Seo101 3 30-11

SEO 101

by Blue Coast Web

BLUE COAST WEB | SEO 101

SEO 101

Part 1: What is SEO

Part 2: Targeting Keywords

Part 3: Implementation

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Part 1: What is SEO?


SEO: THREE TERRIFYING LETTERS?

• Not so terrifying! Search Engine Optimization can be painfully simple.

• With the right content foundation, optimization will follow.

• With time and knowledge, we can optimize more.

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PART 1: WHAT IS SEO


HOW CONTENT IS FOUND Using Google as the core example

Web Sites

Google’s algorithm determines what sites to

crawl, how often, and how many pages to fetch from each site.

Users searching for something

Googlebots

PART 1: WHAT IS SEO


Relevant content

Relevant content

Relevant content

WHAT GOOGLE WANTSPART 1: WHAT IS SEO

How does Google present relevant content?

1.

2.

3.


GO

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blue volvo c30


GOOGLE PAGE RESULTS

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User’s search term Google AdWordsNatural Search

Results

PART 1: WHAT IS SEO

Result title (from the Browser Page Title)

Result description (from the Meta Description)


HOW A GOOD MATCH IS DETERMINED

For any given keyword or key phrase searched, results are sorted based on a complex algorithm*, which includes:

1. Keyword relevance • How well does the keyword match the content

(+ url, browser title, etc.)

• How specific are the keywords “car” vs. “blue volvo c30”

2. Backlinks to that page (quantity and quality)

• Quality of backlinks is determined by PageRank; pages are ranked from 0 - 10, best score being 10

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* If we knew the complete answer, we’d be billionaires, so this is the collective industry “best guess”.

INTERNAL ELEMENTS

EXTERNAL ELEMENTS

a web site

a web site

a web site

YOUR web site

PART 1: WHAT IS SEO

backlinks

keywords

a web site


• PageRank is essentially a “vote” of importance of a given site by Google. The more important a page is, the higher the PageRank.

• PageRank significantly effects one’s position in natural search results.

• If you are linked to from ahighly-ranked site, yourPageRank will also increase (the “vote” is more heavily weighted).

MORE ON PAGE RANKING

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Page rank diagram (wikipedia)

PART 1: WHAT IS SEO

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Targeting Keywords


WHAT’S A KEYWORD?

• A keyword is any word someone might type into a search engine to find a web site

• A keyword phrase is a string of words that describe what the searcher is looking for

• Search engine spiders look to see how often a keyword or keyword phrase appears on a site (and where), as one factor in how relevant the site is to the user’s search.

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PART 2: KEYWORDS


QUALITY KEYWORDS ARE “KEY”

• Keywords need to be specific and grouped“You can't rank well for just a single word. There are too many billion other websites out there to compete with. People actually search for multi-word phrases, because such phrases give them more relevant results. If you want to rank well for a single word then you need to step back and think about what people actually search for and what it is your site actually offers.”

• Focus on a small number of keywordsTargeted keywords need to be few - research and select 20 keywords to target for bringing in relevant site traffic (see appendix for tools)

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PART 2: KEYWORDS


• Think like your user. How will they search for your company, product, other?

• Bad, good, and better keyword search

GO

KEYWORD EXAMPLES

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PART 2: KEYWORDS

car

GOblue car

GOblue volvo

GOblue volvo c30 more relevant results


KEYWORDS ARE CORE TO MARKETING

• Identify the keywords

• Update web site

• Promote external links

• Track keyword success

• Build your AdWords campaign on the targeted keywords

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PART 2: KEYWORDS

Select targeted keywords

Update site with keywords

BuildAdWordsCampaign

keyword

keywordkeywordkeyword

keywordkeywordkeywordkeyword

keywordkeyword

keywordkeyword

keyword keywordkeywordkeywordkeyword keyword

keyword

keywordkeyword

keyword

keyword keyword

keywordkeyword

keywordkeyword

keyword


Googlebots crawl the web and bring back results to the Google servers. The primary elements that are stored and searched on any given page are:

• browser titles • domain name • url string• H1 tags (and H2, H3, etc.)

