Search Engine

Optimization (SEO)
Paid Versus Organic Search
What is Search Engine Optimization?

The process of getting traffic from the free, organic, editorial, or

natural search results on search engines.
Paid Versus Organic Search
What’s the difference?

Organic Paid

Results take time; often weeks, months, and

Near-instant results and often in minutes
sometimes years

Traffic is ‘free’ but requires resources and time Traffic is paid. You pay-per-click (PPC) on a
investment cost-per-click (CPC) keyword basis

ROI is harder to measure but often improves ROI is much easier to measure, but can stagnate
over time and/or decline over time

70-80% of searchers click on SEO results 20-30% of searchers click on paid results
Paid Versus Organic Search
What’s the difference?

A. Paid Search A
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Cost Per Click (CPC)

B. Organic Search
• Search Engine optimization (SEO)
• ‘Free’
B
Paid Versus Organic Search
Similarities between the two

Keyword Landing
Traffic
Research Pages
The Three Pillars of SEO
Technical On-Page Off-Page
SEO can be broken down into three components

Technical Optimization is the process of

completing activities on your site that are
designed to improve SEO but are not
related to content. It often happens behind
the scenes.
Search Engine Algorithms
Search engine algorithms are computer
programs that look for clues to give the searcher
the exact results they are looking for. Search
engines rely on algorithms to find web pages
and decide which ones to rank for any given
keyword. There are three steps to how search
engines work.
Crawling
Search engines send out web crawlers to find new
pages and record information about them. We
sometimes call these web crawlers ‘spiders’ or
‘robots’. Their purpose is to discover new web pages
that exist, and also to periodically check the content
on pages they’ve previously visited to see whether
they’ve changed or been updated.
Indexing Common reasons web pages are not placed in the index

Content considered Content considered Page couldn’t be Page or domain lacked

duplicate low value or spammy crawled inbound links
Ranking Ranking signals used by search engines

Keyword Presence in Loading Speed of Website Reputation

Title Tag Web Page

Whether the keyword or Whether the web page Whether the web page
a synonym was loads quickly and is and website is
mentioned on the page mobile friendly considered reputable
and within the title tag for the topic being
searched for
Ranking – Google Hummingbird

Ranking search engines with Google’s main algorithm,

Hummingbird.

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Keyword

Word or phrase that a user enters into a

search engine to accomplish a task.
Types of Keyword

Navigational

Navigational queries are keyword searches for a specific

website or webpage. Example keywords include:

Navigational • Moz
• moz.com
• rand fishkin moz
Informational
Navigational queries are often related to brand terms and
can affect all stages of the buying cycle.

Transactional
Keywords and the Buyer’s
Journey
Awareness

- Navigational Interest

• Smaller proportion of all keywords

• Often brand-related keywords
Consideration
• Can occur at all stages of the Buyer’s Journey
Conversion

+ Informational
Retention

+ Transactional
SERPs
What is a SERP?

SERP stands for a Search Engine Results Page. These

are the results you see after you search for a keyword.
SERPs
Types of SERPs

Classic Universal Extended

SERPs
Classic SERPs

A B
A. Title Tag
B. URL
C. Meta Description Tag C

D. Rich Snippets
D

E. Sitelinks
E
SERPs
Universal SERPs

Videos Images Maps/Local Shopping News

SERPs
Examples of Universal SERPs

Maps/Local Search
SERPs
Extended SERPs

Knowledge Direct Related App Twitter

Graph Answers Question Box Packs Cards
SERPs
Example of extended SERPs

Knowledge Graph
Types of SEO Objectives
The importance of setting SEO objectives

They
They help to
encourage buy-
formulate your
in
SEO strategy
from key
stakeholders
They ensure
objectives
are met
Types of SEO objectives
What should you measure?

