THE SEO SURVIVAL - Altervistasearch engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become standard...

THE SEO SURVIVALeBook

guide

SEO

SEO SURVIVAL GUIDE eBook

© 2014 Weidert Group Inc. | 920.731.2771 | weidert.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IntroductionSearch Engine Research Search Engine Algorithm Bias Adapting Your SEO Strategy to Search Engine Updates Keyword Research

Content Creation Creating Optimized Content Optimizing Content for SEO and the Web

Link Building 75% of SEO Depends On It Geographic SEO

Social Strategy Social Media Public Relations

3

4568

101112

131415

161717

2



INTRODUCTIONWithanaverageof3billionwebquerieseveryday,internetsearchiscriticaltogaininganedgeoveryourcompetition;italsoputspressureonyoutooptimizeyourwebsite,itscontentandyouronlineactivitytoattractsearchengines.Searchengineoptimization(SEO)hasbecomestandardpracticeformarketersasawaytobefoundinsearchtoattractqualifiedtrafficandleads.

In2012,SEOmoz.comoutlinedsomeimportantdevelopmentsinthesearchenvironmentandSEO:

➡ Today,morethan75%ofallclickswithinsearchresultsarefororganicversuspaidlinks

➡ ContentcreationisbecomingthepredominantSEOandsocialmediastrategybecauseitproducesthebestqualitativeresults

➡ Themostpopularformsofmarketingcontentareblogposts,socialmedia,articlesandguides,andpressreleases

➡ Google'ssearchalgorithmischangingbetween500and600timesperyear

➡ ContinuoussearchengineresearchisbecomingmoreandmoreimportantforSEOmaintenance

➡ ThecorrelationbetweensocialmediasharingandinboundlinksisproofthatbrandsocialmediasignalsarebecomingadominantforceinmaintainingSEO

ThisSEOSurvivalGuideisaimedathelpingyouunderstandtherightquestionstoaskaboutyourwebsite’sSEOandidentifyingtherightcomponentsforyourSEOstrategy.

3

on-page SEO, keywords, off-page SEO

1

SEARCH ENGINE RESEARCH



SEOtechniquesfallintotwocategories:WhiteHatstrategiesandBlackHatstrategies.

White Hat strategiesbuildSEOthroughhigh-quality,content-basedtechniques,strongkeywordusage,andauthoritativelinkbuilding.Black Hat strategiesarethosethataregraduallybeingoutlawedbysearchengines,likekeywordstuffingandlinkfarming.

Therearemisconceptionsaboutbothcategories,andcombatingthemisacriticalstepintheSEOprocess.

"Rank is all that matters."

Althoughrankwillalwayshaveimportanceinsearch,it’simportanttolookbeyondwhetherawebsiteholdsthefirstorsecondposition.Today,clickthrurate(CTR)insearchengineresultspages(SERPs)isbecomingmoreinfluencedbyhowyourpositionappearstotheuser.Greatpagetitles,therightURLanddescription,andRel=Author/GoogleAuthorshipimagesaresomeofthetopfactorsforsearchenginestoday,andit’sproventhatSERPlistingswithanimageofarealpersonwillalwaystrumpthelistingthatlooksbuiltbyaprogram.

"My content can only have one topic."

There’snothingwrongwithfocusingonanicheverticalwithcontent,butallbusinessshouldbeopentoincludingmultiplebroadtopics.Alargercontentreachcanearnonlinesignalsthatcanboosttheentirewebsite.Evenifyou’reinanicheindustry,therearealwaysconnectionstoothertopicstobringinmorepotentialleads.

"Twitter & Facebook are the only social media that matter."

Thismisconceptionstemsfrommainstreammedia’sfocusonthem.Astrongwebpresenceisonethattargetsitsaudienceeffectively,andthatmightrequiretargetinglesser-knownsocialmediaplatforms.Forexample,gettingaggressivewithStumbleUponcanyieldtremendousresultsandGoogle+isprovingtohaveagrowingimportanceforSEO.

"I need to target high search volume keywords."

Chunkymiddleandlongtailkeywordswillyieldmorequalifiedtrafficthanusingtheheadmatchkeywordseveryoneisusing.Asanexample,bytargetingthesearchterm“wheyproteiningredientsforcommercialdairyapplications,”youwillgetmorequalifiedtrafficthanpeoplesearching“wheyprotein.”

Search EngineAlgorithm Bias

5



Adapting Your SEO Strategy to Search Engine Updates

WithGoogle’sHummingbirdupdate,Googleputfurtheremphasisonqualitycontent,notjustquantity.WhiteHat,orauthentic,credibletactics,havebeengivenincreasedimportance.GooglehascrackeddownonBlackHattacticsmorethanbeforeandhasissuedmanypenalties.ManywebsiteshavefoundthemselvesintroubleduetotherecentslewofupdatesfromGoogle.

