SEO For Startups – Columbia Startup Lab Workshop - AdLift

AdLift – Delivering Search ROI

SEO For Startups – Columbia Startup LabJuly 2014

Presented by:Prashant Puri AdLift.com@puriprashant

ADLIFT CONFIDENTIAL 2

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Prashant Puri

Founder of AdLift

In love with SEO since 2004

’05SEAS Columbia


@puriprashant

AdLift: Driving SEO ROI

48%

10K

# of Keywords Optimized

# of Keywords Ranking in top 10

We analyze 1M pages/month


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AdLift Is An Advisor to Leading Industry Events and Search Journals



@puriprashant

Online Marketing Services that Drive Market Share

PILLAR 1

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Data Mining & Keyword Research

• Content Strategy• Technical SEO and Platform

Architecture• Content Marketing

PILLAR 2

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)/PPC

• Competitor Research• Ad Budget Optimization• Predictive Modeling• A/B Multivariate Testing

AdLift’s Pillars of

Expertise

Tracking & Measuring Performance

Strategy & Planning


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Agenda

• SEO Fundamentals• Why SEO?• Natural Search vs. Paid Search• Click-Through Rates• SEO Ranking Factors• On-Page Optimization• Technical Optimization• Content Marketing• Reporting• Summary


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Why SEO ?


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Natural Search vs. Paid Search

Natural Search Results = ~70% of traffic

Paid Search Results = ~30% of traffic


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Higher Rankings = More Traffic

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #100%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

36.4%

12.5%

9.5%7.9%

6.1%4.1% 3.8% 3.5% 3.0% 2.2%

Page 1 - Natural Search Click Through Rates - AVERAGE

Moving from position #10 to #1 can result in a 1,500%+ increase in traffic * Data Source: 2011 Optify Study

+60% of users click on the Top 3 results


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Longer Term Investment = Higher ROI

AdLift Internal Data


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SEO Fundamentals


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SEO in 2007 – Limited Factors

Site Accessibility

Keyword Research Links


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SEO in 2014 – Increased Areas of Optimization

Site Accessibility

Schema.org

Sitemaps

Keyword Research

On Page Content

Authoriship

Link Baiting

Quality of Links

Social Authority

Mobile SEO

Local SEO

App Store Optimization

Technical On-Page Content Content Marketing Devices


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SEO – On Page Content


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On Page SEO – Anatomy of a Search Listing

Title Tag

Page URLMeta Description


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Keyword Research

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•Use a keyword research tool like Google Adwords Keyword Planner to identify search volume potential for strategic terms: •https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home•The key is to include keywords people are using to search for your products in the content you are creating

Country Selector

Language Selector

Keywords

Search Volume, Importance of a Keyword

Other Keyword Ideas

https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home

https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home


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Keyword Targeting: UberSuggest

Google Keyword Planner UberSuggest – Google Suggest in One Place

Research


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Keyword Targeting: GrepWords (Paid)


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Include keywords in your pages!

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1. Title tag2. Description tag3. Header tag(s)4. Body copy5. Image ALT text6. Link anchor text

As Content Creators, you can help ensure strategic keywords appear in these KEY SEO COMPONENTS of a page:

VERY IMPORTANT !


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Body Copy

Quick Snapshot:

1. Pages should have ~100 words of INDEXABLE copy – this does not include links

2. The SEO keywords targeted for the page should appear 2-3 times each in the copy

3. Primary goal is to make the text READABLE for users – no keyword stuffing or “forcing”

4. If it’s hard to “work in” the SEO keywords, the page might not be appropriate for those terms

• Keywords Targeted on Body: diapers, eco-friendly diapers, natural diapers

• Keywords rankings on Google: diapers #4 , eco-friendly diapers #6 - , natural diapers - #1


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Link anchor text

Quick Snapshot:

1. Link anchor text helps communicate the keyword focus for the DESTINATION page

2. The primary targeted keyword for the destination page should be included in the link anchor text

3. This is CRITICALLY important for SEO – it helps reinforce the keyword focus for the destination page

4. Links like click here and learn more provide NO SEO value

5. Links must ALWAYS point to the same version of the URL


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Technical SEO


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Crawlability / Link Architecture

Home Page

Tablets

Kindle iPad Tablet

eBooks

Comics Teen Fiction

Drama Essays Horror

Accessories

iPad Tablet NOOK Kindle

Apps

Games Children

Ideal Architecture Makes Content Access Easy and Simple(for both users and bots)

Home

Topics

Category

Sub-Category


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Understanding Flow of Page Rank (Link Equity)

A

B

E

C

F

G

PageRank 8

PR (8*.85)/16.8 each

PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/22.89 each

PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.85)/21.22 each

PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.85)/2)*.85)/20.52 each

D

Lower Number of Clicks to the Deepest Level Results in Higher Indexation Rate – Better Long Tail