Keywords Lead Generation

Traffic Reputation/Backlinks

Market Share E-Commerce

Brand/Product Awareness Ads Revenue

Make your Objectives SMART S M A R T

Setting objectives using the SMART methodology

Specific

They must clearly describe what it is

you set out to achieve.
SMART Objectives Examples
Remember, the most common SEO objectives
involve the measurement of keywords, traffic, and
conversions or sales. Here are some examples of
SEO objectives that can be used as a guide to
setting relevant objectives for your own business
or website:

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Setting Objectives for Different
Types of Business

Transactional Informational

If your business is transactional and you have an ecommerce element, you’ll want to set your objectives
around tracking sales and lead conversions. However, if you’re a non-ecommerce commercial site, you’ll
want to focus on lead generations.

• E-commerce sites: Objectives are often tracking sales and lead conversions
• Non ecommerce commercial sites: Mostly interested in setting lead generation SEO goals
Types of Keywords
What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the process of discovering the keywords used by

potential customers to find your products, and picking the most
relevant keywords that are within your reach and that have good
search volume.
Types of Keywords
The importance of keyword research

• Get the right kind of visitors to your site

• Identify keywords with high search volume and omit low volume terms

• Identify content gaps on your website

• Target keywords that are within your reach

Types of Keywords
The long and short of keywords

Short-tail keywords Long-tail keywords

Typically one or two words Typically three or more words
Less specific More specific

Skiing Best time to go to Whistler

Ski Holidays Self-drive ski holidays France
Snowboards Best snowboard for all mountains
Types of Keywords
Short-tail versus long-tail keywords

High Volume
The Short-tail
/ High
Competition accounts for 30% of all
search
traffic

The Long-tail
accounts for 70% of
all search traffic
Low Volume /
Low
Competition

Hard to Rank / Easy to Rank

Hard to Convert /Convert
Types of Keywords
Key differences between long and short keywords

Feature Short-tail Long-tail

Intent Vague Specific

Rank Harder to rank Easier to rank

Conversion Harder to convert Easier to convert

Higher individual search volume but Lower individual search volume but
Search volume
lower collective search volume higher collective search volume

Research Easier to research Harder to research

Traffic 30% of all traffic 70% of all traffic

Requires more in-depth and a greater

Content Requires a smaller amount of content
amount of content
Steps to Successful Keyword Following a structured process for keyword research

Research

Pick a Topic Brainstorm Keywords Review Keyword Value Prioritize Keywords

Focus on one topic or Research keywords with Gather keyword data to Decide which keywords
theme at a time and similar meaning around a help decide how useful are the most important
imagine what the webpage closely related topic and the keywords are and and which ones you wish
will look like focus on quantity over whether they are within to focus more on
quality at this stage reach
 As you type a keyword into a search engine, you’ll see related
suggestions displayed below. Try adding a * before your keyword to
get more specific topic suggestions.

Pick a Topic to Research

A topic could be for a product or service, a

source of information, or a brand or person.

For example, ‘What size snowboard do I

need?’ appears both informative and
transactional but is considered informative
keyword as the searcher is researching before
deciding to purchase.

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Brainstorm Keywords

Do Avoid
o Think of closely related keywords o Straying off topic
o Think of synonyms o Trying only to find perfect match keywords
o Include plural and singular keywords o Stopping at two or three keywords
o Aim for quantity rather than quality (10+
where possible)
Tools to Help you Brainstorm
for Keywords

Search Engine Suggestions and Related Searches

Google Keyword Planner

Keywords Everywhere

Competitive Keyword Analysis

Search Volumes
Steps to Reviewing Keyword Value and Difficulty

Step1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5

Get the keyword

search volumes

·
Search Volume and Relevancy Topic: what size snowboard do I need?

