Optimizing Content in a World of Never Ending

Algorithm Changes

Jon Wuebben, CEO

Fundamentals• Google makes over 600 changes to its

algorithm in a year

• Vast majority of these are not announced

• When Google makes a big change, they give it a name

* Panda algorithm* Penguin algorithm* Hummingbird algorithm

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Ensuring Great Rankings • Create content that answers users queries!

• Don’t just try to rank for a particular keyword.

• Google's goal: encourage webmasters to publish content that’s best of its kind & to deliver answers to people who are searching.

• Lost rank? Google has lost trust in your site's

quality, either on-site quality or the legitimacy of backlinks.

• Fix the quality issues to regain the algorithm's trust and see improvements.

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Checklist for High Quality Content *

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?

• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow?

• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?

• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers or does the site generate content by guessing what might rank well in search engines?

• Does the article provide original content or information, reporting, research, or analysis?

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(From blog post by Google Employee Amit Singhal)

…Continued….• Does the page provide substantial value

when compared to other pages in search results?

• Does the article describe both sides of a story?

• Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?

• Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites?

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Panda – Launched 2/23/11

• Purpose: try to show high-quality sites higher in search results and demote sites that may be of lower quality.

• Many called it the "Farmer" update as it seemed to affect content farms

*(sites that aggregate information from many sources, often stealing that information

from other sites)

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Penguin - Launched 4/24/12• Goal: Reduce the trust that Google has in

sites that have cheated by creating unnatural backlinks in order to gain an advantage in results.

• Also impacted “Anchor text” (text underlined in a link)

• SEO’s manipulated the hell out of anchor text

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Anchor Text Example• Landscaping company in Orlando

• Cheating: Create a bunch of self made links & use anchor text in links that contain phrases like Orlando Landscaping Company, Landscapers in Orlando & Orlando Landscaping.

• Pre-Penguin: Creating links from low quality sites was effective. (directory listings, self made articles, and links in comments and forum posts)

• Post-Penguin: Not so much

• Penguin algorithm is Google putting a "trust factor" on your links.

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Hummingbird – 9/26/13• Completely different from Penguin or Panda.

• Was a total overhaul of the entire Google algorithm

• Panda & Penguin – new engine part (filter or fuel pump)

• Hummingbird wasn't a new part; it was a completely new engine.

• Goal: for Google to better understand a user's query. • And for Google's voice search to be more effective.

*Typing a search query: "best Seattle SEO company”

* Speaking a query: “Which firm in Seattle offers the best SEO services?

• Point of Hummingbird: better understand what users mean when they have queries like this.

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Content Tactics

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Goal: Start Title With Keyword

• Most important on-page SEO factor

• Moz.com study: pages that started title with a keyword ranked higher than pages with the keyword in the middle or at the end

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Add Search Love Bling with Multimedia

• Text can only take your content so far

• Engaging images, videos & diagrams reduce bounce rate & increase time on site

• These are 2 user interaction-based Google ranking factors

• Increases perceived value of your content: people more likely to link to it.

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Add Modifiers To Your Title

• Adding modifiers like “2014”, “best”, “guide”, and “review” can help you rank for long tail versions of your target keyword.

• Great trick to wrangle in those long tail searchers that use 5-9 words per search

• These modifiers aren’t targeting any particular long tail keyword.

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Post Long Content

• Adage “length is strength” supported by a SERPIQ.com industry study

• Found that longer content ranked significantly higher in Google.

• Aim for at least 1500 words when targeting competitive keywords.

• Brings in more long tail traffic

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Sprinkle LSI Keywords (Latent

Semantic Indexing)

• Synonyms that Google uses to determine a page’s relevancy (and possibly quality)

• Long content makes it likely that you’ll naturally include LSI keywords in your content

• Search for your keyword in Google and scroll down to the “Searches Related to…” area at the bottom

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What Quality Content Can Do

• Repeat visitors

• Chrome bookmarks

• Time on site

• “Dwell” time*Measures how long a searcher stays on

your page before hitting the back button.

*Increase dwell time by writing long, engaging content that keeps people

reading.

*Shows Google you gave them something of value while there

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Ranking Factor Weighting

What is Your Reward? (From Rand

Fishkin)

• Have the best opportunity to rank highly in Google and Bing

• Earn traffic from social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+

• Be worthy of links & shares from across web

• Build your brand's perception, trust, and potential to convert visitors

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“Uniquely Valuable” Content (Rand Fishkin)

• An optimized page doesn't just provide unique content, but unique value.

• Unique content: those words don't appear anywhere else on the web.

• Unique value: usefulness & takeaways derived by visitors to the page.

• Many pages can be "valuable," but few provide a truly unique kind of value

• Put yourself in the minds of potential visitors; imagine a page that provides something so different & functional, it rises above everything else in its field.

• Result? More social shares, links, bigger branding impact, and better ranking signals.

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Examples

• “The Baby Name Wizard”

• “How Much Does a Website Cost”

• “Scale of the Universe”

• “The Best Instant Noodles of All Time”

• “Top Social Networks by Users”

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Other Important To Do’s• Focus each piece of content on 1 keyword phrase. • Include the keyword in the content title.

• Add the keyword to the content’s URL

• Use your keyword in first 50 words • Link to credible outside sources • Create your content for human beings

• Optimize images & video

• Eliminate duplicate content

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Prepare 12–Month Content Plan• Creating content on a whim when inspired is not viable for the

long term.

• 12-month content calendar allows for planning content around:*Holidays & Company milestones & Events*Variations in team workload and resource availability

• Can include information needed for proper content optimization:*Ideas for SEO-friendly titles*Suggested links*Blog category and tags*Meta keywords and meta descriptions*Sample social media posts

• Becomes much easier to publish content successfully, on time, and with appropriate optimization.

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Questions?

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Contact Me

• (909) 437-7015 mobile

• jon@contentlaunch.com

• Twitter: @jonwuebben

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