writing for seo 101

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Search Engine Optimizatio n (SEO) 101 Ben Brooks, Senior Digital Marketing Manager Nintex

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Page 1: Writing for SEO 101

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101Ben Brooks, Senior Digital Marketing ManagerNintex

Page 2: Writing for SEO 101

AgendaWhat is SEO?

Basic SEO rules

SEO process—research

Writing copy

Technical SEO• META tags• Microdata/structured data• URL structure• Canonical links• Sitemap

Value of SEO

Page 3: Writing for SEO 101

SEOTechniques used to help your site show in organic search results•Content•Meta tagsSEO helps users find your sitewithout paying for the listing

SEO vs. SEM

Paid

Pl

acem

ent

SEM

Rich

Co

nten

tOr

gani

c Re

sults

SEO

SEMPay for placement on a search engine results pageSEM gets your listing up ASAP

•Linking•Structure

Page 4: Writing for SEO 101

SEO

Page 5: Writing for SEO 101

SEO is the practice of making a website/webpage more accessible and relevant for users via search engines

What is SEO? Craft pages and text around a single concept using related keywordsDon’t try to stuff everything in one page

Crafting content on sites for humans, NOT search enginesBe relevantBe preciseWrite in natural language

Use technical elements such as META tags, sitemaps, and rich snippets to help boost rankings

Page 6: Writing for SEO 101

Top 10 SEO basic rules

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Keyword MUST be in URL

Title tag should clearly describe content of the pageTitle tag should be front-loaded with primary keyword: Primary Keyword—Secondary Keyword—Brand NameTitles should be <60 characters

including spaces

Keyword MUST be in Meta description—155 chars max

Keyword should be in H1

Keyword should be FIRST in H1

Keyword should be in image alt-tags and file names

Keyword should be in first 120 words of body content

Keyword can be used in internal links to the page

Page 7: Writing for SEO 101

The SEO Process

Page 8: Writing for SEO 101

SEO process—research

Craft contentAdd technical SEO elements

Measure and improve

• Each page

should only focus on one main concept

• Note that a concept can have multiple related terms

Determine what concept you want to focus on

• Analytics—on your site

• Third party tools

Research how people search for that concept; gather and group related terms

Page 9: Writing for SEO 101

SEO research—Google AnalyticsSite searchWhat do people search for on your site?

KeywordsHow do users find your site?

* Requires setting up Site Search in analytics

* Requires Search Console account

Page 10: Writing for SEO 101

SEO research—AdWords Keyword Planner

*Requires AdWords account; data may be limited without significant spend

Enter your seed keyword Note options for countries and language…

and get results on the next page

How many searches on average in a month for this term

How many people are bidding on this term

Page 11: Writing for SEO 101

SEO research—other tools

http://keywordtool.iohttp://www.wordstream.com/keywordsGoogle Trends:find interest on a term or set of terms over timehttp://www.socialmention.com/https://moz.com/products/pro/keyword-explorer

Page 12: Writing for SEO 101

How do I use the research?

Use tools like Google Trends to focus on terms that show growthMay want to put more focus on a related term rather than your initial seed term

Use terms in technical SEO elements

Gather and group related terms to use in your copy whenever possible

Possibly develop more than one page depending on resultsAre there related concepts and terms that deserve their own pages?

Page 13: Writing for SEO 101

Copy

Page 14: Writing for SEO 101

NOW Engines look at content semantically: what is the page saying, who links to it, metadataPutting the term in all over will actually get you delisted or demoted

History of SEOEngines index everything on a pageThe more times a term appears, the more relevant it isEngines look at technical elements—keyword meta tags

THENEngines look at incoming links

Page 15: Writing for SEO 101

Copy

Do not stuff keywords!GoodA workflow management system (WfMS) is a software system for the set-up, performance, and monitoring of a defined sequence of tasks, arranged as a workflow

BadA workflow management system (WfMS) is a software workflow system for the set-up, performance, and monitoring of a defined sequence of workflow tasks, arranged as a workflow

Take your primary termEnsure it is in the page title and URL

Use it in any media (in the filename and any alt text)

Use it in body copy, ensuring it flows naturally—write for people, NOT search engines!

Page 16: Writing for SEO 101

Copy examples from Nintex site“workflow automation”

Keyword in URL and page title

Keyword in H1

Keyword in jump links

Keyword in H2

Keyword in body text

Related terms in text

Page 17: Writing for SEO 101

Checklist

Term is in page title

Term is in page URL: http://www.mysite.com/section/my-term

Term is in page media: term-video.mp4, icon-my-term.png

Term is in ALT text

Term is in copy

Copy is written so it flows naturally: remember, write for humans, not search engines!

