Keeping Your Content Searchable in Google’s WorldBob Burch, Digital Media Supervisorbburch@martinoflynn.com

9.28.2011

Today’s Agenda

• What is Search Engine Marketing?• Understanding The SEO Process

- Finding the Right Keywords- Building a Search Engine-Friendly Website- Website/Content Optimization- Acquiring Relevant Inbound Links- Leveraging Social Media- Analyzing Performance

• Key Takeaways for PR Professionals• Resources

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What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

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What is SEM?

• Search engines are generally the #1 source of traffic to most websites.

• Because of this, a strong search Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategy is essential to the success of your site.

• There are two components of SEM:- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): the act of

optimizing a website through content edits and inbound link development to improve organic or natural listings.

- Paid Search / Pay-Per-Click Marketing: the act of purchasing sponsored listings on search engines in order to ensure high rank and visibility.

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SEO vs. PPC

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Paid Search Ads / Sponsored Listings

Organic / Natural Search Listings

Successful SEM = Aligning Goals

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Search Engines

Search Engine

Marketers

Consumer’s Search Query

Did I find the answer to my actual question?

Repeat Searcher

Quality Info & Results Relevant Offer or Benefit to Click

Conversion

Source: Certified Knowledge

Principles of Search Engine Optimization

• Architecture and design:- Give search engine spiders easy, user-friendly

access to content through the site and page architecture.

• Quality content:- Keyword-focused: use words and phrases

commonly searched by your target audience.- Leads to link popularity: increase the number of

objective, third-party, quality sites linking to your content.

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SEO Strategies Must Continually Evolve

• The search engines (specifically Google) made many changes to their algorithms over the past year.

• What’s changed?- Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) were given a face-lift- Personalized search- Greater emphasis on site usability- Greater emphasis on quality, not quantity, of inbound links- Greater emphasis on social media

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Integration is Essential

• With an increased focus on quality content and social media, the responsibility of SEO is shifting.

• Online marketers and PR professionals must rely on each other for support.

• Constant collaboration is key.• Must leverage each other’s efforts to meet each group’s own goals.

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Digital

Interactive

Video

Media

Online Marketing

Motion Graphics

3D Animation

Websites

PR

Social Networks

HD Pre+

Post-PoductionEmail

YouTube

Mobile

Blogger Relations

SEO

Understanding the SEO Process:Step 1: Finding the Right Keywords

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Understanding the Search Process

• People do not search to browse the Web; they are seeking an answer to a question.

• Your website needs to provide that answer.• Keywords can take many shapes:

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The actual questionThe answer to the questionDescription of the problemDescription of the cause

Where do I find a plumber?Boston PlumbersFlooded BasementBroken Pipes

Source: Certified Knowledge

• Basic process: Learn --> Shop --> Buy

• Be sure to know your buying cycle:- For less expensive products, the buying cycle could last minutes.- In other industries, the buying cycle could take months.- Keywords can indicate where a user is in this process.

The Search Shopping Funnel

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Consumer:Information Gathering

Keywords:ComputerLaptop ComputerHi-Def TV

Consumer:Comparing products, prices, & features.

Keywords:IBM NotebookSony LaptopPlasma TV

Consumer:Ready to Buy

Keywords:IBM Series ThinkpadSony Vaio UltraportableSamsung hl-s61ssw

Source: Certified Knowledge

Types of Search Queries

• Informational: doing research (“HDTV vs. Plasma”)

• Transactional: ready to buy (“Buy HDTVs Online” or “Samsung PN58B550”)

• Navigational: looking for a specific site (“BestBuy.com”)

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25.0%

7.5%

7.5%

60.0%

Informa(onalTransac(onalNaviga(onalAmbiguous

Source: Jansen et al. (2008)

Tools for Keyword Discovery

• SEOmoz Term Extractor- Analyze the content of any

website to extract terms to target with SEM.

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Tools for Keyword Discovery

• Google Adwords Keyword Tool:

- After extracting terms, enter them into the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to identify related keywords, competition, and average search volume.

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Tools for Keyword Discovery

• SEOmoz Keyword Difficulty Tool:

- Determine how difficult it will be to rank organically for certain keywords by analyzing the sites currently ranked in the Top 10.

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Which Keywords are the Right Keywords?

• Varies from business to business due to a number of factors:- Tactic (PPC vs. SEO)- Budget- Conversion rates- Goals

• The key is to find the right combination of keywords that will help you reach your goals.

- Test- Optimize

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Understanding the SEO Process:Step 2: Building a Search Engine-Friendly Website

User-Friendly = Search-Friendly

• Search engines are focused on offering up the most relevant results for their users, not just the sites that optimize the best.

• By focusing on the user, you’re making sure that your site is optimized against future changes to the search engine algorithms.

• More importantly, user-friendly = repeat visitors, repeat customers, and high ROI (return on investment).

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How Can You Tell If Your Site is User-Friendly?

• 5-second site usability test:- Pick a key page on your site- Show the page to a prospect for 5 seconds (make sure he/she is not familiar with

your site)- Ask the prospect: “What is this page about?”

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What Was This Page About?

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What About This Page?

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What About This Page?

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Know the Principles

Principles of Web Design:• Easy to read

- Legible and scannable

• Easy to navigate- Easy to identify where you are and where you can go

• Easy to find- The site is easy to find by searching and has a memorable and easy-to-spell URL- Easy to locate specific pages on the site

• Consistent in layout, design, and labeling- Contributes to a cohesive brand message and user experience- Contributes to ease and predictability of navigation

• Quick to download- Actual AND perceived

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Determining Your Site Architecture

• Group all of your content the way your users do, not based on how you would organize things.

