency since 2011
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What SEO Means
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What “SEO” Means
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the art and science of influencing
search engines to rank your content high in search results..
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What “SEO” Means
…influencing search engines…
1. Apply a set of educated guesses2. Test and measure results3. Rinse, repeat.
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How Search Engines Work
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How Search Engines Work
Google does data entry with your website
They extract a copy of your site’s text and code and put it into their own database
This is called “indexing”
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How Search Engines Work
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How Search Engines Work
Their copy is what gets searched against when a user enters a search
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How Search Engines Work
To determine position in results, sites are ranked according to a set of algorithms (“if this, then that” conditions)
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How Search Engines Work
There are over 200 known ranking factors that Google looks at
They can all be lumped into 3 categories
200+!
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How Search Engines Work
Technical ranking factors include things like: Search-engine-friendly
website code Error-free code Website server speed Mobile-friendliness Additional markup
(Schema.org)
1) Technical
?
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How Search Engines Work
Content ranking factors include things like: What keywords you use Where and how you use them How you organize the content Frequency of new content added How you link the content together
2) Content
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How Search Engines Work
Off Page ranking factors include things like: How many reputable & relevant websites link to
yours Social media “signals” (for local businesses) NAP Citations
(a.k.a. online phone book listings)
3) Off Page
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Questions onHow Search Engines Work?
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A Successful SEO Strategy
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A Successful SEO Strategy
A successful SEO strategy has 4 parts:1. Technical2. Content3. Off Page4. Measurement & Analysis
4 Parts
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Part 1: Technical Strategy
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A Successful SEO Strategy
New site in the works? Start with a “blueprint” Build it right in the first place! At most basic level, make sure new site will be fully responsive
(mobile-friendly), and that it loads fast per Google PageSpeed Insights test
Technical
WordPress is highly recommended as an SEO-friendly platform, as it is a widely-supported open source platform. Click here to read why open source is best for SEO.
An SEO Agency can provide full and customized specifications for the web designer to work off of
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Existing site? Start with an audit WooRank is free, but only scans one page and
doesn’t check for everything. Good place to start though.
An SEO agency can do a full audit▪ Be sure it includes mobile friendliness & site speed, as
well as other common factors such as header tag hierarchy, Schema.org, robots.txt, XML sitemaps, etc.
Technical
www.WooRank.com
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Technical
www.WooRank.com
Hand audit report to webmaster.
Tell them to fix it all.
(Cry at cost if necessary)
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) For now, still located at:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ Contains info on index status, crawl errors,
warning messages, penalties, mobile usability errors, etc .
This is THE ONLY place Google will communicate with you directly about your site!▪ Ensure that email notifications are turned on in the
preferences!
Technical
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Ongoing Technical Strategy Full audit updates quarterly Check Search Console regularly & subscribe to
email notifications▪ Consistently fix any crawl errors that come up
Subscribe to Google Webmaster Central Blog for real time alerts of new technical considerations▪ https://webmasters.googleblog.com/
Technical
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Questions onTechnical Strategy?
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Part 2: Content Strategy
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A Successful SEO Strategy
How to organize information A lot of different topics on one page is confusing
to the search engines
Content
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A Successful SEO Strategy
ContentHow to organize information
Separate pages for each topic, product, or service Link similar pages to each other to create topical
“hubs”
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A Successful SEO Strategy
ContentOngoing content strategy
“Fresh” content is important, but that doesn’t mean CHANGING existing content, that means ADDING new content
Important to keep site size growing by adding new pages or articles all the time
Blog RELIGIOUSLY!
(Blog must be on your own website, not on WordPress.com or Blogger.com)
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Content
Source: Hubspot
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Content
4 Categories = 4 Posts Per Month Use Keyword Research to get ideas Plan far ahead
• HINT: An Editorial Calendar is a lifesaver!
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Determine what keywords to use (a.k.a. “Keyword Research”)
Content
Search Suggest Tools▪ AnswerThePublic (free)
▪ Soovle (free)
Data Tools:▪ Google AdWords Keyword
Planner (for existing advertisers)
▪ SEMRush (partially free)
▪ SERPStat (partially free)
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A Successful SEO Strategy
“Not too hot, not too cold…”
Content
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A Successful SEO Strategy
ContentDetermine what keywords to use
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Where & how to use keywordsContent
1. Pick One Primary Phrase, and Several Secondaries for Context: Focus your content on one primary phrase that meets the “Goldilocks Rule”, but also pick several related words to use as secondaries. Secondaries don’t have to be used in all the following places, but should be “peppered in” naturally for context.
2. Use Primary Phrase in the Title: Use the phrase in the article or page title, towards the front if possible, e.g. “Facebook Marketing Strategy: Top 10 Best Practices”
3. Use Primary Phrase in a Subtitle: Subtitles are great for breaking up longer content into more digestible chunks. Use your phrase once in a subtitle.
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Where & how to use keywordsContent
4. Use Primary Phrase in the Title tag & URL: Most modern content management systems will do this automatically for you based on the title of your article, but make sure your phrase lands in both the title tag and the URL for the content.
5. Use Primary Phrase in the Meta description: This is a one-page summary of the content that search engines often use as the “snippet” in the search results. Although not a direct ranking factor, using the phrase here can assist with click-through rates.
6. Use Primary Phrase in Image Filename & Alt Tag: All content should have at least one image. Name the image filename with the phrase, using dashes (NOT underscores) as spaces, e.g. facebook-marketing-strategy.jpg. There is also a tag called an “image alt tag” that exists to tell search engines more about the image. Use your phrase in this description as well.