What Search Engines Are Looking For On-Page:

➡ Quality content–Authentic,print-qualitycontentthatiswrittenwiththereaderin mind,notGoogle,ishighlyvalued.Google’sfocushasdrasticallyshiftedtowards linkingqualitycontentwithquestionsthatsearcheshave

➡ Site architecture–Simple,usablearchitecturesthatallowsearchenginestoeasily “crawl”throughyourcontentscoresbigpointswiththePandaalgorithm.Ifasearch enginecannotfindyourcontent,ahumanbrowserprobablycan’teither

➡ Page titles & descriptions–HTMLtitlesandtagshelpcrawlersidentifythecontent oneachofyoursite’spages.Makesurethetitlescontainrelevantkeywordstoclearly identifytosearchengines(andvisitors)whatcontentwillbecoveredoneachpage, andkeepthemclean.Nokeywordstuffing!

➡ Answered questions–Googleisnowlookingforanswerstoquestionsthatusers enterintothesearchengine.Keywordsarejustoneaspecttothis.Yourwritingmust beinformativeandeducational,notstuffedwithkeywords.Naturalwritingisseenas aplustoGooglenowsincereadersvaluethatcontentmuchmorethananything writtenwithGoogleinmind

"I only need to do SEO for my website."

Searchenginesweighmultiplesourcesontheweb,includingsocialmediaplatformsandonlinepressreleases,sooptimizationmustbeexecutedforeverythingyoudoonline–videos,imagealttags,Twitterupdates,etc.

"Search engines only search text content."

Althoughtextualcontentisimportant,becauseit'sreadilysearchable,don’tunderestimatethepowerofvideo,imagesandothercontentsuchasSlideSharedecks.

"There's no simple way to increase traffic on my website."

TheInternetisfullofsimple,oftenoverlookedmethodsforincreasingtraffic,likeboostingyoursite’sloadspeed,employingGooglewebmastertools,andenhancingyoursocialmediapresencewithanewtoollikeHootSuite.

6



Theon-pagecontentisjustthefirst25%ofwhatthePandaalgorithmislookingfor.Theother75%isallaboutoff-pageSEOtechniques.

What Search Engines Are Looking For Off-Page:

Quality links–Whentrusted,qualityandrespectedwebsitescreatelinkstoacompany’swebsite,theselinkstellGooglethatcrediblesourcesfindyourcontentvaluable

Link text–Linkswithkeyword-richlinktextcanstillbeused,butit’simportanttousevariationsofthistextthatusersarelookingfor.Forlowerqualitylinks,it’sbetternottousekeywordrichlinktextandinsteaduseyourbrandname.

Link authority–Linkauthorityisaroughlyquantifiedmeasureofwhetherawebsiteisatrulytrustedauthorityornotinagivenfieldorarea.Bybuildingcontentandproducingastrongbrandthatpeopletrust,usingstrategicinboundmarketing,companiescangraduallygainstrongertrustauthority.

TheotherkeytounderstandingGoogle’salgorithmupdatesistokeeptrackofnegativepracticesthatyouwillbepanalizedfor.Herearesomeofthemostimportantupdates:

➡ Paid links–Purchasinglinksinhopesofbetterrankingsisnowamajorviolation.Of course,therearewaystogetaroundthisrule.Specifically,pay-per-clicklinksvia GoogleAdWordsorothercredibleoptionsareexceptions.ThelinksthatGoogle targetsthemostarethosethatarecreatedforfreebetweenwebsitesthatnormally wouldn’thaveanybusinesswitheachother

➡ Blocking–Ifyoursitehasbeenblockedfromsearchresultsbyanypersonor organization,Googleseesthisasahittoyourtrustworthinessandcredibility

➡ Duplicate content–Googleisnowonthehuntforduplicatecontentontheweb. Penaltiesarebeinghandedouttositesthathaveduplicatecontenteitherontheir siteoronothersites.Itdoesn’tmatterintheeyesofGoogleifthishasbeendone deliberatelyornot

OrganizationsthatplaybytherulesandfocusonimprovingtheirSEObyfollowingGoogle’sguidelineswillimprovetheirlikelihoodofbeingfoundbyjusttherightaudiences.

1.

2.

3.