Score Monthly Google

Topic
Keyword Relevancy
Search Volume
Score

snowboard size guide 320 1

- Search Volume
snowboard sizing 320 1

The higher the search volume, the better the snowboard size 320 1
keyword is. For SEO we tend to target keywords
what size snowboard do I
at a country level, so select the most relevant 170 1
country that you wish to target. need?

snowboard size chart 170 1

110 1
+ Relevancy Score snowboard size calculator

picking a snowboard 90 3

snowboarding size chart 90 1

Keyword Stuffing

Title tags need keywords but we can’t

fit all of our keywords in there
 Prioritizing keywords based on metrics acquired
Prioritize Keywords

Topic
Monthly Google
Keyword Relevancy Priority
Search Volume
Score

snowboard sizing 320 1 P1 Always one P1 keyword

snowboard size guide 320 1 P2 Two P2 keywords

snowboard size 320 1 P2

what size snowboard do I need 170 1 P3 Three or more P3 keywords

snowboard size chart 170 1 P3

snowboard size calculator 110 1 P3

snowboarding size chart 90 1 P3

snowboard sizes 70 1 P3
Turning Research into Content
Have a go!

This can also

This can be for include ‘content
pages that gaps’ where
already exist on content doesn’t
your site currently exist
Build the
keyword
research list into
a spreadsheet
 Turning Research into Content
Using a spreadsheet to guide you

Topic P1 Keyword P2 Keyword P2 Keyword P3 Keyword P3 Keyword P3 Keyword P3 Keyword P3 Keyword

What size snowboard do I snowboard what size snowboard snowboardi

snowboard snowboard snowboard snowboard
snowboard size ng size
need? sizing size guide size size chart sizes
6.1.1.5 do I need calculator chart
Understand that/ bindings
Snowboard boots data breaches can not only damage your business but your brand if publicly discussed
Picking a snowboard

Burton snowboard bindings

Best snowboard bindings

Ladies snowboard jacket

Snowboard maintenance

Snowboard accessories
Technical Optimization
What is it?

SEO activities completed on your site that are designed to improve

SEO but are not related to content.
Technical Optimization
Features of technical optimization

Time
investment
Ranking
Factors
Technical
Tools
Help
Activities
Technical Optimization
Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google that

helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google
Search results.
Technical Optimization
Diagnosing technical issues with Google Search Console
Technical Optimization
Crawlability optimization in five steps

1. Minimize site errors

2. Use redirects wisely

3. Create and submit an up-to-date XML sitemap

4. Minimize duplicate content

5. Check for indexed pages

Technical Optimization
Step 1: Minimize site and URL errors
Technical Optimization
Step 2: Use redirects wisely

301 302 Meta Refresh

‘Moved ‘Found’ or ‘If you are not

permanently’ ‘Moved redirected in five
Temporarily’ seconds, click
here.’
Technical Optimization
Step 3: Create and submit an up-to-date XML sitemap

This site has an index rate of

around 12%, meaning that the
majority of pages submitted in the
XML sitemap are not included in
Google’s index
Technical Optimization
Step 4: Minimize duplicate content

Search engines They will not index

prefer to index duplicate content or place it
unique content in a secondary, lesser user
index
Technical Optimization
Step 5: Check for indexed pages

This will show whether the page

was indexed, and if so, when it
was indexed and what the page
looked like

Or, copy the URL and paste it into the address bar
of Chrome with cache: before it e.g.
Select cached from cache:https://www.facebook.com

green triangle icon

next to URLs in
Google
Technical Optimization
Technical SEO ranking factors

HTTPs

Mobile
Site Speed Friendliness HTTPs
On-Page Optimization
On-Page Optimization is the process of ensuring your
content is relevant and provides a great user
experience. In the past, many businesses approached
it as simply keyword stuffing – mentioning their
keywords as many times as possible within the
content.

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Tools Used for On-Page
Optimization

SEOptimer, SEO SiteCheckup and, Mozbar

are free SEO tools that can be used to scan
the HTML of a web page and identify important
on-page elements, allowing you to quickly
check whether the page has been optimized or
not.

