user experience-seo-indiana-bar-camp-2010
TRANSCRIPT
WHO AM I ?
NAME:
ADDITIONAL:
COMPANY:
POSITION:
Nat FinnGolden Technologies
Officer - NWITweetup
Regional Director - Blog Indiana
Author - SEOBoy.com
Internet Marketing Specialist
WHO IS GOLDEN TECHNOLOGIES ?
ELEVATOR PITCH:
A solution-based technologycompany that specializes inthe BIG 3:
IT & Support
Custom Development
Marketing & (Web) Design
WHAT DO I DO ?GOOD QUESTION:
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE:
E-Strategy: Client & Corporate
SEO, SEM, Social Media, Corporate Blogging, Copywriting...
Conversion Optimization: A/B Testing
Even some general marketing
5+ Years
WHY ARE YOU HERE ?PROBABLY:
POSSIBLY:
You don’t know a whole lot about SEO
Because you want to learn how SEO will help your agency grow
You’re killing time till either Kyle Lacy or Dave Woodson starts their presentation
WHAT YOU WILL GAIN
A common-sense understanding of SEO
SEO Techniques you don’t have to be a programmer to implement
A few learning resources
WHAT IS SEO ?
GOAL IN SEO:
“the active practice of optimizing a web site by improving internal and external aspects in order to increase the traffic the site receives from search engines” – SEOMoz (Seattle-Based SEO Firm)
Generate relevant traffic to your website via top search engines:
Bing
Yahoo!
Ask.com
ANATOMY OF A SEARCH ENGINE
(Image credit: http://www.6smarketing.com/how-search-engines-work/)
3 BRANCHES OF SEO
Content
Backlinks
Traffic
CONTENT
Static
Dynamic
Text in html
Pictures
Streamingvideo
Mp3s Animation – JavaScript / Flash
Note: Text embedded in dynamic content can’t be seen by search engine bots
BACKLINKS
Quantity of Links
Quality of Links
Anchor Text and Link Tags
(Image credit: http://bloggingdata.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Get-More-Backlinks.jpg)
TRAFFIC
SEARCH ENGINES TRACK:
Keyword searches
Results
Clicked links
WHAT THE SEARCH ENGINE BOT IS LOOKING FOR
Keyword themes
Keyword phrases
Frequency a website updates content
Keywords on a link’s text
Keywords in a URL
Meta Data
Tags on dynamic content (more on that in the Onsite SEO Section)
The number of links that point to a page
The amount of traffic the search engine sends to a page
BEFORE YOU BEGIN -
NO:
YES:
Keyword rankings
Traffic
Sales
Branding / Awareness
IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS
(presumptive)
MATT CUTTS’ ADVICE
WHO IS MATT CUTTS ?
ADVICE (TYPICALLY)
Webspam Team Leader at Google
Write great content people will want to link to.
Search for his videos on YouTube. Great content!(Image credit: twitter.com/mattcutts)
REMEMBER: SEO IS A PHILOSOPHY,A STRATEGY AND A PROCESS!
SEO, LIKE GRAPHIC DESIGN, COPYWRITING, IS A CREATIVE ART. CONSIDER IT IN ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR WEB MARKETING:
Planning
Development
Execution
Analysis
SEO IN ACTION
SEO Design
Onsite SEO
Offsite SEO
User Experience
SEO DESIGN
Search-Engine Friendly Programming Technology
Subfolder Structure - SEOMoz Rule of 100
Robots.txt File
“Google-friendly URLs”
Canonical URLs
XML Sitemaps
ONSITE SEO
Keyword Research
Tagging
Meta Descriptions
Internal Linking
SEO Copywriting
Blogging for SEO
OFFSITE SEO
Search Engine Submission
Local SEO
Blogging for SEO
Backlinks
(Image credit: http://www.verticalmeasures.com/linktoberfest-seo-infographic-for-link-data-visualization/))
USER EXPERIENCE: WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT?
YEAH. THAT’S ALL I WANT TO KNOW ON THIS SLIDE.
(Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/395969573/)
WHY USER EXPERIENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT.
BECAUSE YOUR WEBSITE IS DESIGNED FOR YOUR USERS, NOT YOU!
No marketing, SEO or advertising will help if the visitor doesn’t have a positive user experience.
(Image credit: http://xkcd.com/773/)
OTHER SEO ASPECTS TO CONSIDER
Site Speed Optimization
Mobile Optimization
Print Cross Promotion
Email Signatures
Business Cards
Promotion / Branding
ANALYTICS AND REPORTING
Traffic
Conversion
SEO Reporting
Webmaster reports
Keyword (SERP) rankings
Backlink reporting
DIAGNOSTICS - YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER...
Be critical of your site. Be critical of your design.
How much traffic does the site/page get?
Where is the traffic coming from?
How easy is it for the user to engage with the content?
How easy is it for the user to perform the desired action?
Have you tested the site?
FINAL NOTES
Test, test, test…
Like market conditions: SEO is always evolving
Remember: it’s about the USER/Visitor/Customer
For basic content writing tips, consult the Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
IN CONCLUSION
Content, content, content
Let Conversions guide you
“When in doubt, plan broad.” -Gregory House, M.D.
AND DON’TScrape content from other websites
Believe anyone who guarantees #1 rankings
Start a blog on another domain and expect it to boost your SEO the same as a blog under your company’s website would (1 to 1 linking)
Work with anyone who says, “Black Hat is okay”
Spam other websites
Give up after a couple months
Believe anyone who claims to have Matt Cutts’ permission
(Image credit: http://myhosting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/seo-cartoon-white-hat-seo-firm.gif)
IT’S LIKE ANY CRAFTIT TAKES TIME, PATIENCE AND YOU SELDOM GET IT RIGHT ON THE FIRST TIME, BUT IN THE END YOU WILL END UP WITH SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL THAT WILL REWARD YOU.
(Image credit: http://www.artic.edu/aic/conservation/revealingpicasso/)
I THANK YOU - Nat Finn
WORK:
http://www.golden-tech.com/
NOT AS MUCH WORK:
http://www.natfinn.com/
twitter.com/natfinn
APPENDIX: INDIANA-BASED SEO RESOURCES OF NOTE
http://www.seoboy.com/
http://www.marketingtechblog.com/
http://www.slingshotseo.com/blog
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/ (new Hoosier Jay Baer)
http://blog.golden-tech.com/
BONUS TIP FOR REALTOR SITES -
Never take down a listing once it’s sold. Put up a “sold” sign and update the content with a link directing the visitor to a new page:
This will help add pages to your site.
Like Property
Neighborhood Page
Latest Deals