Fueling the SEO EngineAlyson Harrold

UC Berkeley Extension

May 4, 2013

Who I Am• Agency, media, corporate marketing background• Online Marketing Agency

o Collaboration of Technical & Creativeo SEOo WordPress Websiteso Online marketing auditso PPCo Content marketingo Etc, etc, etc....

Today's Takeaways1. What is Organic SEO?

2. SEO & Buying Cycles & Keywords

3. Real-World SEO Practices• Keyword Research• Free Tools• Hiring SEO Practitioner• SEO Writing Template (Bonus if time)

It’s a SECRET

SEO Definition

Keyword• Misnomer• Actually a search phrase or string

• “red patent leather shoes”• “Thai restaurant Palo Alto”

Indexed• A web page, image, or other piece of content that a search engine has added to it’s database

SERP• Search Engine Results Page

• Serves up possible answers to a search phrase, query, keyword

Organic SEO• Fuel is Content

• Quality • Quantity• Recency• Relevancy

• Excludes anything Paid• Changes ALL the time

Billions of Searches

Keywords

Indexed Content

SERP

Web Visits

Conversions

SEO Cycle

Search Engine Spiders & Bots

Blindly Harvest Content

Index Content at HQ

Search Engine Results Page

Search Engine Results Page

Title & Meta Description• Mini Ad• Psychology Behind It• Caution against defaults

#1 Goal of Search Engines• Deliver positive experience for the Human Searcher• Most current content• Most relevant content• Fast & responsive sites• On Topic – clear & focused message• Authority

• Other quality sites linking = votes of confidence

The Buying Cycle

Keywords“An effective Web marketing plan requires an understanding of the ways your buyers speak and the real words and phrases they use. This is not only important for building a positive online relationship with your buyers, but also for planning effective search engine marketing strategies.”

David Meerman Scott

Author, The New Rules of Marketing & PR

More About Keywords• Research• Website Architecture• Optimized Content

Buying Cycle & KeywordsP

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•General

•High Level

•Educational

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•More Specific

•Product

•Long Tail

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•Reviews

•Comparisons

Buy

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•Make It Easy

•Call to Action

BlogAnalyticsWordPress

Website Architecture

Content Marketing SEO

Elements of Keyword Research• Similar Sites• Customer Search Behaviors• Trend Analysis• Map Keywords to Buying Stage

Keyword Research • Brainstorm list

• Ask friends & family to brainstorm some more

• Sort keywords by topic

• Dump list into Keyword Tool

• Get more suggestions from Google

Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Google AdWords Keyword Tool

... and more Research • Rinse & repeat ‘til nothing new

emerges

• Export to massage data

• Sort by topic

• Identify up-trending / dying keywords

• Look for localization info

• Massage data some more

Google.com/Trends

HolidaySeason

Index of 83

Google Insights for Search

Can Drill Down to State & Metro Area Levels

More suggestions

... and in Perfect World• Analyze by benefit (# searches)

• Benefit-to-Opposition Ratio

• Sort by Topic

• Map to Buying Cycle (Sales Funnel)

• Create Website Architecture

Buying Cycle & KeywordsP

robl

em o

r N

eed

•General

•High Level

•Educational

Res

earc

h

•More Specific

•Product

•Long Tail

Ris

k A

llevi

atio

n

•Reviews

•Comparisons

Buy

ing

Dec

isio

n

•Make It Easy

•Call to Action

Real World SEO• Typical to have a website built without SEO structure• Do Research Anyway (abbreviated)• Be Realistic About Competition• Use Keywords in Content

A Word About Optimized Content• Optimized Content = Purposeful Use of Keywords

• No Stuffing

• Natural – human first, bot second

Optimization Rule of Thumb• A word once on a page is…

• A word twice on a page is…

• A word three times on a page is…

• A Word on a Page

• A Mention

• A Keyword

Another Word About Optimization• Optimize each web page & blog post

• Use keyword research

• No Default Meta data

• Internal links to support SEO architecture

SEO Tactics: Blogging• Commit to a schedule

• Establish system to troll for inspiration

• Create editorial calendar

• Establish criteria for guest posts:o Writing qualityo Topic relevanceo Brand voice

• Assign or Agree on appropriate keyword• Authorship (links author to Google+ with search)

Collaborative Blogging

Not Just for Websites

Other SEO Elements• Site Speed• Google Authorship

• Links Author and Google+ and Search

• Google Places• Reviews• Social Media• Low Bounce Rates

• Freeo Google AdWords Keyword Toolo Google Insight for Search (Trends)o Google Analyticso Webmaster Toolso WordPress SEO by Joost

• Paido SEO Ranking Tool (SEOmoz)o Content Optimization Tool (Scribe)

Tools We Use

White Hat vs. Grey Hat SEO

Interview Questions• Who owns data• White Hat or Grey Hat techniques• Is any work outsourced (if so, where)• What’s the content strategy (who does what)• What’s included (training, status meetings, etc)• Benchmarks & measurements

Billions of Searches

Keywords

Indexed Content

SERP

Web Visits

Conversions

SEO Cycle

Bonus: SEO Writing Template• Focus Keyword before Writing• Title Tag (aka SEO Title)• Meta Description

• Limited characters, keywords upfront• Mini ad that sets up expectation

• URL• Relevant to title• Include keyword

Bonus: SEO Writing Template• Header (H1 Title)• First Paragraph

• Keyword near beginning• Summary

• Quality Content• Brand Voice• Scan-able• Visual Appeal