What is SEO Relevancy Keywords Search Engines: How content is obtained Site / Domain Factors Page Factors Links Other optimization ideas

A subset of Search Engine Marketing Sometimes considered to be unique to SEM Focuses on the natural, organic relevancy and

ranking of content in search results. Some practices extended into Search Engine

Marketing (i.e. obtaining links)

The act of promoting content. The overall activity around using search engines

to market a site or online entity. Includes:◦ Search Engine Optimization◦ Paid Inclusion◦ Pay Per Click (PPC)

SEO SEM/PPC

Pros • Free (not including resources) • Searchers click on organic search results more often than paid PPC links

• Excellent at creating awareness quickly• Campaigns can be budgeted to fit a business’s needs

Cons • Time consuming• Takes longer to see results

• Can be pricey ($25-$100,000 a month)• Must be managed constantly (daily/weekly)• ROI can be difficult to manage• Clickfraud

White Hat/Good vs. Black Hat/Evil White Hat

Follows search engine guidelinesStrives for best possible search engine ranking; #1

ranking if possible

Black HatKnowingly breaks many/most of the search engine

guidelinesMisrepresents content via techniquesUses techniques to trick either the search engine,

searcher, or bothPromises #1 ranking

The overall goal:◦ Search engines: to deliver the most relevant search

results possible◦ Searchers: to find the most relevant search result◦ Site Owners: to optimize their site and it’s content for

the most relevant searcher True relevancy has become hip; it’s not a fad

Keyword Research and Analysis

Analyze Site for Crawl / Performance issues Implement Optimizations Monitor results Repeat as

needed

The core of Search Engine Optimization Keywords are the terms used by searchers to find

information The goal is to leverage and implement the same

keywords throughout your content in a natural manner, to match the audience who’s searching for your information and you’re looking to attract

Keyword discovery and analysis is never ending

Known keywordsAsk the business ownerAsk the customersCheck the current server logs or analytics toolCheck the site search logs

Competitor’s keywordsLook at the words in the <title> tag / browser barView source to view their META keywordsUse tools to harvest the keywords or phrases prominent

on their site

Always include variations of keywordsPlurals (widgets, churches)Synonyms (cruise, sail, journey, tour)Stems (fish, fishing)International spelling differences (Harbor /Harbour)

Online ToolsCreated for PPC, used for SEO as wellTools

Google Adwords Keywords ToolTrellian (free trial)WordTracker (free trial)SEOBook SEOTool Keyword Suggestion Tool

Use multiple tools to cross-check & validate findings in other tools

It depends on the context & themes of your pagesthe audience you’re targeting (researchers, buyers)

Use keywordsThat are being searched onThat have medium to low competitionThat you can build quality content that site visitors will

appreciate Use keywords that

Aid the search engines in understanding your contentAid users and persuade them to act

Possible direction of search engines to determine relevancy◦ Site/folder structure◦ Content text◦ Link text

• Search Engines send “bots,” that spider the web.• Crawls via hyperlinks

<a href=http://www.mysite.com/>

Content

Meta Data

Links

Theme

So what happens when a search engine bot visits your site?

1. First, it checks for the robots.txt file for any instructions2. Second, it begins to crawl, following links in your site

from the current page. It also pays attention to any page level robots instructions (noindex/nofollow).

3. It grabs the content and meta data (title, description, link labels, text, attributes)

4. Adds to it’s index

Site-wide control Adhered to by most search bots Can control access to areas of

your websiteDisallow crawling of portions of your

website Can limit control to all or select

search bots Placed in the root of your website More Robots.txt info:

http://www.robotstxt.org/

Page level control Placed as a meta tag

in the <head> portion of your pages

Controls who the search bot crawls through the page

Variations:

• <meta name=“robots" content=“index,follow" />

• <meta name=“robots" content=“noindex,nofollow" />

• <meta name=“robots" content=“noindex,follow" />

• <meta name=“robots" content=“index,nofollow" />

Robots.txt/Meta Robots confl ictsOne set of instructions in robot.txt, different instructions in meta

robot Server performance

If sever not available when search bot visits, will revisit, but learns and decreases the frequency of visits

If server slow, bot will crawl what it can, then move on (incomplete crawl)