Mozbar is a Chrome and Firefox

extension created by Moz.com. It has
more functionality in Chrome, as do
many other SEO browser extensions.
Categories of On-Page Optimization
Pre-click
Ensuring your content is relevant and provides a great user
experience
Pre-click on-page optimization is what is visible to the user
before they click on a result on the search engine results
page. This includes the:

• Title tag
Pre-click • URL
• Meta description

Post-click As you’d expect, part of this process involves

encouraging the searcher to click on your listing, rather
than on the others.
 Optimizing title tags
Title Tags
Importance of Title Tags

Heavy Weight Higher Rankings First View

They are a heavy weight Getting them right has a They are displayed as a
on-page SEO signal, and direct impact in higher blue clickable link and are
the single most important rankings. the first thing a searcher
place to include keywords. sees.
Optimizing Title Tags

Work in Keywords It is important to get the right blend of keywords when

optimizing title tags. One of the reasons keyword research
is prioritized is for title tag optimization.
Use the Space Provided
Here are some tips:

• Include main (primary and secondary) keywords

Be Descriptive and Engaging • Position main keywords nearer the beginning
• Avoid keyword stuffing

Other Tips
Optimizing Title Tags

Keyword Priority

snowboard sizing P1

snowboard size guide P2

snowboard size P2

what size snowboard do I need P3

snowboard size chart P3

snowboard size calculator P3

snowboarding size chart P3

snowboard sizes P3
 Meta description tags are only visible in the SERPs and the source code.
Meta Description Tags You cannot see them when you are viewing the main content of a page.

Meta description tags are the short snippet of

descriptive text below the URL in SERPs.
Importance of Meta Description Tags

Bolded Search Terms

Medium Weight Promote Click-through
Encourage Click-throughs

They are a medium weight They play a big role in If the searched term (or
on-page SEO signal but enticing the user to click- synonym of it) is mentioned in
don’t have a direct impact through to your listing the meta description it gets
on higher rankings. bolded which encourages
click-throughs
Optimizing Meta
Short and Descriptive
Description Tags Concise
Keywords
and Engaging

Ways to optimize your meta description tags

• Max desktop: 156 characters (around two

short sentences)
• Max mobile: 115 characters
• Use the SERP Preview tool to test length
Optimizing Meta
Description Tags

This example is displayed in the Portent

SERP Preview Tool. The user searched
for ‘snowboard sizing’, and even though
that exact phrase isn’t mentioned, a
close variant is – ‘snowboard size’ – so
Google has bolded the text. When text
is bolded, it improves the chances of
the listing being clicked on.
URLs Building trust and authority for your page and URL

Uniform Resource Locators

(URLs) are web addresses
seen in SERPs.
Importance of URLs

Light Weight Attract Click- Search Engines

throughs Index

They are a light weight on- They are seen in the search Search engines index and
page SEO signal. results so they can attract retrieve pages based on the
click-throughs when URL.
relevant.
 URLs are often generated from the main heading of the page. This is good
Optimizing URLs as a default because relevancy is added. But the downside is that they
often become long and repetitive and need to be shortened.

Keywords Keep Short and URLs Stick to Conventions

Concise

• Include main keyword or • Around 70 characters • Set URLs right at the • Use dashes ‘-’ instead of
before truncation beginning underscores ‘_’ to
a close variation
separate words
• Use the SERP Preview
tool to test length • Use lowercase characters
Optimizing URLs URL relevancy scores

2
Key Elements for Post-Click
On-Page Optimization

Headings Main Body Copy Images

Headings Using headings on your web page
Importance of Headings

1 Users scan a page's headings before deciding whether to read

the whole page

2 They are a medium weight on-page SEO signal and add

relevancy to the page

3 There are six header tags (H1 through to H6) which are used to
outline the hierarchy of content:

• Main heading should be in a H1 tag

• Secondary sub-headings should be in H2 tags
• H3 - H6 tags aren't used as often in body copy but work
in the same hierarchal sub-heading way
Optimizing Headings
Tailoring Targeted
User First Keywords to
Methods used to optimize headings Page Type Keywords

Add headings and sub-headings that are

meaningful to the user first, not for SEO.
Optimizing Headings

Two exact keywords from a targeted list to help the user

Snowboard Sizing

What Size Snowboard Do I Need?

