Managing Your Personal

Online Reputation

Interpreting & Influencing Search Results

Sean McGinnis

312digital.com

312digital

About Sean McGinnis

VP Sales & Marketing - DotCO Law Marketing

312digital.com

12 years digital marketing

8 years management & leadership

Led one of largest SEO teams in US

Twitter – @SeanMcGinnis

Facebook - @SMcGinnis

LinkedIn - @SeanMcGinnis

312digital

Our Objectives & Agenda

What, How & Why of SEO

How to analyze search results

How to create positive search results

What to do about negative search results

What to consider when hiring an SEO consultant

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What is SEO?

It is the process of getting traffic from the

“free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural”

listings on search engines…. Payment isn’t

involved, as it is with paid search ads. - SearchEngineLand.com

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”

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Why is SEO Important?

Search remains a MASSIVE part of the online experience among internet users. 17.5 BILLION explicit core searches in May 2012, up 2% from previous month. Google dominates market with two-thirds of searches. Yahoo search results are powered by Bing. Together Bing/Yahoo 28.8% of searches. Do not ignore Bing/Yahoo!

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Why is SEO important?

Organic

Results

Paid Results

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Why is SEO important?

90% of

clicks

10% of

clicks

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Why is SEO important?

Notice the difference in click through rate between #1 and #5 on Google & Bing. 18.2% v 3.09% Google - 589% 9.66% v 1.85% Bing - 522%

Significant differences worth pursuing

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Anatomy of a Search Result

Blended search results present multiple opportunities

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But how do Search Engines WORK?

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But how do Search Engines WORK?

Algorithm decides the order of search results

Google algorithm = 200+ signals. Changes continually.

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Search Engines of Yesterday

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Search Engines of Today

• Is it relevant?

– Text on the page

– Title tags

– Header content

– Web Page Address (URL)

• Is it authoritative?

– Authority of linking sites

– Number of linking sites

– Diversity of linking sites

Billions of pages indexed, hundreds of criteria

Search engines today recommend just like you do!

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The Power of a Link

Adobe Reader #1 of over 3 billion results

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The Power of a Link

Just a download page. “Click Here” does not appear on page

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Two MAJOR Algorithm Changes

Panda Penguin

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Basic SEO Resources

• http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/unt

rusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/s

earch-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf (Or just

search Google for “Google Starter Guide”)

• http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

• http://searchengineland.com/guide/seo

• http://blog.kissmetrics.com/seo-guide/

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Baseline Current Search Results

Begin at the beginning

Sign out

of Google

first!

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Mark search results to target

• Identify negative search results you wish to remove from

first page.

• Identify positive search results on page 2-5 you wish to

drive higher.

• Identify neutral search results (neither negative nor

positive – often not about you).

Get a clear picture of the current landscape

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Create a Google Account

Table stakes – a must have if not yet in your portfolio

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Complete Your Google Account

Review info linked from within Google Dashboard

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Get Notified of New Search Results

Create Google Alert for everything!

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Complete profiles on well regarded sites

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Build Sites on Branded Domains

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Guest posts

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Link & Promote Wisely

• Link to results you want improved to move from other

positive and powerful assets.

• Promote posts and guest posts from social media and other

locations.

• Link back to your hub locations from all guest post bios.

• Create content (posts, articles, videos, pictures, graphics)

that is viral in nature and will be shared by others.

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Create Link Hubs

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What to do about negative search results

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VERY first step!

Create positive search results!!!

• See previous section of this presentation for ideas and

tactics.

• SEO is a zero-sum game. Your competition can only lose

when someone else beats them to that slot!

PRO TIP: Every site not controlled by enemy is potential asset.

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You can’t just hit “delete”, but…

• Ask publisher to remove the negative item.

• Treat it as you would a bad customer service experience.

• If abusive, illegal or threatening, report to hosting company.

• If makes sense, offer to purchase the offending asset and

redirect to your other assets.

Besides better “positive SEO” there are many options…

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Hiring an SEO Consultant?

Think like a search engine!

Resource: http://www.portent.com/blog/seo/how-to-hire-an-seo-company-2012-edition.htm

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Final Thought…

Engage in Reputation Management BEFORE you need it.

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Questions?

Please connect with me!

Twitter – @SeanMcGinnis

Facebook - @SMcGinnis

LinkedIn - @SeanMcGinnis