Concordia Universtiy Seo Services Seminar

1. How to elevate and maintain your search engine ranking results.
Wisconsin Strategic Web Marketing LLC. Concordia College PR Seminar
Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Mkting. Please do not distribute

2. Definitions

(SEM) Search Engine Marketing is a form of Internet marketing that promotes websites by increasing their visibility

3. (SERPs) Search Engine Result Pages methods include: 4. Paid Placement (PPC) and Paid Inclusion 5. Social Media Optimization 6. (SEO) Search Engine OptimizationProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
7. 17,576 TLA choices
We will only focus on one:
SEO
(Search Engine Optimization)
Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
8. SEO One of easiest and most cost efficient ways to aise Awareness

Anytime something can be searched on it = There is an optimization opportunity!

9. Making information easier to find is what it is all about and that info can be good or bad for you and your company. SEO can play a very strategic role in media relations.What if as a PR firm youwould systematically find outwhat people searching on and create acompany glossary and develop content around it?The idea is you optimize according to what people looking for!For instance you should be creating search optimized press releases
10. Easy does not necessarily mean simple!But it is Essential. Take a look at this Best Practices Checklist for a Press Releases!

Clearly define the goal and target audience of the release

11. Research keyword phrases (1-2 per release) 12. Add phrases to the title, sub heading and body copy 13. Use keyword phrases when linking to landing pages not click here 14. Add media to the release (images, video, audio) 15. Addalternative formats of the release (MS Word, PDF) 16. Count conversions -Implement tracking codes in the URLs 17. Make certain tracking codes point from the press release to landing pages 18. Post the release to the company online newsroom 19. Write a blog post version of the announcement link to the press release 20. Distribute the release via a wire service such as; PRWeb, Marketwire, PRNewswire or Business Wire 21. Optional: create and distribute a social media version of the press release 22. Encourage bookmarking of press release pickups 23. Monitor release rankings, social mentions, traffic & outcomesProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
24. How essential is SEO to your marketing efforts ?
You Decide
25. Think about this
Americans conducted 18.4 billion total core search queries in October 2010
Overall US search volume increased almost 4 % over last month
Currently about 28.7% of world uses Internet as of June 2010 and growing daily
(www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm)
80% of all online transactions start with search engines
26. and did you know
Google Sites led the U.S in October 2010 with 66.3 percent market share, followed by Yahoo with 16.5 percent and Microsoft sites with 11.5 percent. Ask Network captured 3.6 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL LLC Network with 2.1 percent (comScore)
Search marketing continues to dominate the online advertising space with a sustained growth of about 40% yearly since 2004.
To put 40% share into context, no other online ad format (display ads, classifieds, rich media/video, lead generation, email and sponsorships) contributes much more than half that amount. (eMarketer)
27. Stats point to needed action
The bar is moving UP in most industries but there is still time to gain a competitive advantage with SEO.
SEO investment is the fastest growing segment and for good reason!
Only $1.05 billion of the $6.75 billion dollars spent on search engine marketing last year was spent on organic SEO.
28. Fundamentals of Good SEO
How Search Engines Work 101
First things First = Keyword/Phrase Analysis is essential and critical
SEO Implementing Best Practices
On-page SEO factors
Off-page SEO factors
SEO Avoiding Worst Practices
Results you can count on
29. How Search Engines Work
Two ways to get found
Paid Results = PPC (Pay per Click)
Organic or Natural Results = SEO
30. Paid or PPC
Search patterns reveal that fewer search engine users visit PPC (pay per click) advertising sites than visit SEO (organic) sites.
In fact 4 out of 5 search engine users report that they never click on PPC results.
31. Organic Results = ROI
More than 70% of search engine users report visiting organic listings daily (Forester Research)
72% of search engine users report feeling that Googles organic listings are more relevant than their paid listings. Only 20% of search engine users will view a paid listing. (Forester Research)
3 out of 4 advertisers are victims of click fraud
Eye tracking study showed that 70% of search engine users choose to visit websites that appear in the top 10 organic results.
32. Eye Tracking Studies
A recent study by Think Eyetracking shows that visitors are less likely to look down the SERPs than they were 3 years ago. They are significantly more concentrated on the top of the results than ever before
Searchers have become so confident in Google to answer their query that they no longer place the burden of proof on the search engine to come up with the right answer.
33. The Golden Triangle
34. Eye Study Results
Side Paid/Sponsored Visibility
(% of participants looking at a listing in this location)
1 50%2 40%3 30%4 20%5 10%6 10%7 10%8 10%
Organic Ranking Visibility (% of participants looking at a listing in this location)
Rank 1 100%Rank 2 100%Rank 3 100%Rank 4 85%Rank 5 60%Rank 6 50%Rank 7 50%Rank 8 30%Rank 9 30%Rank 10 20%
35. The Goal of Search Engines
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
How? By providing high quality, authoritative and RELEVANT content to their searchers
Not to:

