Writing for SEO 101
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Transcript of Writing for SEO 101
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101Ben Brooks, Senior Digital Marketing ManagerNintex
AgendaWhat is SEO?
Basic SEO rules
SEO process—research
Writing copy
Technical SEO• META tags• Microdata/structured data• URL structure• Canonical links• Sitemap
Value of SEO
SEOTechniques used to help your site show in organic search results•Content•Meta tagsSEO helps users find your sitewithout paying for the listing
SEO vs. SEM
Paid
Pl
acem
ent
SEM
Rich
Co
nten
tOr
gani
c Re
sults
SEO
SEMPay for placement on a search engine results pageSEM gets your listing up ASAP
•Linking•Structure
SEO
SEO is the practice of making a website/webpage more accessible and relevant for users via search engines
What is SEO? Craft pages and text around a single concept using related keywordsDon’t try to stuff everything in one page
Crafting content on sites for humans, NOT search enginesBe relevantBe preciseWrite in natural language
Use technical elements such as META tags, sitemaps, and rich snippets to help boost rankings
Top 10 SEO basic rules
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Keyword MUST be in URL
Title tag should clearly describe content of the pageTitle tag should be front-loaded with primary keyword: Primary Keyword—Secondary Keyword—Brand NameTitles should be <60 characters
including spaces
Keyword MUST be in Meta description—155 chars max
Keyword should be in H1
Keyword should be FIRST in H1
Keyword should be in image alt-tags and file names
Keyword should be in first 120 words of body content
Keyword can be used in internal links to the page
The SEO Process
SEO process—research
Craft contentAdd technical SEO elements
Measure and improve
• Each page
should only focus on one main concept
• Note that a concept can have multiple related terms
Determine what concept you want to focus on
• Analytics—on your site
• Third party tools
Research how people search for that concept; gather and group related terms
SEO research—Google AnalyticsSite searchWhat do people search for on your site?
KeywordsHow do users find your site?
* Requires setting up Site Search in analytics
* Requires Search Console account
SEO research—AdWords Keyword Planner
*Requires AdWords account; data may be limited without significant spend
Enter your seed keyword Note options for countries and language…
and get results on the next page
How many searches on average in a month for this term
How many people are bidding on this term
SEO research—other tools
http://keywordtool.iohttp://www.wordstream.com/keywordsGoogle Trends:find interest on a term or set of terms over timehttp://www.socialmention.com/https://moz.com/products/pro/keyword-explorer
How do I use the research?
Use tools like Google Trends to focus on terms that show growthMay want to put more focus on a related term rather than your initial seed term
Use terms in technical SEO elements
Gather and group related terms to use in your copy whenever possible
Possibly develop more than one page depending on resultsAre there related concepts and terms that deserve their own pages?
Copy
NOW Engines look at content semantically: what is the page saying, who links to it, metadataPutting the term in all over will actually get you delisted or demoted
History of SEOEngines index everything on a pageThe more times a term appears, the more relevant it isEngines look at technical elements—keyword meta tags
THENEngines look at incoming links
Copy
Do not stuff keywords!GoodA workflow management system (WfMS) is a software system for the set-up, performance, and monitoring of a defined sequence of tasks, arranged as a workflow
BadA workflow management system (WfMS) is a software workflow system for the set-up, performance, and monitoring of a defined sequence of workflow tasks, arranged as a workflow
Take your primary termEnsure it is in the page title and URL
Use it in any media (in the filename and any alt text)
Use it in body copy, ensuring it flows naturally—write for people, NOT search engines!
Copy examples from Nintex site“workflow automation”
Keyword in URL and page title
Keyword in H1
Keyword in jump links
Keyword in H2
Keyword in body text
Related terms in text
Checklist
Term is in page title
Term is in page URL: http://www.mysite.com/section/my-term
Term is in page media: term-video.mp4, icon-my-term.png
Term is in ALT text
Term is in copy
Copy is written so it flows naturally: remember, write for humans, not search engines!
