SEO-fundamentals
- 1. SIMON PEARCE DIGITAL STRATEGY SEO Fundamentals
- 2. Agenda ProximitySearchMarketing.com Introductions SEO Fundamentals SEO Strategy & Planning SEO & Keyword Use Global Sites - SEO Targeting SEO Measurement & ROI
- 3. Who is Proximity Search? ProximitySearchMarketing.com
- 4. Who is Proximity Search? ProximitySearchMarketing.com
- 5. Who is Proximity Search? ProximitySearchMarketing.com 5th highest number of Fortune 500 headquarters in the U.S.
- 6. Who is Proximity Search? ProximitySearchMarketing.com More Fortune 500 headquarters per resident than NYC, Chicago & LA
- 7. Proximity Search Capabilities Organic Paid Domains & Search Search Naming Strategy Research, Design & Research, Planning & Name Evaluation Development Input, Optimization Our team evaluates Ongoing Optimization When augmenting organic concepts, product/brand Our team integrates with results with paid names and domain existing timelines to provide placement, our team opportunities to ensure strategic SEO feedback at performs keyword they match existing every step of the process - research, consumer consumer trends and from IA to QA. We then work behavior research, copy behavior. to optimize and improve the writing, landing page site on an ongoing basis. creation and ongoing optimization 7
- 9. SIMON PEARCE DIGITAL OVERVIEW search STRATEGY
- 10. The Future Personalization Unique search engine results pages based on search history, location, preferences, profile data, friends, etc. Keyword-less Search Providing what users want, when they want it, based entirely on their behavior. Best Practice vs. Best Content 10
- 11. The Role of SEO External / Public Relations Ideation & Naming SEO Copywriting User Experience Social Media Design & Development 11
- 12. The Role of SEO Inbound Links 48% Branding 5% SEO 16% 7% Keyword Use User Behavior 10% 14% Social Metrics Design & Development 2011 Search Engine Ranking Factors - SEOMoz 12
- 13. The Role of SEO Inbound Links 48% Branding 5% SEO 16% 7% Keyword Use User Behavior 10% 14% Social Metrics Design & Development 13
- 14. What is search marketing? Organic / Natural Paid Ads (Owned & Earned Media) (Paid Media)
- 15. Why is it important? When paid ads are present 15-20% of users click them 80%-85% 15%-20%
- 16. Why is it important? Over 85% of organic clicks occur “above the fold” Percent of Clicks: 40% 25% 12% 4% 4%
- 17. SIMON PEARCE DIGITAL STRATEGY organic search
- 18. Organic Search - What is it? Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Designing, developing, updating and promoting online content in ways which increase its ability to appear in search results. SEO is a Process, not a Project!
- 19. Organic Search - Domain & Naming Strategy Involve search teams early in the strategy development process Domains For Sale Price Search Volume Ingredients $1M+ 2M Hormel recipe sharing site: KitchenSink $500K+ 1M We examined over 3,000 domain RecipeBook $500K+ 246K combinations and used keyword/ RecipeNut $2K 74K consumer research to identify top domain opportunities in three Easy-Recipe $400 1.2M categories. Best-Recipes $1K 450K SaveMyRecipe $10 1.6K ShareMyRecipe $10 1K RecipePool $10 590 MyOnlyCookbook $10 150
- 20. Organic Search - Domain & Naming Strategy HelpStopHeartworm.org Very Little Search Volume around ‘Stop Heartworm’ HeartwormPrevention.org Tons of volume, but extremely competitive (FDA, Wikipedia, HeartWorm Society, etc.) PreventHeartworm.org Larger audience than ‘stop heartworm’ and more likely to rank than ‘heartworm prevention’
- 21. Organic Search - Information Architecture Every section, topic, category, idea, etc. should live on a page uniquely dedicated to that theme.