Sell your products or services, increase your brand exposure, or generate leads for you.

36. How Do They Work? Four Easy Steps
Crawling the Web
Search engines run automated programs, called "bots" or "spiders", that use the hyperlink structure of the web to "crawl" the pages and documents that make up the World Wide Web. Estimates are that of the approximately 30 billion existing pages, search engines have crawled between 12 and 15 billion.
Indexing Documents
Once a page has been crawled, its contents can be "indexed" - stored in a giant database of documents that makes up a search engine's "index. This index needs to be tightly managed so that requests which must search and sort billions of documents can be completed in fractions of a second.
37. How Do They Work? Four Easy Steps Cont
Processing Queries
When a request for information comes into the search engine (hundreds of millions do each day), the engine retrieves from its index all the documents that match the query. A match is determined if the terms or phrase is found on the page in the manner specified by the user.
Ranking Results
Once the search engine has determined which results are a match for the query, the engine's algorithm (a mathematical equation commonly used for sorting) runs calculations on each of the results to determine which is most relevant to the given query. They sort these on the SERPS in the order of most relevant to least relevant so that users can make a choice about which to select.
38. What do the Search Engines see and what dont they see?
Lets take a look
http://www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php
www.willmaster.com/library/tools/What_Search_Engine_Spiders_See.php?dlperry
Look at Source and see what the spiders see
39. What dont spiders see?
Frames, Flash, JavaScript, images, and other popular web design elements can cause problems for rankings if they arent used correctly.
Splash pages, sites done completely in images, framed sites with a single URL for multiple page versions, and navigation hidden in Flash are all common examples of bad design for SEO.
Thus, creating a site with visible content is critical for good rankings.
40. The Search Algorithms
The Secret Formula
Each SE has different algorithms
Google alone uses 200+ algorithms
All Algorithms are focused on 2 key results:
Relevance
Popularity
41. GB
Measuring Relevance
Relevance - the degree to which the content of the documents returned in a search matched the user's query intention and terms.
The relevance of a document increases if the terms or phrase queried by the user occurs multiple times and shows up in the copy, title of the work or in important headlines or sub headers.Meta data!
42. Measuring Popularity
Popularity - the relative importance, measured via citation (the act of one work referencing another, as often occurs in academic and business documents) of a given document that matches the user's query.
The popularity of a given document increases with every other document that references it.
43. Implications Are
Spiders must find your site and crawl through it deeply
Importance of Links (internal and external)
Design and Construct your pages to get as many pages into the index as possible
With SEO the pieces are always in motion

Implement best practices and be aware when creating content

44. Stay current with Algorithm changesProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
45. Best Practices First things FirstKeyword/Phrase Analysis and Implementation
How do you determine the important Keywords and Phrases?

Use keyword analysis tools:

46. Google Search-based Keyword Tool 47. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal 48. Proprietary tools and services = WordTrackerProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
49. Understanding Keywords
Typically users will type 2-5 wordphrases into the search box to research a topic
Single words are too generic and too competitive
Keywords should define your product or idea
#1 Mistake - avoid internal or company-speak (keywords are not about what you call your stuff but what your users call your stuff)
50. The LONGGG Tail
One of the most effective traffic building approaches
Picture a graph of your search terms in relation to traffic provided
Perhaps focus on the least trafficked terms
51. LONGGG Tail Strategy
First, determine which terms you already rank well for
Second, which terms already have a page of content ready to optimize
Finally, which terms you will need to create content for
52. Build a hierarchy of terms your audience cares about
Know your priority keywords and TARGET your web pages
Organize priority keywords into groups
Think of unique themed content and target your keywords around each page
Choose 3-5 synergistic target phrases that flow naturally into the content
53. Once Keyword Foundation work is laid, begin utilizing those keywords
Key On-Page SEO Factors

