Post on 12-Feb-2017
Basic SEO
7 most basic things
Past | Present | Future
Depending on how new SEO is to you…
You might feel overwhelmed… that’s okay!
You can always search for more information :)
The Breakdown
The Breakdown for today- What’s SEO
- Periodic Table of SEO (Overview)
- 7 basic questions today
- Bonus Content
- Questions submitted before today
- Other Questions
- Removed from today was a section called “Website Teardowns”- That will be another meetup :)
What’s SEO?
What’s SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) -- including Google,
Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.
A search engine results page (SERP) is the listing of results returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query.
Google Search :)
What’s SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural”
search results on search engines.
http://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo
social media is different = Off Page SEO
(What if I post on social media, is that SEO?)
http://searchengineland.com/seotable
Take a Deep Breath
Burning Questions?If I don’t ask this one
question….
I’ll forget later
Meow
Let’s Cover 7 basic questions today#1 - Why do I need to focus on my local information?
#2 - Do you consistently NAP?
#3 - What's Yoast SEO?
#4 - What are title tags and meta descriptions?
#5 - How much content is on your homepage?
#6 - How close are the other pages to the homepage?
#7 - How many ways online can someone find your website?
#1
Why do I need to focus on my local information?
- The importance
- It’s how people find out more information about your business online
- How do people find you?
- Where are your customer’s listening? (Social media, Yelp, Google maps)
- What happens when you type in your business?
- Do a google search of your business right now
- What about a bing or yahoo search?
- What are the top 3 things that pop up
https://moz.com/blog/everybody-needs-local-seohttps://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
#2
Do you consistently NAP?- What does NAP stand for?
- Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- Have you changed your business NAP info since you’ve opened?
- Is your old NAP information still out there?
- Check out - https://moz.com/local/search
- Good find - https://moz.com/learn/local/citations-by-city
- What's a citation? A citation is a mention of your business name with another piece of business information, such as your phone number, address, website, or a combination of the three.
- Another good find - https://www.whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder (Mike Zaremba)
https://moz.com/blog/everybody-needs-local-seohttps://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
Do you consistently NAP?
Exercise Time
- If you have changed any element of your NAP- Google search it and what do you find?
- Type in each element of your current NAP- What does the SERP show?
By building citations, you increase your chances of improved rankings. The Local Citation Finder averages 545 citation sources per keyphrase.
- White Spark’s Website https://moz.com/blog/everybody-needs-local-seo
https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
#3
What's Yoast SEO?
Yoast SEO incorporates everything from a snippet editor to real time page analysis functionality that helps you optimize your page’s content, images titles, meta descriptions and more to XML sitemaps, and loads of optimization options in between.
- Free or Premium
How many of you use Yoast SEO?
https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
#4
What are title tags and meta descriptions?
- Title Tags and Meta Descriptions- Code Sample
- <head>
- <title>Basics of SEO in Fresno, CA</title>
- <meta name="description" content="The title tag is the single most important on-page SEO element (behind overall content). Get up-to-date SEO best practices for title tags.">
- </head>
Why Title Tags are Important for SEO
- Title elements have long been considered one of the most important on-page SEO elements (the most important being overall content).
https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag
What are title tags and meta descriptions?
https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag
What are title tags and meta descriptions?
- Title Tags- Optimal Format
- Primary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand Name
- Optimal Length for Search Engines
- Google typically displays the first 50-60 characters of a title tag, or as many characters that will fit into a 512-pixel display.
- Meta Descriptions- Optimal Length for Search Engines
- Roughly 155 Characters
- What is a Meta Description?
- Meta description tags, while not important to search engine rankings, are extremely important in gaining user click-through from SERPs.
https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag
What are title tags and meta descriptions?
- Google trick- Site:yourdomain.com
- If local seo is important (Don’t Spam)- City and state in the title tag
- City and state in H1 heading
- City and state in URL.