Technical SEO
About crawlers…Search engine crawlers read your back-end code, NOT necessarily what you see on the screenThis is why things like ALT text and filenames are so importantCrawlers do have a limit—usually about 100kIt is IMPERATIVE your contentshows up as close to the top aspossibleMinify code and scriptsDon’t assume because text is atthe top in the browser, it is at thetop in the code
META tags are critical to SEO• Are indexed by
search engines• Display in
search engine resultsCan be set in most CMS systems or added manually
META tags
The title tag is one of the most important HTML tags or elements of a websiteAll search engines consider the keywords in this tag and give priority to these in their algorithm
Title tagThis tag displays the title of your site
Format<title>Your title here</title>
Parameters50-60 charactersprimary keyword – secondary keyword – brand name
ValueDisplays in browserDisplays in search resultsDisplays in anchor text on some social sites
The Meta description does not directly affect search rankingsIt does, however, affect whether or not a user will click on the link, so use compelling, clickable copy
META descriptionThis tag provides a description of your site
Format<meta name=“description” content=“your sites description” />
Parameters155 characters maxWrite compelling copy; why should a userclick this site in search results?
ValueShows up in search engine results
Use structured data on your site when appropriatehttps://developers.google.com/structured-data/https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/
Microdata/Structured dataStructured data enhances search results
Important data:•Organization•Website•Breadcrumbs•Product/Software
Nintex microdata
This is an H1 tagThis is an H2 tagThis is an H3 tagThis is an H4 tagThis is an H5 tag
This is an H6 tag
This H1 MUST include your primary keyword<H1>my primary term</H1>Use other headings in sequence: H2….H7Headings can be styled for size and look and feelThe actual heading tags should be used for structure, not for appearance
H1 tags and structurePage should only have one H1
MOST IMPORTANT
LEAST IMPORTANT
Ensure your main terms are in the URL of the page:Example: http://www.mysite.com/products/nintex-workflow-for-sharepoint-2016Replace spaces with –
Ensure your site uses a logical URL structure• Home• Products• Product A• Product B
• About• Contact
URL structure
http://www/.example.com/category/subcategory/my-example-webpage
Internet application protocol
Sub-domainMain domain
Top level domain
Category—which itself can form a keyword Sub-category—which can also be targeted as
keyword Webpage name with keywords
Use language declarations for all pagesFormat: <html lang=“lang-country” xml:lang=“language”>Example: <html lang=“en-us” xml:lang=“en”> for English-US Site
Use canonical links to tell search engines what the “official” page is:<link rel=“canonical” href=“http://www.myserver.com/path/to/page”>On: http://www.myserver.com/path/to/page?query=foohttp://de-de.myserver.com/path/to/pagehttp://members.myserver.com/path/to/page
Canonicals and languages
Include a Sitemap that auto-updates when your site is changedInfo: http://www.sitemaps.org/Many plug-ins and code to support this
Ensure your site loads as fast as possible: https://developers.google.com/speed/Generally: •Optimize images and code•Have a fast server
Sitemaps and site speed
Value of SEO
SEO OPTIMIZATIONCreated new page around Infopath transition,
wrote content using Infopath retirement and related terms, ensured terms were in URL and other technical elements
ISSUEVery little content on InfopathListings in search engines were very low, had little traffic
RESULTSOver a 3 month period position of that page in search engines for Infopath terms went from page 2 and beyond to position 1–2; remains in position 2–3 today
SEO example from Nintex
COST INVOLVEDTime to write content, generate images and implement into the siteNo ad spend needed
Infopath page and positional changes
Page drove 42 qualified leads in this time period (Feb – Jun)
Top 10 SEO basic rules
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Keyword MUST be in URL
Title tag should clearly describe content of the pageTitle tag should be front-loaded with primary keyword: Primary keyword—secondary keyword—brand nameTitles should be <60 characters
including spaces
Keyword MUST be in Meta description—155 chars max
Keyword should be in H1
Keyword should be FIRST in H1
Keyword should be in image alt-tags and file names
Keyword should be in first 120 words of body content
Keyword can be used in internal links to the page
Google Analytics configuration
Set up Google Analytics if you don’t have it already: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008015?hl=entip: use Google Tag Manager to implement: https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/6103696?hl=en
1If you have Site Search, set up GA to track it: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1012264?hl=en
2Set up a Search Console (Webmasters) Account: https://support.google.com/webmasters#topic=3309469
3Link this to GA: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1120006?hl=en
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Questions?