time to windex your crystal ball - national apartment association · 2018-02-06 · time to windex...
TRANSCRIPT
Time to Windex Your Crystal Ball: The Expected Future of Organic Search
Sponsored by
Simon HeseltineVice President of Search
ForRent.com
Meet The Experts
Michael HuerequeVP and PartnerAgency Fifty3
Who am I? Not this guy
Polling Question #1
What’s your SEO knowledge?1. Expert2. Familiar to good3. We have someone to do it4. Sewage Enforcement Officers?
The Agenda
SEO1. Is SEO still a thing?2. Common SEO mistakes3. What are recent changes that may impact us?4. What’s on the horizon from the search engines?5. Wrap up
SEO is Dead
SEO 101 – What is it?• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) = Optimizing for free clicks
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) / Pay Per Click (PPC) = Paying for clicks
• SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, voice search, and industry-specific verticals
Anatomy of a SERP
SEO
SEO
PPC
Knowledge Panel
Anatomy of a Local SERP
Local Pack SEO
PPC
PPC
PPC
PPC Local SEO is focused on optimizing a business’ site for local intent searches
Matchmaking Service
Click to add textThe Internet
Matchmaking Service
Click to add textThe Internet
Source: Zillow
Preliminary Advice• Audit your existing website – Keyword Planner Tool
• Find out what your users want
• User Behavior Flow or Site Content in GA
• Search Term Report in AdWords
• Social Media Accounts
• Build scalable websites that are mobile-friendly
SEO in 2000
SEO in 2018
Polling Question #2
How many algorithm updates a year does Google do?1. About 502. About 2003. About 5004. About 1,000
What does a modern SEO team do?• Audits
• Trouble shooting
• Keyword research
• Analytics / Reporting
• Search Engine Algorithm Update monitoring
• Informs teams on the latest changes in the search engines (Pandas, Penguins, Freds, PPC updates etc.)
• Training
• General evangelism
• Vendor / Tools management
• Content strategy
• Strategic planning
• Relationship building
• Migration assistance / Site Launches
• Conversion Rate Optimization
SEO Goals
Attract
Goal: Targeting renters w/o a particular brand search in mind
Engage
Goal: We’ve got the prospect interested in our brand, now get them to more content that will answer their questions and provide them the best fit apartments
Convert
Goal: As the prospect digs deeper, present them with the opportunity to convert to whatever action we want
SEO is Not…
A One Off Feature
SEO is Not…
A ProjectThat Begins
and Ends
SEO is Not…
Magic
SEO can be…
Complex
Simple
SEO can be…
SEO is…
Personalized
SEO is…
SEO
Social Media
Paid Search
Localization
Analytics
PDF Assets & Collateral
UserExperience
DemandGenerationCampaigns
Web Strategy & Production
PR/Press Releases
SEO has…
ConstantChange
SEO is…
SEO is?
SEO is…
“The goal of SEO is not to put wings on a pig, but to genetically reengineer the pig into an eagle.”
Bruce Clay
SEO is…
SEO – How many clicks?
SEO is Dead
What is SEO?
SEO is Dead
“Content is a top 2 ranking factor” – Andrey Lipattsev, Google 2016
Content Quality
Content QualityWhat Questions are people asking?
- Cost of living- Culture- Jobs & employment- Sports- Universities- Things to see and do- Neighborhood information- Local cities
Content Quality
Polling Question #3
Do you use voice search? (OK Google, Alexa, Cortana, Siri, etc)
1. Yes, we have conversations all the time2. Yes, but not that often3. No
SEO BasicsHeadApartments
MediumApartments in Orlando
Long TailPet friendly 2 bedroom apartments for rent in Orlando, FL
SEO Basics
Title
Description
SEO Basics – Title Tags
SEO Basics – Title Tags
SEO Basics – Title Tags
Should be ~55 characters
Should contain the main entities (Community name, location, etc)
Should be unique
Are used by Google most of the time
SEO Basics – Description Tags
SEO Basics – Description Tags
The description should be between 160 – 300 characters
Sentence Structure, and unique
Search engines may use a snippet from the page or mix and match that with the description.
If there’s no description, then they will take it from the page
The description is not part of the algorithm, but it is a call to action
SEO BasicsJust like each apartment community, content should be unique
Going in and updating the content to freshen it up / as things change is encouraged
Get the main entities (keywords) in the right / prominent places
Think about how people actually search and provide that content
SEO & Links
SEO & Links
ReviewEasy backlink checklist:
• Player Notoriety = Link Quality• Passing = Frequency• Team Reputation = Google's Dedication to Integrity
Case Study
NB: Google has recently devalued guest blogging from an SEO perspective, but it can still be useful
Case Study
NB: Must be relevant, editorially reviewed directories to have SEO benefit
Case Study
Case Study
Case Study
Case Study
Share Your Thoughts on This Session
How are we doing?
Mobile SEO
Late 2017 Google started moving to a “Mobile First” index.
Sites that excel at mobile will be those that prosper.
Mobile SEO
https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Mobile SEO
Mobile SEO
2/3OF THE ORGANIC TRAFFIC
TO <a certain website I work for> IS FROM
MOBILE DEVICES
Mobile SEO
Mobile SEO
Mobile SEO
2017 SEO Challenges
The Future of SEO
The Future of SEO
Image: seroundtable.com
The Future of SEO
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights
The Future of SEO
https://www.webpagetest.org/
The Future of SEO
The Future of SEO
30% of web browsing sessions will be done without a screenGartner
50% of all searches will be voice searchesComscore
2020
The Future of SEO
The Future of SEO
Image: StoneTemple.com
The Future of SEO
Image: StoneTemple.com
Interest Graph – Hyper Personalization
The Future of SEO – AI
Closing Advice
• Write shareable, inclusive, unique content
• Build scalable, crawlable websites that are mobile-friendly
• Keep testing, keep researching, keep on top of changes
• Think about where search is going, and how your can site play into it
Simon Heseltine@SimonHeseltine
Contact Information
Michael Huereque@AgencyFifty3