Main Copy
Why is the main copy important?

Snowboard Sizing
•
1 Where users should find what they are looking for

•
2 High weight on-page SEO signal

•
3 Also known as body text

•
4 Can include hyperlinks

•
5 Features after the main heading
What Size Snowboard Do I Need?

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Keyword Density
Matt Cutt says:

1• No ideal keyword density formula

2• Don’t over-optimize and load too many
keywords into content
3• Include keywords you want to rank for
4• Include keywords in a natural way to
enhance readability

PLAY THE VIDEO

Optimizing Main Copy

Length Keyword Usage

There are no strict guidelines on length:

1 It should meet the user’s expectations and contain what they have searched for
2 It should also be long enough so that search engines can understand what the page is about
Hyperlinks in the Main Copy Linking to pages internally

Relevance Reputation

Linking to pages with descriptive and Linking to pages internally is important for
easy-to-understand anchor text will pass increasing reputation, so the more internal
more relevancy to the receiving page, so links your web page has, the more important
make sure you are linking to your it is deemed to be and it will stand a better
important pages regularly. chance of ranking.
Images

Image optimization is important Snowboard Sizing

•1 It is a light-weight on-page SEO signal and

adds relevancy to the page

•2 Alt text is often read out to visually-impaired

people through screen readers
What Size Snowboard Do I Need?
Optimizing Images
Description in Meaningful Web-friendly
the Alt Text Filenames Images
1• Light-weight on-page ranking signal

2• Adds relevancy but often overlooked

3• Helps screen reader users

Add a description in the Alt text

• Try to accurately describe the image; this

sometimes means including keywords
• Make them concise, typically two to five
words.
Optimizing Images
Alt text and filenames should be descriptive and accurate.

Alt text:
Snowboard sizing

Filename:
Snowboard-measurement.jpg
Off-Page Optimization

Enhancing a website’s search engine rankings

through activities outside of the website

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Off-Page Optimization Tools

Link Explorer, Majestic SEO, and Ahrefs are

SEO tools that you can use to analyse both
your own backlinks and your competitors’
backlinks. They all offer a freemium model,
which means you can get a free account and
use some of the functionality for free.
Backlinks

Increasing the number of backlinks to your site is one

of the key SEO goals. A backlink is an incoming
hyperlink from one web page to another website.
When a website receives a link from an external
website (backlink), some reputation is passed to it. It
acts as if one webpage is voting that the page it links
to is credible.

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Types of Backlinks
Topical High Authentic
Backlinks Authority Backlinks

Types of backlinks that add to your website’s reputation

Topical backlinks are relevant to your industry

and are likely to bring in relevant referral traffic.
PageRank

PageRank is an algorithm used by Google Search to

rank websites in their search engine results.
According to Google, PageRank counts the number and
quality of links to a page to determine a baseline estimate
of the importance of a website.
As such, more important websites are likely to receive
more links from other websites.
Measuring PageRank of a URL

Moz’s Link Explorer Ahref

Moz’s Link Explorer offers:

• Page Authority, a page ranking score ranging from 1 to 100 that predicts how well a specific page will rank on
SERPs

• Domain Authority, a search engine ranking score ranging from 1 to 100 that predicts how well a website will
rank on SERPs
Role of Social Media in the Context
of Backlinks

•1 Links within social media are also known as social signals

•2 They tend not to pass reputation or PageRank so they are

different to backlinks

•3 The more views you receive, the more likely a person will link
to your website from their website, in the form of a backlink
Link Explorer

Link Explorer is a tool provided by Moz that allows

you to research where a website has got its
backlinks from. This may be the site you look after,
a competitor, or any other site that you wish to
research. The backlinks are ordered by Page
Authority, so according to Moz, you should get the
most important ones first.