Page 18: Writing for SEO 101

Technical SEO

Page 19: Writing for SEO 101

About crawlers…Search engine crawlers read your back-end code, NOT necessarily what you see on the screenThis is why things like ALT text and filenames are so importantCrawlers do have a limit—usually about 100kIt is IMPERATIVE your contentshows up as close to the top aspossibleMinify code and scriptsDon’t assume because text is atthe top in the browser, it is at thetop in the code

Page 20: Writing for SEO 101

META tags are critical to SEO• Are indexed by

search engines• Display in

search engine resultsCan be set in most CMS systems or added manually

META tags

Page 21: Writing for SEO 101

The title tag is one of the most important HTML tags or elements of a websiteAll search engines consider the keywords in this tag and give priority to these in their algorithm

Title tagThis tag displays the title of your site

Format<title>Your title here</title>

Parameters50-60 charactersprimary keyword – secondary keyword – brand name

ValueDisplays in browserDisplays in search resultsDisplays in anchor text on some social sites

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The Meta description does not directly affect search rankingsIt does, however, affect whether or not a user will click on the link, so use compelling, clickable copy

META descriptionThis tag provides a description of your site

Format<meta name=“description” content=“your sites description” />

Parameters155 characters maxWrite compelling copy; why should a userclick this site in search results?

ValueShows up in search engine results

Page 23: Writing for SEO 101

Use structured data on your site when appropriatehttps://developers.google.com/structured-data/https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/

Microdata/Structured dataStructured data enhances search results

Important data:•Organization•Website•Breadcrumbs•Product/Software

Page 24: Writing for SEO 101

Nintex microdata

Page 25: Writing for SEO 101

This is an H1 tagThis is an H2 tagThis is an H3 tagThis is an H4 tagThis is an H5 tag

This is an H6 tag

This H1 MUST include your primary keyword<H1>my primary term</H1>Use other headings in sequence: H2….H7Headings can be styled for size and look and feelThe actual heading tags should be used for structure, not for appearance

H1 tags and structurePage should only have one H1

MOST IMPORTANT

LEAST IMPORTANT

Page 26: Writing for SEO 101

Ensure your main terms are in the URL of the page:Example: http://www.mysite.com/products/nintex-workflow-for-sharepoint-2016Replace spaces with –

Ensure your site uses a logical URL structure• Home• Products• Product A• Product B

• About• Contact

URL structure

http://www/.example.com/category/subcategory/my-example-webpage

Internet application protocol

Sub-domainMain domain

Top level domain

Category—which itself can form a keyword Sub-category—which can also be targeted as

keyword Webpage name with keywords

Page 27: Writing for SEO 101

Use language declarations for all pagesFormat: <html lang=“lang-country” xml:lang=“language”>Example: <html lang=“en-us” xml:lang=“en”> for English-US Site

Use canonical links to tell search engines what the “official” page is:<link rel=“canonical” href=“http://www.myserver.com/path/to/page”>On: http://www.myserver.com/path/to/page?query=foohttp://de-de.myserver.com/path/to/pagehttp://members.myserver.com/path/to/page

Canonicals and languages

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Include a Sitemap that auto-updates when your site is changedInfo: http://www.sitemaps.org/Many plug-ins and code to support this

Ensure your site loads as fast as possible: https://developers.google.com/speed/Generally: •Optimize images and code•Have a fast server

Sitemaps and site speed

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Value of SEO

Page 30: Writing for SEO 101

SEO OPTIMIZATIONCreated new page around Infopath transition,

wrote content using Infopath retirement and related terms, ensured terms were in URL and other technical elements

ISSUEVery little content on InfopathListings in search engines were very low, had little traffic

RESULTSOver a 3 month period position of that page in search engines for Infopath terms went from page 2 and beyond to position 1–2; remains in position 2–3 today

SEO example from Nintex

COST INVOLVEDTime to write content, generate images and implement into the siteNo ad spend needed

Page 31: Writing for SEO 101

Infopath page and positional changes

Page drove 42 qualified leads in this time period (Feb – Jun)

Page 32: Writing for SEO 101

Top 10 SEO basic rules

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Keyword MUST be in URL

Title tag should clearly describe content of the pageTitle tag should be front-loaded with primary keyword: Primary keyword—secondary keyword—brand nameTitles should be <60 characters

including spaces

Keyword MUST be in Meta description—155 chars max

Keyword should be in H1

Keyword should be FIRST in H1

Keyword should be in image alt-tags and file names

Keyword should be in first 120 words of body content

Keyword can be used in internal links to the page

Page 33: Writing for SEO 101

Google Analytics configuration

Set up Google Analytics if you don’t have it already: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008015?hl=entip: use Google Tag Manager to implement: https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/6103696?hl=en

1If you have Site Search, set up GA to track it: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1012264?hl=en

2Set up a Search Console (Webmasters) Account: https://support.google.com/webmasters#topic=3309469

3Link this to GA: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1120006?hl=en

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Questions?