H


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Common Pitfall - Duplicate Content


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Duplicate Content - Issues

1. Overall PageRank Gets Diluted

A

B

E

C

F

G

PageRank 8

PR (8*.85)/16.8 each

PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/22.89 each

PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.85)/21.22 each

D

PR (((8*.85)/1)*.85)/2)*.85)/2)*.85)/30.34 each

GH

2. Neither Pages Might Not Rank


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Duplicate Content – Solutions: Canonical Tags


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Duplicate Content – Solutions: 301 Redirects


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When Should I Use a Canonical vs. 301 Redirect

• If you don’t need the duplicate page – use a 301 redirect• In instances when both pages are required (example: marketing, A/B

Testing) – use a canonical page.


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Difference Between 301 & 302 Redirects


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When Should I Use a 301 redirect vs. 302 Redirect

• If the page that you’re redirecting is coming back use a 302, otherwise use a 301 redirect


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SEO Friendly URLs


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http://www.abc.com/p/xyz/color/1100437663

Dynamic URLs don’t perform as well as static and engines recommend against

more than two parameters

Deeper Folder Structure & Keywords Missing

Search UN-Friendly URLs

Remove numeric characters

http://www.abc.com/s/?aud=tra&dref=9%2C1753%2C2945&sort=SA&store=eBOOK&view=grid


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http://www.abc.com/tablets/nook-color

Single domain Shallow folder structurewith relevant words

Keywords in page name,separated by hyphen

Search Friendly URLs

http://www.abc.com/ebooks/fiction/mystery

Shallow folder structurewith relevant words

Keywords in page name


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Sitemaps


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Semantic Sitemaps: Taxonomy Based Sitemaps

• Deeper understanding of how Google crawls your site

• Analyze which section of the site is being better indexed as compared to other sections of the website.


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Semantic Sitemaps Help Determine Categories that Need More Attention


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Google Webmaster Tool


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Google Webmaster Tools – Checklist

1. Add Sites to Google Webmaster Tool. 2. Submit Sitemaps3. Monitor and Improve

Live Review of the GWT


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Content Marketing


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Content Marketing – A 3 Pronged Approach

Research: Identifying

Target Keywords

Strategy: Content

Marketing Strategy

Mitigating Risk


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Keyword Targeting: What are MY Customers Looking For & How Do I Begin ?

Google Keyword Planner

Research


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Creates Search Queries + Pings Twitter for Relevant Conversations: Content Runner

Research


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Low Hanging Fruit – Targeting Keywords Not Ranking in the top 10: SearchMetrics

Research


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Strategy 1: Competitor Analysis - Topically Relevant Sites

Drill down and Analyze sites with high Social Engagement

Strategy


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Keyword Targeted Content: Google Alert Strategy


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Strategy 2: Influencer Outreach – Leveraging Social Media

Topically Relevant sites

Strategy


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Strategy 3: Image Attribution: Google Image Search

Strategy


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Mitigating Risk


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The Panda & Penguin We Once Knew… Mitigating Risk


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…Have Evolved


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Understanding Your Current Link Distribution: Moz

Sample Size: 0-10k URLs

Further Analysis Required

Mitigating Risk


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Poor Link Distribution Attributed to Low Quality Link Acquisition

Mitigating Risk


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Result: Annihilation of SEO Traffic

70% Drop in SEO visibility

Mitigating Risk


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Understanding Your Current Anchor Text Distribution: aHrefs

KWs “ceiling fans” & “pendant lights” drive more links than

longer tail anchor text

“ceiling fans”

“Longer tail”

“pendant lights”

Mitigating Risk


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Understanding Your Current Landing Page Distribution: aHrefs

Out of ~150k pages – top 7 pages drive 51% of the links

Mitigating Risk


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Deciding with Data


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Reporting – Measuring ROI


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Dealing with “not provided”

Keyword level data decreased by 80% since Google Encryption


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Rank Tracking – Tracking a Broader Set of Keywords


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Landing Page Analysis – Tracking SEO Traffic for Core Landing Pages


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Must-Do SEO Checklist

• Know Your Audience• Leverage Google Keyword Planner & UberSuggest to Dive deep in to

Keyword research

• Install Google Webmaster Tool • Know your data – Make sure Google’s crawling your pages• Submit Sitemaps

• Install Google Analytics• Its Free !

• Create Unique Title Tags/Desc for each page based on keyword research

• Look out for Duplicate Content Issues

• Kick-Start Content Marketing


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Live Site Audits !


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AcquireAmplify

Advance

Prashant PuriCEO & [email protected]

SEO For Startups – Columbia Startup Lab Workshop - AdLift

Marketing

Transcript of SEO For Startups – Columbia Startup Lab Workshop - AdLift