7



Over-optimized Sites

Google’supdatesarealsoaimedatpenalizingover-optimizedwebsitestoputanendtowebspam,focusingonwebsitesthat:

➡Usekeywordstuffing

➡Usecontentfromanoriginalcontentsourcewithoutattributionorcreditfororiginal source

➡Presentdifferentcontenttovisitorsthanwhatwasshowntosearchengines

➡Usetoomanyunnaturalorpaidinboundlinks

Everyorganizationwithasiteshouldmakesuretheyweren’taffectedbythischangeinthesearchrules.Google’sWebmasterToolsisthebestresourcetocheckandseeifyoursitehasbeennegativelyaffectedbyGoogle’supdates.

KeywordResearch

SincethelatestGoogleupdate,Hummingbird,theroleofkeywordsinSEOhasbeenreduced.Googlenolongervaluesindividualsetsofenteredinthemetadata.Instead,Googleplacesanemphasisonthecontentofeachpage.

KeywordsshouldstillhavearoleinyourSEOwork,specificallyfortheon-pagecopyofyourwebsite.Unfortunately,Googlehasmadekeywordsearchdataunavailabletousers.GooglealsoeliminatedtheirfreeKeywordToolandmadeotherkeywordtoolsobsolete.

ThebestplacetogaugekeywordtrafficisnowtheGoogleKeywordPlanner.Thisisafreetoolthatcaterstowardpay-per-click(PPC)advertisersbutcanstillbeutilizedfororganickeywordresearch.TheGoogleKeywordPlannerissimilartothepreviousKeywordToolandshowsyouakeyword’smonthlysearchvolume,bothgloballyandlocally(localmeaningU.S.searches).Italsoprovidesinformationonthecompetitivenessofthekeyword(inrelationtoPPCcampaigns)andGoogle’srecommendedalternatives.

ThegoalwithGoogle’sKeywordPlanneristotargetrelevantkeywordsforaspecificproductorservicewhileensuringthatselectionsarereceivingagoodlevelofmonthlysearchvolume.

YoucanalsoutilizethekeywordtoolofferedbyBingonceyoucreateanaccount.Bing’stoolisforPPCcampaignssimilartoGoogle’sbutcanstillbeadaptedfororganickeywordresearch.ThekeyworddatafromBingisusuallysimilartotheresultsofGoogleeventhoughBingusesadifferentsearchalgorithm.

8



Whicheverkeywordtoolyoudecidetogowithistheoneyoushouldstickwith.Bouncingbetweendifferentkeywordtoolswillmuddleyourresultsandhaveyourunningincircles.Thevariedkeywordtrafficnumberswillbeconfusingsinceeachkeywordtoolissamplingfromdifferentserversandalgorithms.

PagetitlesandpagedescriptionsarestillimportanttoGoogle.InsteadofwritingthemtocatertowardsGoogle,writeyourpagedescriptionsandpagetitlesfortheuser.Google’salgorithmreadspagessimilartohowanactualpersonreadsandwillpenalizepagesforkeywordstuffingandawkwardwritingjusttofitkeywordsin.Youwanttobedescriptiveandhonest,butyoustillneedtostandout.

ThenextstepistoinvestigatehowyourwebsiteorblogranksforspecifickeywordsintheSERPforthatparticularsearchquery.Thistechniquewillhelpclarifywhichkeywordsneedtobetargetedtoriseinthepagerankings.UsingGoogle,it’simportanttobeloggedoutofanyGoogleaccountwhenlookingfortheaccurateSERP.WhenaGoogleuserisloggedin,SERPschangetoreflecthisorherpastsearches.

Thesetipsarethebeginningofakeywordresearchstrategy.Bycontinuingtotuneandadjusttonewinformation,you’llbuildamoretargetedcollectionofkeywordsthatwillgrowandshapeyourSEOstrategy.

9

KEYWORD

blogs, eBooks,visual content, etc.

CONTENTCREATION

2



Creating Optimized Content

TheparamountbestpracticeinSEOtodayisstrongcontentcreation.Regardlessoftheimpactofoff-pagetechniqueslikeconsistentlink-buildingandkeywordmaintenance,allsearchalgorithmslookforafoundationofhigh-quality,relevantcontentthatuserscanusetoanswertheirquestions.

Content aimed at optimizing for SEO should follow five key parameters:

Content is always important.Freshcontent(i.e.text,video,images)onawebsiteorblogencouragessearchenginestovisitmorefrequently,increasingthenumberofwebsitepagesthatbecomeindexed.Eachindexedpageisthenanopportunityforyourtargettofindyoursitewhenconductingasearch.

Whenbusinessesproduce fresh content frequently, search performance accelerates quickly.Newblogarticles,pagecontent,landingpagesvideos,etc.,alldrawsearchengine’sattention.