- 22. Organic Search - Information Architecture Bad - All Products on One Page Good - Separate Pages for each product
- 23. Organic Search - Information Architecture Every section, topic, category, idea, etc. should live on a page uniquely dedicated to that theme. 23
- 24. Organic Search - Information Architecture Every FAQ has its own dedicated page, making it much more likely to appear in search results for related question- based queries 24
- 25. Organic Search - Information Architecture URL Structure Domain, sections, categories, and pages all combine to form your site’s URL structure. Good - http://www.campbellskitchen.com/quick-easy/creamy-ranch-pork-chops-rice Bad - http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx? recipeId=25085&categoryId=1&ref=%2fRecipeCategory.aspx%3fcategoryId%3d1%26fbid %3dc1t2rh5HMG8&fbid=c1t2rh5HMG8 Page Titles One of the most important aspects of optimizing a page for search engines. The keywords chosen, order of keywords and number of keywords should be carefully and consciously chosen for every page on a website.
- 26. Organic Search - Flash Optimization What humans see... What search engines see... The page is HTML with a large Flash component highlighting key customer segments with simple animation. The entire page is HTML with legitimate text descriptions and links to deeper content 26
- 27. Organic Search - Image Optimization Images should not be split into multiple files or have background elements included
- 28. Organic Search - Image Optimization Product images should link out to themselves.
- 29. Organic Search - Image Optimization File name: teach-your-kid-to-surf.jpg Alt tag: Teach Your Kid to Surf 29
- 30. Organic Search - Image Optimization
- 31. Organic Search - Video Optimization Video Hosting Utilize an existing platform - i.e. YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Not Flash or other custom video players Include Real Content Use transcripts and custom written content to support videos Allow Videos to be Shared Include embed code to earn inbound links and broader distribution 31
- 33. Original Content
- 34. Transcript
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- 37. Organic Search - Internal Linking Anchor Text The links you create to other pages on your site should use relevant keywords. Good Bad “This is the first time “This is the first time finding a job has been finding a job have been available. It was actually available. It was actually pretty easy, and required pretty easy, and required no regulatory hurdles at no regulatory hurdles at all.” all. Read More.”
- 39. The Role of SEO Inbound Links 48% Branding 5% SEO 16% 7% Keyword Use User Behavior 10% 14% Social Metrics Design & Development 39
- 40. Organic Search - Inbound Linking What matters most? 1. Keyword(s) used in the anchor text 2. Quality & Authority of the linking site 3. Position of the link on the linking site (i.e., Body vs. Footer) 40
- 41. Organic Search - Inbound Linking 41
- 42. Organic Search - Inbound Linking 42
- 43. Organic Search - Inbound Linking 43
- 44. What’s Next? (what’s going to matter the most moving forward?)
- 45. The Role of SEO Inbound Links 48% Branding 5% SEO 16% 7% Keyword Use User Behavior 10% 14% Social Metrics Design & Development 45
- 46. What’s Next? Increased Algorithm Importance: Social signals at the page/domain level • Facebook Like, Google+, Tweets, comments User behavior data • Click-through from search results pages, search history/ behavior, bounce rate Design & Development • Readability/accessibility, ease of navigation, ratio of advertising to content, page load speed 46
- 47. Organic Search - Facebook Likes & Google +1’s
- 48. Organic Search - Reviews & Ratings
- 49. Organic Search - Reviews & Ratings
- 50. Organic Search - FAQ’s Why bother with Search Engine Optimization? 80% of Internet sessions begin with a search. You need to be there when consumer is “raising his hand” about your offering and is more receptive to your content. When should I do Search Engine Optimization? Whenever you are producing relevant content for your consumer. Start planning for SEO during the pitch/estimating process. My site is live...can we optimize it now? Not easily. Site architecture, content structure and coding really matter. The best time to think about SEO is when the project is being scoped for the client. Is organic search a new first moment of truth? Yes. Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are the new home page. Page titles and descriptions often determine whether consumers see your content.
- 51. Organic Search - FAQ’s Can I guarantee top organic rankings for my client? No search consultancy can legitimately guarantee #1 rankings and this should never be promised to a client. Results will vary based on the client’s commitment to producing stellar content, ongoing optimization efforts, the actions taken by competitors and other factors. Can I “launch it and forget it”? Not if you want great results. While the initial architecture, content structure and coding set you on a good path toward organic search visibility, they alone do not ensure success. Ongoing monitoring is required to identify opportunities and create action plans for seizing these opportunities.