• body of content• cross-linking• metadata

ANATOMY OF A WEB PAGE

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PART 2: KEYWORDS

www.volvo.com/cars/c30

Volvo C30

Duis autem vel eum iriure d o l o r i n h e n d re r i t i n vulputate Volvo C30 esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio d ign i ss im qu i b l and i t praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis.

Good page semantics is important. If you have good code, you will be rewarded.

Volvo C30 | 2 door hatchback

<title> 2011 Volvo C30 Coupe </title><meta name="description" content="Introducing the 2011 Volvo C30 coupe – a turbocharged classic in a modern, full efficient shell. The Volvo C30 comes with premium sound, high-tech safety, and stunning design features inside and out." />

http://www.volvo.com/cars/c30




METADATA GUIDELINES

• Page title <title> A Title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. Create a unique title for each page on your site. Don’t use lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users or stuff unneeded keywords in your title tags. Preface your titles with the most pertinent information, and place

the company name last.

• Meta description<description> Descriptions can be defined for each page. A page's description meta data is listed in search results directly under the result’s Page Title link. Make it descriptive and useful for the users - think about what words might entice them to click as it relates to the page’s content. Don’t use introductory phrases like “welcome to our...”, instead, get to the point fast!

These can be 1-2 sentences / a short paragraph. The first 150 characters (approximately) are displayed.

• Meta keywords<keywords> While some search engines use keywords, to match against the page content for relevance, in September 2009, Google announced “they are no longer taking keywords into account whatsoever” 1. If you have extra time, put them in.

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PART 2: KEYWORDS

Product Name and/or Keywords | Company name Send Money, Pay Online, Receive Money | PayPal

1 wikipepedia.org

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Implementation

BLUE COAST WEB | SEO 101 19

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES

One: Keyword prioritization • Keyword prioritization spreadsheet

• Keyword snapshot (where the site is listed in Google results by keyword)

• Keyword opportunity index (how successful a keyword will be for marketing)

Two: edit site content and metadata• Implement keyword-rich and content-specific Browser Titles

• Refine content with prioritized keywords

• Add Meta descriptions

• Link up Google Webmaster Tools (already done?)

• Add class links to footer

• Add drop-downs to global navigation

Three: improve page rank with backlinks• Post to quality industry sites, wikipedia, partner sites, Google Places, etc.

Four: track and adjust every 1-2 months

PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION

BLUE COAST WEB | SEO 101 20

MORE ON BACKLINKS

Backlink low hanging fruit

• Look at Wikipedia pages, and other public info sites - submit your site as a reference link.

• Ask partners to link to you from their sites (reciprocal links)

• Claim your business listing with Google Places, Yelp, etc.

Backlink cultivation: will require a team to identify and manage

• Post comments to quality industry sites. Be consistent and post brief comments frequently (note: check the site’s page rank and their robots.txt follow status for comment areas/blogs).

• Submit industry-related articles and thought papers on industry sites

• Be useful contributors / answer questions online



WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?

Ah yes. Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Flickr...

Here is a guiding principle:• If the company using social media benefits not

just the company, but the search engines and the searchers, then it’s very good thing to do.

• If it feels like something that benefits the company (marketer), but doesn't do much for anyone else, think twice.

Which one is your company?

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Questions

!


APPENDIX

Research tools:• Google Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/

KeywordToolExternal

• Google Analytics (requires login) https://www.google.com/analytics/

• Webmaster Tools: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

• Meta data checker (length of titles etc.)http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-content-analysis-and-sitemap.html

• BCW keyword ranking spreadsheet

• BCW keyword snapshot spreadsheet

• BCW keyword effectiveness spreadsheet

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




https://www.google.com/analytics/

https://www.google.com/analytics/

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-content-analysis-and-sitemap.html




Seo101 3 30-11

Technology

Transcript of Seo101 3 30-11