Content

54. Architecture 55. TechnicalKey Off-Page SEO Factors

Linking

56. Content is KING
There is no shortcut to lots of good, practical, relevant content.
Good content:

Engages the reader

57. Increases search engine rankings and traffic 58. Promotes the likelihood of quality links from other sitesProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
59. Establish Keyword Targets for each Content Page
Think of content themed around target keywords
Choose 3-5 synergistic target phrases you can use in the copy
You want around 250 words per page
Incorporate Keywords into headings and subheadings

Spiders place more emphasis on these

60. More readable for skimmers and scannersProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
61. Search Value Pyramid
62. Utilizing Long Tail Keywords in Search Value Pyramid
Some of the best value is at the bottom of the keyword pyramid. If you spend too much time focused too broadly on the top you may miss some of the exceptional value on the bottom.
Targeting generic terms may not add much value, since the leads are not strongly qualified. Paying extra to rank for more generic terms may not be a cost that is justified unless you can resell those leads at a profit.
Being exceptionally aggressive raises your risk profile and makes your site more likely to fluctuate in rankings when new search algorithms are rolled out.
63. Title Tags = The most important on-page SEO factor
Displays in upper left hand corner of browser window
Also appears in the title of most search engine results
Needs to be different for every web page
Must contain the keyword targets for the webpage
64. Best Practices - Title Tags
Incorporate keyword phrasesIt is critical that whatever your keyword research shows as being the most valuable for capturing searches, gets prominently included in your Title Tag.
Limit length to65 characters or less
Brand your trafficUse the title of your site or brand at the beginning or end of every Title Tag to help searchers know where they're going and to increase return visits.
65. Best Practices - Title Tags
Target searcher intentWhen you're writing titles for web pages, keep in mind the search terms your audience employed to reach your site. If you're reasonably sure the intent is a purchase, download or other action, make it clear in your title that this function can be performed at your site, i.e. Buy Slatwall Here
Repeat in the headlineRe-using the title tag of each page as the H1 header tag can be valuable from both a keyword targeting standpoint and a user experience improvement. Users who go to a page from the SERPs will have the expectation of finding the title they clicked.
66. Meta Description Tags
MDTs are usually the text that appears in the search engines, just under the title of the result
A short text advertisement

Your goal is to entice searchers to click on your listing

Should contain the keyword targets for the page
67. Alt Image Tags
AITs contain the text that appears when you mouse over an image. Use keywords to describe the image appropriately.
For Effective AITs:
Name the image files with keywords
Write keyword rich captions
ADA friendly pages = Text reader
(Target had a $6 million settlement)
68. Site Architecture
Directory structure flat as possible
Parameter driven URLS and URL structure
W3C Standards mean a lot
69. Directory Structure
Keep your most important pages no more than one or two "clicks" away from your home page. Search engine robots may have difficulty reaching deeper pages in a website. Just as your website visitor may become lost and frustrated in too many clicks away from your homepage, the robots may also give up after multiple clicks away from the root of your site.
Navigation

Avoid dropdowns unless list menu

70. If flash or JavaScript, have an alternative static form of navigationProprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
71. Directory StructureInternal Linking
When done right, you can kill two birds with one stone, and improve both search rankings and usability
Use keyword rich anchor text to foreshadow content of the next page
It helps the spider
Do not use click here
72. Static vs. Dynamic
Pros of Static URLs
Higher click-through rates in the SERPs, emails, web pages, etc.
Higher keyword prominence and relevancy
Easier to copy, paste and share on or offline
Easy to remember thus usable in branding and offline media
Creates an accurate expectation from users of what they are about to see on the page
All 4 of the major search engines (and plenty of minor engines) generally handle static URLs more easily than dynamic ones, particularly if there are multiple parameters
73. W3C Standards Based
There are several reasons to make your website W3C valid
Better chances for good rendering in different browsers
Decrease dependency on error correction of browsers
You could give a speed boost to your websites
You avoid bad coding and hence poor spidering
Accessibility means something
74. Technical Best Practices
Hosting/Speed - avoid someone's basement or do-it-yourself
Use redirects (301 vs. 302)
Use Google Webmaster Crawl Tools
Sitemaps - make them descriptive; Submit to Google Sitemaps
Robots.txt
75. Linking, Linking, and Linking
Most overlooked and important aspect of SEO
Choose your friends wisely you gain authority and respect from search engines and prospects
Inbound linking: websites linking to you
Outbound linking: websites you link to
76. Back-Link strategies
How to get somebody to link to your site
Submitting to Free Directories
There are hundreds of free directories. Submitting your site to them will help you improve your rankings somewhat and help get your site indexed, however they are usually too general.
To find free directories, search for list of free directories in Google.
Major directories such as Dmoz will only allow for an official site title (e.g. your company name).
77. LinkingSubmitting to Pay Directories

