Barrett Michaelbmichael@ifpeople.net

678 608 3408www.ifpeople.net

Understanding & UsingSearch Engine Optimization

What exactly issearch engine optimization?

SEO means improving the volume or quality of traffic

to a website from searchengine results.

When someone searches for youor something relevant to your org...

...you appear in the results.

So what?

30% of web traffic deliveredby search engines.

80% of that traffic deliveredBy Google.

SEO has three separate parts...

technical

content links

All three must be well-balanced

for best results.

technical

content links

Let's start with...

Flash sites look pretty...

...but text in Flash isn'treadable by searches.

A Word on Flash

Indexible content is more importantthan design.

A Word on Flash

With SEO, code quality matters.

Code: Overview

Clean, correct code is indexed faster by search engines.

Use a validator to check code.

Code: Best Practices

http://validator.w3.org/

Google reads pages from top to bottom.

Code: Best Practices

Keep important content near top.

Excessive code makes crawling your site difficult.

Code: Best Practices

Keep a low code to copy ratio.

code

copy

code

Reduce code by moving javascript and CSS to external files.

Code: Best Practices

Multiple lines of code becomeone line of code.

Give your pages names that describe specific content.

Descriptive Names: Overview

URL

page title

This associates your page with relevant search engine queries.

Descriptive NamesDescriptive Names: Overview

Include descriptive words in your URLs...

www.healthpartners.com/fight-for-healthcare-reform

www.healthpartners.com/0001b274cdn

Descriptive Names: URLs

Descriptive NamesDescriptive Names: URLs

Use hyphens, not underscores...

www.healthpartners.com/fight-for-healthcare-reform

See as separate words

Descriptive NamesDescriptive Names: URLs

Avoid really long URLs...

www.healthpartners.com/fight-for-healthcare-reform-sign-petition-get-bill-through-congress-for-universal-healthcare

Viewed as disingenuous and “spammy”

Give descriptive titles to each unique page.

Descriptive NamesDescriptive Names: Page Titles

Metadata is invisible to web visitors.

Metadata: Overview

It includes bits of descriptive infopicked up by search engines.

Meta keywords...

Meta DataMetadata: Keywords

• Usually seen in source code

• Still found by search engines

• In Plone, called “categories”

meta data in Plone

A sitemap gives search engines an overview of your content.

It makes relevant results easierto find.

Sitemaps: Overview

Big websites need...

Sitemaps: Big Sites

full map of site

Small websites need...

Sitemaps: Small Sites

navigation bar

Sitemap Generator

Sitemaps: Creation

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

Now, let's talk about...

technical

content links

Keywords: Overview

• People find websites based on keywords

• Including relevant keywords in copy can improve your SEO

Keywords: Selection

Use Google Analytics to see what words people search for before landing on your site.

Step 1:

search term listings

Keywords: Selection

Brainstorm other related keywords

education advocacyhealth advocacy employment helpmiddle school successgraduate high schooleducation support

universal healthcarelocal volunteer opportunities healthcare for alllive uniteduninsured programs low-income family help

Step 2:

Keywords: Selection

Use a keyword tool to evaluate the search volume of your keywords.

Step 3:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

www.wordtracker.com

free paid

Keywords: Selection

Take note of “search volume,” competition, and relevant synonyms.

Step 4:

Keywords: Selection

Choose identifying keywords and include them in web copy, page titles, metadata.

Step 5:

uninsured

programs

education support

live united

Search engines love new content.

For higher rankings, update content regularly.

Update Content: Overview

events

news

stories

Easiest if you have a CMS.

Update Content: How To

Also easy if you have a blog connected to your URL.

Update Content: How To

Finally, there's...

technical

content links

Links are like academic references.

Links: Overview

More links to and from more credible sources = better SEO.

Links on your site to other sites.

Links: Two Types

Links on other sites to your site.

Make your links descriptive.

Links: Your Site

This connects your text to key search terms.

Links: Your Site

Don't write, “click here.”

Get info about the 2009 Race for the Cure in Indianapolis.

For info about the 2009 Race for the Cure in Indianapolis, click here.

Appear on other sites by...

...submitting to relevant directories.

Links: Other Sites

Appear on other sites by...

...leaving blog comments w/ links.

Links: Other Sites

As you develop online relationships,

Links: Other Sites

ask clients and partners to link to your site.

But how can I makesure my SEO is continually refined?

Monitoring: Overview

SEO is a process, not a one time deal.

benchmark

SEOevaluate results

Monitoring: Overview

Benchmark Questions:

What do I want out of SEO?

How many new hits do I want to achieve?

How many of those hits should turn into reputable leads?

Monitoring: Tools

Google Analytics

Observe what keywords are associated with your site and increases in traffic.

Monitoring: Tools

Website GraderAnalyzes:

• Web traffic

• Social popularity

• Technical factors

Includes basic adviceon improving site.

Monitoring: Tools

SEO Toolbar

• Firefox toolbar

• Competitive research

• Keyword research

• Comparative linking

• Page rank

Click to edit Master subtitle style

Questions?