Blogging for natural search engine performance

Chris Bland

Senior Account Manager, SEO

Greenlight

Introduction to Greenlight

The largest independent search marketing agency in Europe, headquartered in London, and with offices in New York.

Clients across Europe, the US, and Asia with a track record of delivering results in competitive and aggressive online markets. Clients include P&G, Expedia, American Express, RBS, Alliance & Leicester, Asda Wal-Mart, and more.

An established specialist organisation with 7 years experience …providing total search engine marketing …. and nothing else.

The only SEO agency in Europe with its own publisher network, making us the fastest link builders in the industry

Our Paid Search systems use advanced portfolio management algorithms which gives our PPC campaigns a significant edge over the current rules-based standard bidding platforms.

Who we areWho we are

Client Services

Client Servicesdedicated account management, bespoke reporting & proactivity

Profilerconsumer, competitor, community and conversion intelligence

Architextrecommendations, build, consulting, training, and mentoring

LinkCatalystrapid and unique link building provision

Campaign Managementexpertly managed Paid Search campaigns

Quant & AdAPTPHD-developed Paid Search Management technologies

Greenlight – Six operational divisionsGreenlight – Six operational divisions

Demonstrable Success in SEODemonstrable Success in SEO

Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Why search is important?Why search is important?

Over 32 million people in the UK are now online* £42 billion spent online in UK in 2007* 90% of people use search engines as primary means of finding

websites* 1.4 billion search queries carried out in the UK in July 2007 alone Search is perfectly measurable and accountable and highly

scalable Search is an excellent channel to attract both new customers

who search on generic terms like ‘car insurance’ and existing customers who are more likely to use a search engine than to remember your web address

* Figures provided by Internet Advertising Bureau (www.iabuk.net)

The Search Engine IndustryThe Search Engine Industry

79% 43.7% 89.9% 88.5%

8% 28.8% 3.17% 3.4%

4% 12.8% 2.3% 1.4%

5% 5.4% <1% <1%

Big Four (UK): 96% 90% 95% 93%

Hitwise (2007) ComScore (2006)

XiTi (2007) Axandra (2007)

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

Natural Results

Paid results

So where do you need to be?So where do you need to be?

A database containing an index of the content of the Internet, which returns to the user a list of web pages that match a search query performed on that database.

What is a Search Engine?What is a Search Engine?

2. Software programs called

Spiders are sent out by search engines to scour the web, looking for web pages to add to the INDEX.

1. The Internet contains billions of

websites and documents.

3. A user searches a Search Engine

for whatever they want.

4. The Search Engine queries its

spider-compiled index for matches to the query, and ranks them in order of relevancy.

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5. The Search Engine returns a

results page of websites to the user

A database containing an index of the content of the Internet, which returns to the user a list of web pages that match a search query performed on that database.

The Key IssuesThe Key Issues

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Accessibility e.g. Links to Product pages cannot be followed by spiders because navigational menu is unfriendly to Search Engine Spiders.

X X X XCheap

flight to SpainNo

mention of flights or

Spain!

XRelevancy Your site and its pages need to be relevant for every conceivable search term that is relevant to your products, services, brand, and reflective of your business objectives.

How popular are

these sites?

Credibility Search engines factor in the link popularity of sites before deciding on where to rank them.

hotel guide

Credibility – A Voting ModelCredibility – A Voting Model

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3.5

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8.5

Hilton hotel deals

Cheap hotels

Cheap hotels

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New y

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hote

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New york hotels

hotel deals

Discount hotels

New York

travel deals

Cheap hotels

Book hotels

hotels

hotel guide

The main advantages of using blogs for SEO

The SEO Support RoleThe SEO Support Role

Blog posts add very usefully to the breadth of thematically relevant content of your site. This additional content has a distinct role in SEO strategy:

Reinforce prominence of main site landing pages for major target terms

- Highly contextualised linking

- High degree of control over the anchor text of the link being placed

- Dynamic linking when major keywords are used

Search engine results page

- Attract a double listing

- blog.domain attracts better CTR on research queries

- Blog vertical search

- Google blog links

More Flexible and Diverse RankingsMore Flexible and Diverse Rankings

The main pages of your site should be working hard for you! Blog posts offer an opportunity to add visibility in areas that they are not so focused on:

