Who's Afraid of SEO

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AFRAID OF SEO ?

description

Presented to Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs, 8/7/11 by Karri Carlson, Marketing & Development at Leadtail. http://marketing.leadtail.comhttp://twitter.com/leadtailhttp://facebook.com/leadtail

Transcript of Who's Afraid of SEO

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AFRAID OF SEO ?

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SEO  =  Search  Engine  Op/miza/on  

“…  the  process  of  improving  the  visibility  of  a  website  or  a  web  page  in  search  engines  via  the  "natural"  or  un-­‐paid  search  results.”  

Source:  Wikipedia  

WHAT IS SEO ?

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IN OTHER WORDS…

“How  the  heck  do  I  get  found  online?”  

“How  do  I  get  people  to  visit  my  site?”  

“Do  I  have  to  pay  to  get  on  Page  1  of  Google?”  

Source:  Everyone  We  Talk  To  

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PAID  RESULTS  

PAID  RESULTS  “NATURAL”  

 RESULTS  

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25–30%  CLICKS  

70–75%    CLICKS  

Source:  MarkeKngSherpa  

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Source:  SearchEngineLand  

121  MILLION  Number  of  searches  performed  on  Google  –  every  hour.  

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THREE KEYS TO SEO •   Get  crawled  by  Google  •   Create  bloody  good  content  •   Relentless  pursuit  of  quality  links  

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GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE

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GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE •   Use  Google  Webmaster  Tools    

•   Mind  your  meta  tags  

•   Minimize  the  use  of  Flash    

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GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE Use  Google  Webmaster  Tools  hUp://www.google.com/webmasters    

•   Google  will  give  you  several  methods  to  verify  that  you  own  this  website  

•   Use  www.xml-­‐sitemaps.com  to  create  a  sitemap  document  to  submit  to  Google  

•   Submit  your  sitemap  via  the  Webmaster  Tools  Dashboard  

•   Go  do  something  fun…  it  may  take  several  days  for  Google  to  crawl  your  site    

•   Return  later  to  check  out  how  Google  sees  your  site  •   “Crawl  Errors”  will  indicate  any  pages  Google  could  not  access  •   “Search  Queries”  tell  you  which  search  terms  are  bringing  people  to  your  site  

•   “Keywords”  will  tell  you  what  Google  thinks  your  site  is  about  •   “Links  to  your  site”  will  tell  you  exactly  that…  who’s  linking  to  you  

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GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE Mind  Your  META  Tags  

In  most  cases,  Google  uses  your  meta  tags  something  like  this:  

So,  make  sure  your  <TITLE>  tag  makes  a  good  “headline”  for  your  page.  

Give  each  page  a  unique  <TITLE>  e.g.,  each  product  page  includes  the  product  name.  

Use  your  <DESCRIPTION>  tag  to  reinforce  why  someone  should  click  thru  to  your  page.      

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GET CRAWLED BY GOOGLE Minimize  Use  of  Flash  

Remember  our  friends  at  Suju’s  Coffee?    Don’t  let  this  happen  to  you!  

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BLOODY GOOD CONTENT

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BLOODY GOOD CONTENT •   Keywords  (what  you’re  about)  •   Press  releases  •   Photos  and  video    •   Case  studies,  tutorials  •   Lists,  reviews,  raKngs  

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Bloody good CONTENT Keywords  

hUps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal  

•   Keywords  are  the  handful  of  words  and  phrases  you  want  to  strongly  associate  with  your  brand,  products,  website,  and  social  presence  online.  

•   Think  about  a  few  “anchor”  words  that  describe  what  you  do/make/sell  

•   e.g.,  soap,  socks,  photography,  art  prints,  cards,  catering  •   Add  modifiers  to  make  it  specific  to  you  and  your  customers  

•   Geographic:  “Bay  Area  pet  photography”,  •   Product  oriented:  “handmade  angora  kneesocks”  

•   Customer  oriented:  “online  storefronts  for  arKsans”  

•   3-­‐4  word  phrases  work  best  as  they  get  preUy  specific  about  who  this  site  is  for  •   Use  the  Google  Keyword  Tool  to  see  variaKons  and  monthly  search  volume  

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Bloody good CONTENT Press  Releases  

hUp://www.bestonlineadverKsingstuff.com/2009/11/best-­‐free-­‐and-­‐affordable-­‐press-­‐release-­‐services/  

•   Don’t  worry  -­‐  it’s  not  the  Daily  Press  Briefing  at  the  White  House    

•   Anything  happening  in  your  business  that  supports  your  “story”  is  newsworthy!  •   You  hired  a  new  person,  or  signed  a  new  client  •   Your  business  will  be  represented  at  an  event  (sponsor,  speaker,  etc.)  •   You’ve  conducted  a  survey  and  want  to  share  the  results  

•   Use  your  keyword  phrases  liberally,  but  naturally,  in  each  press  release  •   Create  a  “News”  secKon  for  your  website  and  post  your  press  releases  •   Don’t  forget  to  push  out  your  news  via  Facebook,  TwiUer,  and  Email  

•   Press  releases  can  be  duplicated  across  the  web  without  any  penalty  from  Google  

•   Press  release  services  can  help  you  distribute  your  news  to  relevant  media  outlets  

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Bloody good CONTENT Photos  &  Video  

•   Use  the  ALT  tag  to  associate  keywords  with  images  

•   Create  a  text  transcript  for  your  videos;  include  your  website  URL,  too  •   News  is  given  preferenKal  treatment  in  search  results  (remember  press  releases!)  