JavaScriptCannot follow hyperlinks embedded or generated by JavaScript

Pop-upsDHTML pull-down menus

Dynamic URLsExample:www.mydomain.com/products/item.asp?id=20&cat=bd&cty=102&sessionid=56720938762s345h10293847nnm65748392021&cookie=WEGQIEMCE...Numerous parameters can prevent crawlingSession ids can cause crawling issues; duplicate content issuesSolution

Make URLs are short as possible (1000 characters too long) Up to 2 parameters OK, more a risk Do not use session ids; If multiple parameters & session ids a must, use a URL rewrite method (mod-rewrite

(Apache))Example:Before: http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207686806&sr=8-1

After:http://www.amazon.com/Common-Approach-Usability-Circle-Com-Library/dp/0789723107

Google Google

Content-to-Code Ratio (example 203kb)

Code used to display page vs. Content that is displayed

(X)HTML + attributes & CSS (embedded & inline) &

JavaScript

vs.Text & Images

vs.

In browser, view source to view

code bloat

In browser, view source to view

code bloat

How to:1. Obtain links to your site from authoritative sources

Will get crawled/indexed organically1. Submit your site to the search engines

Google Yahoo MSN Ask (?) What about the others?

1. Monitor your indexed pages

Trusted Feed to push your content into Google Generate Site Maps online -

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/◦ Can be used for both Google & Microsoft Live Search

Domain / Site Page Elements Links

Age of siteBuilds prominence, credentialsInbound link popularity into siteTopical inbound link relevancy into siteLink/Content topical themeFrequency of new inbound linksNumber of queries over time where site appears in

resultsKeywords in DomainKeywords in folder structure

Age of document Freshness of document Page filename (use keywords, hyphens as separators) #/Quality/Relevance of inbound/outbound links Page theme (content focused on a single topic, not

topically scattered) Leverage CSS layouts with external stylesheets and

external JavaScript to increase Content-to-Code ratio

One of the most important things you can do – fast Unique title for every page on your site Should contain one or two keywords, specific to the

content on the page Most important keyword/phrase at beginning of <title>

Repeat keyword/phrase up to 2 times Limit to approx. 65 characters Will appear as browser window title, link label in search

resultsWrite the title to be persuasive to humans

Code example:

<title>Rubber Widgets – Largest Selection of Rubber Widgets</title>

Dreamweaver example:

What about dynamic pages? Use variables in the <title> to interject keywords

for the content of that page/recordExample:

<title><%Prod_Name%> - Best Select of <%Prod_Name%></title>

Meta tags placed in <head> portion of pageExample/Syntax:<meta name=“description” content=“Description info goes here” /><meta name=“keywords” content=“keywords,seperated by,commas,go,here” />

Description: Not used by search engines for relevancy; displayed as result snippet under link label & above URL.Limit to 100-200 characters

Keywords: Banished long ago by search engines due to spamming. No value

Glacier Bay Highlights - Alaskan Glacier Bay CruiseSave up to $300 per cabin - ends 3/31/08! This Alaskan Glacier Bay cruise itinerary is a perfect shorter getaway cruise in the beautiful remote wilderness of Alaska's . . .www.sunstonetours.com/alaska/itins/cw_GlacierBayHighlights.asp - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

<title>Glacier Bay Highlights - Alaskan Glacier Bay Cruise</title>

<meta name="description" content="Save up to $300 per cabin - ends 3/31/08! This Alaskan Glacier Bay cruise itinerary is a perfect shorter getaway cruise in the beautiful remote wilderness of Alaska's Inside Passage. Experience the true meaning of wonder in the soaring sanctuary of Glacier Bay National Park.">

<meta name="keywords" content="glacier bay, short cruises, glacier bay alaska, glacier bay cruise, glacier bay national park, cruise west cruises, cruise west alaska">

=

Everything visible in a web browser Keywords implemented should support the overall theme

of the page Factors

Keyword prominence: where on the page it appearsMain keywords at beginning of content, supporting keywords

throughout the middle, then the primary repeated again near the end of the content

Keyword density: how often your keywords appear in relation to all other words on the page (goal: 5-7%)

Keyword frequency: number of occurrences on the page Search engines also look at content around the keywords;

check for theme relevancy

Include primary or supporting keywords in your highest heading tag (<h1>)

Place supporting keywords in these heading tags◦ <h2> … <h6>

Make sure it makes sense to humans Use CSS to format the look of standard HTML

headings If graphical text desired for headings, consider

image replacement methods

Emphasize text & keywords to show search engines & users that “this is important” to the theme of the page.