Use blog post content pages to rank for ‘long-tail’ keywords

Content can be quickly added and amended allowing for tactical rankings

Search engines often treat fresh content more favourably

Blog posts are more discrete enabling you to rank for topics that you would rather not feature as part of your main site content

The more informal and familiar tone of blogs posts allow you to use and therefore rank for less ‘on-brand’ vocabulary that users may use naturally

Blogging for SEO – Case Study - McDonaldsBlogging for SEO – Case Study - McDonalds

How to take advantage of the SEO potential of blogs

Keyword Analysis: Identify and prioritise relevant keywordsKeyword Analysis: Identify and prioritise relevant keywords

Identify the full breadth of keywords and phrases that users might be searching for where you would like your site to appear. This should include all brand and product names, the main generic terms relating to your products or services, any relevant combinations of these (eg. with location words)

Use keyword generation tools eg. Google AdWords Suggestion tool

Use server traffic referral KWs to understand which words you are currently being found under

Use PPC campaign keywords to further reveal the long tail of possible search queries

Prioritise the full list according to:

Natural Search Volume (use Google Volume Estimator tool)

Commercial relevance

Rank (look for your poorly performing keywords ie. not rank on Page 1)

Devise keyword targeting strategyDevise keyword targeting strategy

Organise KWs into thematic keyword groups with no duplication between them

Identify core keyword set from the real volume driving keyword opportunities in each category

Identify target landing pages on the main site for each of these (ensuring they are optimised for them

Identify important long-tail keywords or phrases (high PPC CTR or product relevance) – possible blog pages

Main target keywords:Car insuranceLoansCredit cardsMortgagesBank accounts

LT keywords forCar insurance:Vintage car insuranceCheap car insurance4x4 car insuranceEuropean car insuranceStudent car insurance

LT keywords for Loans:Car loansPayday loansLow rate loansLoans onlineSecured loans

LT keywords for Credit cards:Student credit cards0% credit cardsRewards credit cardsPrepaid credit cardsInstant decision credit cards

LT keywords forMortgages:Buy to let mortgages100% mortgagesMortgages for first time buyersFixed rate mortgagesInterest only mortgages

LT keywords forBank accounts:Student bank accountsBank accounts for childrenBusiness bank accountsOnline bank accountsGraduate bank accounts

Create blog to match keyword targeting strategyCreate blog to match keyword targeting strategy

Organise blog into content categories to match the main keywords

Draw up lists of ideas for blog posts from the long-tail target KWs in each category

Use SEO Elements to optimise for blog post KW

Use instances of main keywords in the text to link to their landing page

LT keywords forCar insurance:Vintage car insuranceCheap car insurance4x4 car insuranceEuropean car insuranceStudent car insurance

Blog post ideas for vintage car insurance :Vintage car insurance guideCheap car insurance hints and tipsThe best 4x4 car insurance offersGetting car insurance in Europe -Car Insurance

-Loans-Mortgages-Savings-Credit Cards

TitlePost title in URL

Header with H1 tags

H2 tags

Blog technology comparisonBlog technology comparison

Features: Wordpress Blogger Typepad

Able to rewrite page title (so post title comes first)

Possible using free plugin “SEO title” or “All in One SEO Pack”

Possible with some template editing

Requires advanced template editing

URLs with post title Built in capability to edit URL conventions

Automatically publishes posts with URLs with dashes between post title words

Publishes URLs with shortened versions of post titles, can cut off keywords – can’t change this.

Add meta descriptions and keywords to individual posts

Possible with free “All in One SEO Pack” plugin

Not possible – can only add blog-wide

Not possible – can only add blog-wide

Other SEO features Numerous plugins: can automatically link to related posts, automatically link keywords and more.

Hints & TipsHints & Tips

Host on your domain (‘blog.domain.com is the convention)

Link to blog posts from other sections of the site

Use ‘nofollow’ tags to conserve credibility particularly if you link to competitors. Exception if you are linking to highly credible and relevant authority site

Use pictures (particularly of obscure products or terminology) as these are often searched for in their own right and are often hard to include on main site pages

Offsite - exploit opportunities on other sites/blogs to highlight (and link to!) your posts

Blog content syndication (RSS)

Thanks for listening!Thanks for listening!

Chris Bland

Senior Account Manager, SEO

Greenlight

Chris.Bland@greenlightsearch.com