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SEO Action Plan
Mini technical SEO audit

• Have a website in mind

• Make a note of the homepage URL and

a relatively new URL; for example, the
latest blog post
SEO Action Plan
Check if a URL has been indexed

Type “cache:www.yourdomain.com/page1 into Chrome’s

address bar or a Google search
e.g. cache:https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/
SEO Action Plan
Check if a URL passes the Google Mobile-Friendly Test

Check if both URLs

pass the Google
mobile-friendly test
SEO Action Plan
Check if a URL passes the two second page load test

Check if both URLs pass the two second

page load test

• Use https://tools.pingdom.com
• Select the test location that’s closest to
your location
SEO Action Plan
Review site and URL errors in Google Search Console

If you have access to Google Search

Console, review whether the website
has any URL and/or site errors
SEO Action Plan
On-page optimization planner
SEO Action Plan
Off-page optimization and competitor research

Homepage Domain Root Domain

Sites
Page Authority Authority Links
Pick a website and three
www.yourdomain.com 44% 42% 105 competitors to benchmark key
www.competitor1.com 40% 39% 97 Moz backlinks metrics

www.competitor2.com 54% 54% 144

www.competitor3.com 67% 71% 999

SEO Action Plan
Off-page optimization and competitor research

Tweak filters to include ‘this

root domain’, ‘only external’
and ’only follow’

Pick top three backlinks

from each competitor (not
necessarily by top PA
backlinks)
Traffic Sources
Monitor the sources of traffic to your website

Direct Traffic Referral Traffic Organic Traffic

• Type in URL • Visitors from • Visitors from

• Bookmark URL other websites search engines
• Untagged emails • Backlinks • Unpaid traffic
• Links from PDFs
Types of SEO Metrics
Measuring SEO success

Referral traffic

Organic Traffic

Conversions
and sales
Keyword Link building KPIs
Rankings
Keyword Rankings
Tools used for keyword ranking

SEMRush is the leading tool for competitor keyword

research. While SEMRush offers some functionality
for free, the majority of features – including keyword
SEMRush rankings – require a subscription.
SEOmonitor

Whatsmyserp.com Wincher

ProRank Tracker
Organic Traffic

Organic traffic is best measured in Google

Search Control or integrated into a web
analytics tool like Google Analytics. In the
acquisition tab of Google Analytics we can
see the Search Console Report which is
specifically for SEO measurement of traffic
impressions, search queries landing pages 1
and some rank information. 2

3
Conversion and Sales
It is possible to have good keyword rankings and
traffic but low or no conversions, goals or sales.
This may indicate that the keyword research and
SEO strategy was wrong. Conversions and sales
metrics are often considered the most important
SEO success metrics as they tend to be the most
closely aligned to the business goals.

In Google Analytics, a conversion can be

measured through Goals. This can include
lead generation – for example, newsletter
sign ups, PDF downloads, and brochure
requests.
Referral Traffic Monitoring referral traffic to measure SEO success
Link Building KPIs

Increasing the total number of backlinks, and

the total number of root domain links, from the
right types of site, is a good metric because
backlinks are one of the most important
aspects that lead to SEO success.

Link Explorer is part of the

Moz SEO toolset. It’s
specifically for link analysis
Measuring Success
How to use metrics to measure performance

Keyword Traffic Conversions Links

Rankings
Monthly organic Total number of Number of
Keyword rankings
traffic and referral monthly external links
for a targeted list
traffic year-on- conversions
of keywords
year
Measuring Success
What to do when SEO performance falters

Technical On-Page Off-Page

• Does Google Search • Have you followed best • Does your site lack
Console report URL practice in optimizing domain authority?
errors? keywords into key • Do your key landing
• Are your key landing landing pages? pages lack page
pages indexed? • Have you avoided authority?
keyword stuffing? • Does your site lack
backlinks?