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Where & how to use keywordsContent
7. Use the Primary Phrase AND Secondaries in the Copy :
• It’s important that the copy reads very naturally, e.g. “New business owners often wonder what’s involved in executing a successful Facebook marketing strategy.”
• In total, when you are finished writing, the primary phrase should appear approximately 1 to 2 times per 100 words. This DOES include the titles and subtitles. DO NOT exceed this frequency!
• For example, a 500 word article should have the phrase appear anywhere from a minimum of 5 times (1 time per 100 words) to an absolute maximum of 10 times (2 times per 100 words).
• Secondaries can be used as little as 1 time each. Just “pepper them in” naturally.
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Questions onContent Strategy?
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Part 3: Off Page Strategy
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Off PageLinks
Other websites linking to your website QUALITY OVER QUANTITY Reputable and Relevant CANNOT be manipulated – DO NOT buy links!
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Off Page Best Ways to Get Natural Links
Write great content & pay to promote it ▪ Paying for eyeballs is okay, paying for links is not!▪ Pay to boost great blog posts on social (FB/LI)
HARO (Help A Reporter Out) Offer (and promote) scholarships & internships Offer government & university staff/student discounts Look at competitor links for ideas (Ahrefs,
OpenSiteExplorer, Majestic)
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Off PageSocial Signals
Content that lives on your website getting “liked”, shared, commented on, etc.
Boost to get more signals Again, write great content & pay to
promote it
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Off Page (for Local Biz)Citations (a.k.a. “Online Phone Book
Listings”)
For local businesses NAP = Name, Address, Phone Consistency is key
Google My Business (a.k.a. Google Maps)
Claim & fully fill out all info
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Questions onOff Page Strategy?
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Part 4: Measurement & Analysis
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Measurement & AnalysisRemember…
This is educated guesswork
You HAVE to measure what worked and what didn’t!
Why? So you can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Measurement & AnalysisWhat to measure
Organic traffic▪ Make sure it’s always increasing
Top landing pages▪ See what content works best
Top referring sources ▪ See what sites are linking to you
Top organic keywords▪ What keywords is Google associating your site with (in
Search Console)
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A Successful SEO Strategy
Google Analytics Cheat SheetWhat to measure
Organic traffic▪ Acquisition -> All Traffic -> Channels
Top landing pages▪ Behavior -> Site Content -> Landing Pages
Top referring sources ▪ Acquisition -> All Traffic -> Referrals*
▪ *beware of referral spam
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Questions onMeasurement & Analysis?
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Be diligent, but have patience
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A Case Study
Actual Case Study
This is What Could Happen.
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Things To Do NOW
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Things to do NOW
Set up Search Console Subscribe to email notifications
Start blogging (on your own site) Switch to WordPress if not already in it, or add it to
your siteShare (and boost) your great content on
socialSign up for HAROFor local businesses…
Claim/optimize Google My Business listing Build/correct other “online phone book” listings
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Things To NEVER Do
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Things to NEVER do
“Stuff” keywords into your content Create lots of similar pages with
boilerplate copy Create orphaned/doorway pages Use hidden text Hyperlink tons of keywords Buy links (NEVEREVEREVEREVER do this!)
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Let’s Bust a Few Myths
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Myth Busting
MYTH: The meta keywords tag matters Google hasn’t used it since 2008
MYTH: There’s a duplicate content “penalty” It is NOT a “penalty” - Duplicate
copies will simply be ignored
MYTH: “We can just ‘SEO it’ later”
SEO needs to start BEFORE a site build
MYTH: SEO is a one-time project There are THOUSANDS of
algorithm updates each year. SEO is never-ending
MYTH: Link-building is dead Inbound link factors continue to
outweigh all other factors
MYTH: “Our Agency is Google-Certified for SEO” No such thing. Only certifications
available are for AdWords & Analytics.
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Trends to Watch
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Trends to Watch
Mobile, Mobile, Mobile! Google Mobile-Friendly Test Mobile Usability in Search Console
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Trends to Watch
SPEED Google PageSpeed
Insights GTMetrix
“You really have to speed up your site” – Gary Illyes, Google
Closing keynote, Pubcon 2015
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Trends to Watch
Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) Not yet an official ranking factor (but will be) At first, this was important only for news sites & large blogs,
but AMP pages are now found throughout all types of search results
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Trends to Watch
RankBrain Google’s AI (Artificial
Intelligence) algorithm Give context
▪ Schema▪ Detailed/nuanced information
Minimize pogo-sticking & bouncing▪ Try to make content “sticky”
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Trends to Watch
Schema Schema.org Gives context to text
& code Helps Google develop
artificial intelligence & machine knowledge
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Recap
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Recap
What SEO Means Art & science of *influencing*
position in search engines How Search Engines Work
Extract text & code, take a copy That’s what gets searched
against Sites ranked based upon 200+
factors in 3 categories: Technical, Content, Off Page
Successful SEO Strategy 1) Tech: Spec or Audit, Search
Console 2) Content: Keyword Research,
Page Organization, Ongoing Blogging (Editorial Calendar!)
3) Off Page: Write great content & pay to promote it – DON’T BUY LINKS. Use HARO
4) Measure & Analyze: Do more of what works!
Things to do NOW Start blogging & promote on
social!
Things to NEVER do Buy links! Stuff keywords Over-hyperlink Hide pages or content
SEO Trends to Watch Mobile, Speed, Schema,
RankBrain, AMP
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