• List sections in order of importance within your navigation.• Choose navigation labels that match users’ search queries:

- Problems vs. Solutions- High search volume

• Make it easy for a user to jump to multiple sections and pages:- Embed links within body copy when other keywords are used- Bread-crumb links

• Include your Call-To-Action (CTA) on every page (Buy Now, Check out, etc.)

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Understanding the SEO Process:Step 3: Website / Content Optimization

On-Page Optimization Tactics

• Each page should have an individual theme, with relevant phrases used in key locations:

- URL- Page Title- Headline (H1 & H2)- Body Copy

• Other items to consider:- Meta-descriptions: short description of the page, only visible on Search Engine

Results Pages (SERPs)- Alt-tags: 1-2 word description of any images to help them rank well in Google

Image Search

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On-Page Optimization

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Page title & URL

Header Tag (H1)

Body copy includes embedded links and covers problem/solution-based keywords

Call-to-action

Relevant pages

Clear navigation, easy to identify

current section and page

Content Optimization for PR

• Optimizing product pages and other important sections of your website is important, but this content is often static.

• Google, Yahoo, and Bing take notice every time your site is updated and new content is added.

• All content released by your company should be optimized:- Press releases- Blog posts

• Add a layer of approval for SEO purposes, before posting or releasing content.

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Content Optimization for PR

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Body copy includes embedded links to relevant product pages

Title includes relevant keywords

Page title & URL

Content Optimization for PR

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Title includes relevant

keywords

Optimized copy with embedded outbound links

and inbound links

• Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin

Content Optimization for PR

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Remember...

• Whether you’re writing an article/blog post or optimizing a website, always put the user first.

• Add a layer of approval for SEO purposes, before posting or releasing content.

• Site optimization is important, but the quantity and quality of sites linking are often what determine which sites rank well.

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Understanding the SEO Process:Step 4: Acquiring Relevant Inbound Links

The Power of Link Building

39Source: SEOmoz

Quality Content is Key

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• Inbound links “break the tie”• Easy links:

- Directories (free and paid)- Leverage existing relationships- These are helpful, but do not carry as much weight as impartial,

third-party links.

• Must create compelling, quality content that other sites WANT to link to.

- Blogs- Articles- White papers- Videos

Finding Relevant Links

• Who links to my competitors? - http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/

41Source: SEOmoz

Finding Relevant Links

• Look for similar sites - https://www.google.com/adplanner/

42Source: SEOmoz

Finding Relevant Links

• Finding relevant blogs and forums:

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Blogs

Source: SEOmoz

Finding Relevant Links

• Finding relevant blogs and forums:

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DiscussionsText

Source: SEOmoz

Link Outreach

• Once you have a list of link targets, the next step is to reach out to those targets.

• Determine if any existing content would be relevant to the site owner or create new content.

• Reach out to the site’s administrator / blogger:- Guest blogger / ghostwriting opportunities- Sponsorship opportunities- Reciprocal links (only if it makes sense for your company)

• Don’t forget to ASK for the link.

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Using Proper Anchor Text

• Getting a link to your site is great, but the anchor text is key.

• Common mistakes:- “Click Here”- Company/Product Name- URL

• Whenever is site is linking to you, be sure that the links are placed on important keywords.

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Understanding the SEO Process:Step 5: Leveraging Social Media

• Google puts great emphasis on what users are saying about websites when determining the rankings.

- Sharing of an article or page on Facebook- Re-tweet of an article on Twitter

• Sharing options are always evolving:

Social Media and SEO

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Read

Watched

Listened

Want

{

• Keep doing what you’re already doing:- Frequent posts, relevant content- Acquire fans, followers, etc.- Monitor discussions- Respond to comments- Participate in forums

• All of this helps, but keep SEO top of mind:

- Post relevant links when responding to comments (other products, FAQs, customer service, etc.)

- Include relevant keywords, whenever possible

Where Do PR Professionals Fit In?

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Understanding the SEO Process:Step 6: Analyzing Performance

Monitor. Analyze. Optimize.

• Using a web analytics program (such as Google Analytics), start by establishing benchmarks:- Visits from search engines- Visits from referring sites

• Monitor search engine ranking and traffic trends.• Analyze the performance of individual keywords:• Refine your strategy (target new keywords, update your content, review your link strategy)

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Initial Strategy Execution

Insights & Learning

Insights & Learning

Applied Learning

Applied Learning

Refined Strategy

• Digital, Media, and PR must be integrated.• Make sure that any content released by your company is optimized, but

always put the user first.• Always ask for a link (with the proper anchor text, of course).• Use SEO as an opportunity to grow individually and as a company:

- Make yourself more valuable to a company- Push for additional services (blogger relations, social media monitoring, etc.)

• Adopt an iterative mindset, test and refine.• Stay informed:

- SEO is constantly evolving- What works today, may be irrelevant tomorrow- Follow blogs, attend conferences, etc.

Key Takeaways

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• Great blogs and resources:- SEO Moz: http://www.seomoz.org/blog- iMedia Connection: http://www.imediaconnection.com/- Search Engine Land: http://searchengineland.com/- Search Engine Watch: http://searchenginewatch.com/- Internet Marketing Glossary: http://www.laredogroup.com/free-

tools-resources/index.asp

• Conferences to consider:- Search Engine Strategies (SES)- Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

Relevant Resources

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Questions?

To learn more about Martino Flynn, visit us at martinoflynn.com, read our blog, join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or tune in to our YouTube channel.

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Presentation will be posted to our blog this week.Any further questions, feel free to contact me at bburch@martinoflynn.com