Thebestwayforawebsitetogainorganic,non-paidlinksisbycreatingqualitycontentthatpeoplewanttoreferenceandlinkto.Blogsareaformatthatmanyusersfindvaluable,aswellasstronglandingpages,downloadablecontentoffers,ormultimedia.Thesetypeofnatural,“earned links” improve SEO credibility.

SEO is becoming increasingly reliant on social media.Byorientingcontenttowardtargetedsocialmedia,marketersmakeiteasierforuserstoshare.LinkedIn,Google+andTwitterareparticularlystrongdevicesforpromotinggoodcontentandbuildingsociallinks.

Websites are meant to convert traffic into leadsandleadsintonewbusiness,andadvancedcontentcanbethetickettocapturingthoseleadsandsales.Byrequiringuserstocompleteaforminexchangeforcontent,businesscanalsolearnwhatthoseleads’needsandchallengesareandgetgood,qualitativedataabouttheircontentstrengthsandweaknesses.Leadconversionmaybeaimedattheeventualsale,butitcanalsoservemarketers’SEOneeds.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

11



Optimizing Content for SEO and the Web

Onceacontentstrategyisestablished,companiesusuallyseeasignificantaccelerationinSEOimprovementandtraffic.Oneofthekeystomakingon-pagecontentimpactSEO,istoensurethatthewebsite’sspeedkeepsupwiththerestoftheworld’sfastpace.

Webusershavebecomeaccustomedtowebpagesloadingquickly.Iftheydon’t,peoplemoveon.Searchenginesunderstandthis,sowhentheircrawlersgetheldupdissectingawebsite’scontentbecauseofpageloadspeed,itworksagainsttheoverallsearchrank.

There are four content optimization techniques that will help boost a site’s load speed:

Large, high res images slow load time.Usingthemainphotoeditoronyour computerorafreetoolsuchasSmush.it,photosandcustomgraphicsshould bereducedto72DPI,withpixeldimensionssetfortheapproximatesizeneeded. DownsizinganimageusingastandardHTMLeditorwillonlychangetheappearance onthescreen;thebrowserstillhastoloadthefullimage,whichcanbe3xaslarge.

An image’s file type can help decrease its file size and load time.Stickwith compressedimagefiletypeslikeJPG,PNG,andGIF.Yourwebdesignshouldnot includeunnecessarygraphicelements.Therearetimeswhenit’snecessarytousea customgraphictodisplaystylizedtext(i.e.alogo,specialheader,orads),butthe moreyouleverageCSSfordisplayingspecificfonts,thefasterthepagewillload.

Never keep video footage in its original recorded format if it’s not optimized for the web.Eventhesimplesteditingsoftware,suchasiMovieorWindowsMovieMaker, canoptimizevideocontenteffectively.AnotheroptionistohostitonasitelikeVimeo orYouTube.Thisoptionkeepsyourwebsiteloadingquicklyandstoresthecontenton thehostsite.

If you’re using a social video host (e.g. Youtube), the options for SEO expand immensely.StartingupaYouTubeaccountreallymeansopeninganothercontent channelandsocialmediahub–bothrequireregularmaintenance.Companies makingthatchoiceforthefirsttimehavetobesuretodotherightkindofkeyword researchforYouTubeoptimization,carefullydescribingeachvideowithkeyword- richtags,promotingtheYouTubechannelbyactivelypromotingvideos,andsecuring inboundlinksjustlikeanotherwebpage.

1.

2.

3.

4.

12

directory links, social links, trade links, etc.

3

LINK BUILDING TECHNIQUES



Link Building: 75% of SEO depends on it

Whileeverypageonthewebsiteshouldbeoptimized,incorporatingtherightlong-tailkeywordphrases,thesestrategiesreallyaccountforjust25%ofSERPperformance.Theother75%ofSEOisallabouthavingstrong,reliablelinks.Whileyourcontroloveroutsidelinksissomewhatlimited,therearefivemainprinciplesoflink-buildingthatcanboostawebsite’spagerankifappliedcorrectly.

➡ Submit your website’s URL to appropriate online directories.Startwiththecommon localdirectorylistingssuchasGoogle,Yahoo,andBing.ThenFocusonhigh-qualityniche directorieswithinyourindustry.It’ssafertonowuseyourbrandnameasthelinktext,but forhigher-qualitydirectories,variedkeyword-richlinktextisagoodmove.

➡ Content creation has a huge impact on link-building too.Everypieceofcontenton awebsitehasthepotentialtobelinked,whetherit’sablog,anonlinenewsroom, orsomeotherfrequentlyupdatedpage.Basedonasingleyearofhigh-qualitydaily bloggingalone,WeidertGroupexperiencedanincreaseof200%inlinkingdomains. Inthatsametimeperiod,thesite’slinkcredibilityscorejumpedfrom4.1to5.4.