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Bloody good CONTENT Lists,  How  Tos,  Reviews….  

•   Over  300  MILLION  Google  searches  each  month  include  the  phrase  “how  to”  

•   Over  124  MILLION  Google  searches  each  month  include  the  word  “review”    

•   Experiment  with  the  format  that  makes  the  most  sense  for  your  site  

•   Lists  of  tools,  products,  vendors  you  recommend    

•   Reviews  or  wrap  ups  describing  an  event  you  aUended  •   Video  tutorials  that  show  people  how  you  create  your  product  

•   See  what  categories  people  are  searching  for  using  Google’s  Keyword  Tool  hUps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal  

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L I I I I I I n k s !

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L I N K S ! •   Quality  over  quanKty  •   Marketplaces  &  directories  

•   Social  media  links  

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L I N K S ! Quality  over  QuanKty  

•   Google  uses  a  system  called  “Page  Rank”  as  shorthand  for  a  site’s  authority  

•   The  higher  the  Page  Rank,  the  more  Google  trusts  this  site  and  the  sites  it  links  to  

•   You  want  links  from  sites  that  have  high  Page  Rank  

•   Use  Page  Rank  Checker  to  see  the  current  page  rank  for  any  site                                                  hUp://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php  

•   How  do  you  get  sites  to  link  to  you?  •   Give  to  get  –  put  a  link  on  your  site  to  theirs  •   Comment  on  their  blog/arKcles  

•   Follow  and  engage  them  on  Facebook,  TwiUer,  LinkedIn,  etc.  

•   Ask  them  (nicely)  

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L I N K S ! Marketplaces  &  Directories  

•   Marketplaces  and  directories  can  do  some  of  the  “heavy  liqing”  SEO  work  for  you  

•   Marketplaces  and  directories  opKmize  their  overall  site  to  aUract  people  interested  in  the  products  their  members  sell  

•   Many  marketplaces  offer  promoKonal  tools  to  help  you  get  more  visibility  

•   Marketplaces  succeed  when  their  members  succeed  –  talk  to  other  sellers  to  find  out  what  is  working  for  them,  and  where  else  you  might  want  to  list  

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L I N K S ! Social  Media  Links  

•   The  big  search  engines  are  working  hard  to  figure  out  how  to  best  interpret  links  and  menKons  from  social  media  sites.    

•   These  links  can  be  very  important  when  someone  is  searching  for  YOU  

•   Use  your  social  media  profiles  to  drive  people  back  to  your  store/website  

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CLIMB TO THE TOP

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Climb to the top •   Clean  up  your  website  (meta  tags,  no  flash,  etc.)  

•   No  subsKtute  for  relevant  content  •   Get  lots  of  quality  sites  linking  to  you  •   SEO  is  a  process,  not  an  event;  change  takes  Kme  

•   Lots  of  resources  to  help  

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TOOLS AND LINKS Google  Webmaster  Tools  hUp://www.google.com/webmasters  

Free  XML  Sitemap  Generator  hUp://www.xml-­‐sitemaps.com  

VIDEO:  How  Google  Uses  Meta  Tags  in  Search  Results  hUp://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35624#1  

Why  Flash  &  SEO  Don’t  Mix  hUp://www.seomoz.org/blog/flash-­‐and-­‐seo-­‐compelling-­‐reasons-­‐why-­‐search-­‐engines-­‐flash-­‐sKll-­‐dont-­‐mix  

Google  Keyword  Tool  hUps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal  

Best  Free  &  Affordable  Press  Release  Services  hUp://www.bestonlineadverKsingstuff.com/2009/11/best-­‐free-­‐and-­‐affordable-­‐press-­‐release-­‐services/  

Page  Rank  Checker    hUp://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php  

More  resources  for  online  markeKng,  adverKsing,  and  social  media  hUp://markeKng.leadtail.com/resources/  

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Thank You, Monsters

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Karri  Carlson  [email protected]  @heykarri,  @Leadtail  Marke/ng.Leadtail.com    www.facebook.com/Leadtail  

Leadtail  helps  marketers,  adverKsers,  and  business  owners  navigate  the  cluUered,  confusing  world  of  online  markeKng.  

We’d  love  to  talk  about  how  we  can  help  you,  too!