Major Pay Directories such as Yahoo! and Business.com, are sometimes worth submitting to just for the traffic they bring directly, regardless of the improvement they may bring to your rankings. There are pay directories that will not bring traffic to a site directly, but will help with your rankings. Try to choose industry-related sites when paying for a link.

78. LinkingSearch for Related Sites

Search for related sites. Make general queries in a search engine to bring up directories or resources that are generally related to your sites topic, and contact the webmaster to request a link.

79. Search for terms related to your sites industry in conjunction with terms like add site, submit resource, add link, etc. 80. The highest quality links will require a written request. A written request should discuss what you like about their site, why you want to be listed, why they should list you, and how they might link to you. Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
81. LinkingPosting in Forums

Some forums will allow a signature to be listed in each one of your posts. A signature is a link to your site.

82. Find related forums, create a user in forums that appear to allow signatures, and make posts.Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
83. LinkingOther Ideas
Content distribution press releases, articles
Specifications
Case studies or White Papers
Customers and Partners
84. LinkingCreate a Blog
Blogging does two great things for SEO:
First, if you run a blog correctly, you are updating content on a frequent basis. Search engines love fresh content on Web sites. Web pages or articles that have been published recently on an established Web site get an extra boost in the rankings.
The second benefit of blogging is that blogs are a magnet for links!The people who do the most linking online are bloggers and writers. They are much more likely to link to an interesting blog article with a unique perspective on an issue than a typical corporate Web site.
85. LinkingKey Takeaways
If your site truly has unique content or is considered authoritative, other sites will often link to it naturally. This is the best way to get links.
Quality vs. Quantity Google Page Rank
Trusted links rank higher (.edu, gov, non-profits)
Always keep in mind How can I get other authorative sites to link to mine?
86. SEO Worst Practices
Link Farms do not join!

A link farm is a group of Web sites with the primary purpose of creating a high number of links to a given Web site. These links are not "real" (in terms of signaling the quality of the site they link to), and so they are trying to distort search engine results.

87. Careful, you may get blacklisted or banned.Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
Keyword Stuffing

This involves over-populating certain portions of a Web page with repeated occurrences of a given keyword in the hopes of influencing search engine results. Search engines caught on to this trick many years ago, yet it remains popular for some reason.

Cloaking

This practice involves delivering different Web site content to the search engine spiders versus what is delivered to human users. Why? Send the search engine crawlers certain key word term content in attempt to get higher ranking.

90. It is pretty easy for the search engines to detect this. If you're suspected of using cloaking, it's easy for someone (like a Google employee) to simply visit your Web site as a human and check whether you're cloaking. This technique, when discovered, is one of the most reliable ways to get a site banned.Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
Hidden Text

This technique "hides" text on the Web page that search spiders will index (for ranking purposes), but is invisible to a human. The simplest example is some variation of white text on a white background.

92. Based on how sophisticated you want to get, it could be based on something as simple as tags in the HTML, CSS stylings or JavaScript that changes the page dynamically. Regardless of how sophisticated the approach, it is still going to be detected at some point.Proprietary & confidential to WI Strategic Web Marketing Please do not distribute
93. Bottom Line
It is Not Smart to Try to Outsmart Google Engineers
Google has a lot at stake and has really smart engineers working on the algorithms. An Internet strategy that is predicated on outsmarting Google is not a smart strategy.
For most marketers, the time and energy spent on trying to take these shortcuts is much better invested in two things:
1.)Improving their Web site so that it deserves to be ranked highly because it has valuable, differentiated content
2.) Helping the search engines discover the content for the benefit of users
94. Thank You!
Any Questions, Ideas?

Concordia Universtiy Seo Services Seminar

Documents

Transcript of Concordia Universtiy Seo Services Seminar