➡ Another key business strategy in link-building is utilizing B2B and personal networks.Theserelationshipsbuildcrediblelinksacrossmanyonlinesources, includingnetworkslikeFacebook,Twitter,andLinkedIn.Inparticular,posting commentsonotherblogs,makinghelpfulremarksthatindicatethoughtleadership, andrememberingtosharecontentreciprocallyareallimportantnetworkingactions thatcanreallybuildSEO-enhancinglinks.

ByusingGoogleAlertsorothersocialmonitoringtoolsforspecifictermsrelatedtoyourindustry,youcanmonitorwhenothersarepostingquestionsordiscussionsrelatedtothesetermsandthenjoinintheconversationwithhelpfulinsights–evensharealinktoablogpostorarticlefromyourcompanyinrelationtothetopicwithinyourcomment.

➡ Active participation in blogsthroughcommentaryisawaytoactivelynetworkwhile generatingthepossibilityofgrowinglinkopportunities.Often,regularinteraction canearnactivebloggerstheopportunitytowriteasaguestbloggeronothersites. Inguest-writingopportunities,it’simportanttoincorporatestrongkeywordstrategy whilesubtlytakingadvantageoftheopportunitytolinktoone’sownsite.Guest bloggersaretypicallyseenasauthoritiesonasubject,soreadersviewtheirlinks asverycredible

➡ Repurposing your blogs and other content to create advanced contentcanlead tohugeimprovementsinSEO.Whitepapers,videos,presentations,eBooks,and infographicsarestandardoptionsforadvancingcontentforinterestedaudiences. Thepotentialforthesetypesofcontenttogatherlinksishigh,especiallyiftheyare accessible,welldesigned,andunique

14



Keepinmindthatnotalllinksarecreatedequal.Therearegoodreasonswhydirectorylinksareonlythefirststep–theyarenotnearlyasvaluableasstrong,sociallinksbuiltongoodcontent.Linksfrommedia,tradeassociations,powerfulbrands,educationsitesorgovernmentarekeytogaininggreatSERPrankquickly.

Geographic SEO

Formanysmallorlocalbusinesses,globaldominationofSERPsisnotthegoal.Instead,geographyplaysalargepartindeterminingwhichcustomerstheyserve.Theon-pageaspectsofgeographicSEOareobvious,andmanybusinessesalreadyusethemwell:localtermswithintheon-pagemetadataandpagecontent,ongoingbloggingefforts,etc.However,toensureabusinessisreachingtherightaudiencewithinaspecifictargetregion,it’simportanttohaveasolidstrategyinplaceforlocalizedlink-building.

Withinaspecificgeographicscope,directoryusagecanbearealadvantage.Therearethreetipsfortargetingaspecificgeographicareawithdirectories:

➡ Register with Google+.It’sthestapleforsecuringthelocalsearchforanybusiness. Creatinganaccountonthesiteisfree,anditusuallyonlyrequires15minutesforthe profiletobecomplete

➡WhileGoogle+isprobablythemostimportantlocaldirectoryoption,Yahoo! Local and Bing Business Portal are also important geographic SEO boosters.Bothofferfree listingoptionsandtheadditionalinboundlinkcanhelpraiseawebsite’scredibility,evenif thesearchisthroughGoogle

➡ Niche directories really make the difference for localizing SEO strategy.Thereare avarietyofresourcesreadilyavailable,outlininghowtoselectdirectoriesstrategically basedonspecificbusinesscharacteristics

➡Inadditiontodirectories,review sites offer a huge advantage to local businesses becausesearchenginesplacealotofweightoncustomerreviews(asdoprospective customers).Infact,77%ofonlineshoppersuseonlinereviewstomakeapurchasing decision.Likedirectories,manyreviewsitesallowbusinessestomakeprofiles,which encouragetheircustomerstosharetheirexperience.Reviewsiteshavethepotential togrowlinksabitmorebecausecustomerscanactivelysharetheirexperiencein socialmediaandincommentary.

➡ Foursquare can also be a valuable platform,especiallyforlocalretailersand restaurants.Already,Facebookisacommonmediumforbusinessestogrowaloyal customerbase.Anyofthesesignalscanimprovegeographiclinks,especiallywhen thereareclearconnectionsbetweensocialeffortsandthehomewebsite.

15

THE SEO SURVIVAL - Altervistasearch engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become standard...

Documents

Transcript of THE SEO SURVIVAL - Altervistasearch engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become standard...