Use <strong> for bold Use <em> for emphasize Do not use <b> or <i> (outdated/obsolete) Only emphasize short segments of words (1-4 words). ◦ Any more loses impact & value of emphasis; everything is

emphasized; dilutes keyword meaning

Give your images descriptive filenameInclude keywords where it makes sense

Use the alt attribute to provide information about the imageShort description of imageInclude keywords where it makes senseMake sure it makes sense to humansAids in usabilityDon’t stuff keywords here; considered

Don’t use images in place of text. If required, consider image replacement techniques

Important part of overall search algorithmHowever, not as important as it once was…

Links within your site to pages within your site (internal links) have some value

Inbound links to your site/pages/content from quality, authoritative sources (external links) considered unbiased, proof that your content is quality

The link’s anchor text is very importantShould contain relevant keywordsRaises the link’s value

Obtain links only from quality, authoritative sources related or relevant to your siteStrive for top sites (example: CNN, Wikipedia)Top sites have good PageRank

Google term for the quality of inbound linksCan view PageRank levels from Google ToolbarTop sites have been around a while

Links to any page on your site; not just homepageDeep linking good

Do not obtain links from “shady” sourcesLink farms, ringsLink exchanges from sources of little/no Page Rank

Do not purchase links from others

Blogs create a bloglink to your sitecomment on other subject related, relevant blogs

RSS Feed SyndicationSyndicate information from your site / blog to be displayed on other

websitesControl the anchor text

Press Releases submitted to online PR distributorsLink back to your site

Articles topics of expertise, syndicated on the webLink back to your site

Industry Sources / Subject Authority Websites

Google – Webmaster Central◦ Internal & External (inbound) links

Yahoo – link:[URL]

Google Base / Product Search / One Box◦ Google Base: Online database of products.

Originally created for classifieds Can upload information about your products◦ Google Product Search (formerly Froogle)

Shopping search engine providing searchable index of products for purchase

◦ Google One Box For certain keywords, displays content above the organic

search results

Use an Analytics tool to monitor your siteVisitsConversionsReferrals

Sites, URLS, KeywordsUse a Monitoring tool to monitor your site’s ranking

Ranking (based on keyword)Research competitors

AgeInbound linksKeywords used

Perform detailed keyword analysis

Make sure your site is crawlable

Use Web Standards to create clean, light pages

Implement keywords on appropriate page elements

Obtain links from quality, authoritative sources

Design/implement with the user first, then the search engine in mind

Catch this and like videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/m0serious

Search Engine Relationships◦ Bruce Clay’s Search Engine Relationship Chart

Keyword Tools (online)◦ Google AdWords: Keyword Tool◦ Trellian Keyword Discovery◦ Wordtracker◦ SEOBook SEOTools Keyword Suggestion Tool

Keyword Tools (cl ient-based)◦ Web CEO

Search Engine Relationships◦ Bruce Clay’s Search Engine Relationship Chart

Keyword Tools (online)◦ Google AdWords: Keyword Tool◦ Trellian Keyword Discovery◦ Wordtracker◦ SEOBook SEOTools Keyword Suggestion Tool

Keyword Tools (cl ient-based)◦ Web CEO

AnalyticsGoogle Analytics (Web-based - Free)Stat Counter (Web-based - Free)Mint (Web-based - Fee)Omniture (Web-based - Fee)Webtrends (Web-based – Fee)

MonitoringWeb CEO (Client-based – Trial/Fee)SEO Tool Rank Checker (Web-based – Free/Fee)SEO for Firefox (Browser-based)Google Toolbar (Browser-based)

Books◦ Search Engine Marketing – Mike Moran & Bill Hunt◦ Search Engine Optimization for Dummies – Peter Kent◦ Building Findable Websites – Aaron Walter◦ Search Marketing Strategies – James Colborn◦ Web Analytics Demystified – Eric Peterson◦ Web Metrics – Jim Sterne◦ The Online Copywriter’s Handbook – Robert Bly

Web SitesSearch Engine LandSEOmozWeb Engine Watch

Podcasts (search for these in iTunes or Google)Daily SearchCastSEO 101

Online CoursesLynda.com – Search Engine Optimization

Questions?

Nikhil Bhatla –info@dmpaathshala.com.com

Web: http://www.dmpaathshala.com