- City and state in content.
- City and state in alt tags.
- City and state in meta description.
- Include an embedded Google Map.
What are title tags and meta descriptions?
- Avoid Duplicate Meta Description Tags and Title Tags
#5
How much content is on your homepage?
Optimizing your homepage, SEO style
- Make sure the page title focuses on your brand name or main product
- add a clear, recognizable logo in the upper left corner for branding
- there should be a clear call-to-action that draws attention
- product images are inviting, but the page needs textual information or a great tagline as well
https://yoast.com/homepage-seo/
How much content is on your homepage?
Optimizing your homepage, SEO style
- don’t clutter your homepage with a million links. Keep it focused and don’t flood your footer or menu with these links
- contact details should be available for most websites, including social buttons and perhaps a newsletter subscription
- if applicable, add a search bar (prominent or as an extra)
- Provide at least 300 words on your homepage
https://yoast.com/homepage-seo/
#6
How close are the other pages to the homepage?This comes down to the information architecture of your website.
- Quick tips- Think of each type of visitor you have coming to your website (Visitor Profile)
- Define each one (New / Existing?)
- What pages do you need them to go to?
- What’s the end goal for each visitor profile?
- Is your navigation clearly labeled?
- Do your call to actions clearly layout the next step?
- Onboarding users and showing them how many steps you have
- Fancy Artist / Insurance agency stories
#7
How many ways online can someone find your website?
- Find all of the places that you’re listed
- Find all the places your competitors are listed
- Type in some keywords that you would like to rank for- Who’s listed in those spots?
- What’s the difference?
- Think of your customers and where do they spend their time?
Cool Quick Trick
Predictive search and the bottom of the first page
BONUS!
Key things to focus on this year.
Avoid duplicate content
Optimize!
Meta titles
Meta descriptionsKey things to focus on this
year.
Include focus keywords
- Title
- Header
- Filename
- 1st paragraph
(Google Trends and others)
Key things to focus on this year.
Keyword research
Google Adwords
https://yoast.com/suggest/
Key things to focus on this
year.
Moz for determining a site's SEO metrics
Key things to focus on this year.
Questions from Meetup.com
What is your favorite SEO plugin & why? Yoast SEO
- Easy to use
- Provide Page Analysis
- Easy for non coders
- What about everyone else? What do you use?
Prioritized checklist for quick SEO?- Don’t expect a quick solution - Average 6 months to see results
- Provide content that people care about
Prioritized checklist for quick SEO?- Don’t expect a quick solution - Average 6 months to see results
- Provide content that people care about
Prioritized checklist for quick SEO?- Don’t expect a quick solution - Average 6 months to see results
- http://blog.woorank.com/2015/02/on-page-seo-checklist/ - 1. Title
- 2. Description
- 3. Heading
- 4. Content
- 5. URL
- 6. Images
- 7. Keyword Consistency
- 8. Internal Links
- 9. Sitemap
- 10. Robots.txt
- 11. Page Speed
- 12. In-Page Links
- 13. Page Indexing
- 14. Text/HTML
- 15. Use of MultiMedia
- 16. Social Media Signals
- 17. HTML Errors
- 18. Site Uptime
- 19. Usability
- 20. Outbound Links
Local SEO vs General SEOFocus on who you’re targeting
- Are you targeting the nation / world or local audience?
- It’s always good to have a local presence
For businesses with local presence, targeting audiences within a specific geographic area(s) with the local SEO approach will save time and money.
Hiring for SEO, who to trust?- Local vs Outsourced vs India
- Do you due diligence on finding an SEO company or expert?
- Find out from testimonials or even look up their clients
- Possible to talk to other clients?
- They will know their stuff and be able to educate you on what they’re doing
- Is it an add on value or do they strictly do SEO?
- Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, not apples to oranges
- The MTS Story with Edit LLC
Questions?
Thank youRichard@EditLLC.com