- 52. SIMON PEARCE DIGITAL STRATEGY paid search
- 53. Paid Search - Quality Score Click-Through Rate Quality Score Landing Relevance Page
- 54. Paid Search - How ads are ranked Position Quality Score Bid 1 10 $5 2 9 $5 3 9 $4 4 3 $12 5 6 $3 6 8 $2 7 7 $2
- 55. Paid Search - How ads are ranked Position Quality Score Bid Ad Rank 1 10 X $5 = 50 2 9 X $5 = 45 3 9 X $4 = 36 4 3 X $12 = 36 5 6 X $3 = 18 6 8 X $2 = 16 7 7 X $2 = 14
- 56. Paid Search - How ads are ranked Position Quality Score Bid Ad Rank 1 10 $5 50 2 9 $5 45 3 9 $4 36 4 3 $12 36 5 6 $3 18 6 8 $2 16 7 7 $2 14
- 57. Paid Search - Landing Page Best Practices
- 58. Paid Search - Landing Page Best Practices Testing various landing pages and content areas within landing pages will help to guide data-driven decisions around how best to convert users. A/B Testing Separate Landing Pages Multivariate Testing Same Landing Page Variable Content
- 59. SIMON PEARCE DIGITAL STRATEGY Final Thoughts
- 60. Final Thoughts Search engines are constantly changing - It is imperative for an SEO partner to stay on top of these updates Pagination Elements - September 15, 2011 To help fix crawl and duplication problems created by pagination, Google introduced the rel="next" and rel="prev" link attributes. Google also announced that they had improved automatic consolidation and canonicalization for "View All" pages. Expanded Sitelinks - August 16, 2011 After experimenting for a while, Google officially rolled out expanded site-links, most often for brand queries. At first, these were 12-packs, but Google appeared to limit the expanded site-links to 6 shortly after the roll-out. Panda Goes Global - August 12, 2011 Google rolled Panda out internationally, both for English-language queries globally and non-English queries except for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Google reported that this impacted 6-9% of queries in affected countries. Panda 2.3 - July 23, 2011 Webmaster chatter suggested that Google rolled out yet another update. It was unclear whether new factors were introduced, or this was simply an update to the Panda data and ranking factors. 60
- 61. Final Thoughts Focusing on 16% of the algorithm is still important There is often work that needs to be done to bring sites up- to-date on basic keyword usage and SEO best practices. However, the rest of the algorithm should not be ignored. 48% 5% 7% 16% Keyword Use 10% 14% 61
- 62. Final Thoughts The opportunity extends beyond brand terms. “Almost all of our search traffic comes from brand terms” This does not mean that all users are searching for brand terms. It simply means that your site is not appearing for anything other than brand searches. Monthly Search Volume - Aleve vs. Arthritis Related Terms Aleve 135,000 Arthritis Pain/Relief 1,617,000 62
- 63. There’s more to ‘Search’ than PPC ads... Competitive Research & Strategy Analysis What are my online and offline competitors doing to attract my target audience? How can I stay ahead of the competition? Content Strategy & Development What content should live on my site? Will content, functionality or a mix of both best serve my audience? User Experience & Engagement Optimization What happens after a user clicks an ad or organic search listing? What types of users are more likely to convert? What pages on my site are attracting/repelling users? Am I taking advantage of every monetization opportunity available? 63
- 64. There’s more to ‘Search’ than PPC ads... Technical Platform & Programming What platform is the best match for my site? Does my site’s programming follow best practices? Is my site’s programming detracting from user experience and hurting my ability to rank organically? Local Search Optimization Can users easily find where to buy our products in-store? How are users looking for our brand/product related to their location (e.g. zip code, city name, device GPS, mobile app, etc.) Mobile Search & Engagement Optimization How are mobile users finding out site? What content are they looking for and engaging with? 64