SEO for WordPressWordCamp NYC
October 31, 2015
• Anyone seeking to increase traffic to their website, online store or blog;
• Designers and developers who want a basic understanding of current SEO best practices;
• Business owners and managers thinking about hiring an SEO firm or consultant.
Who is this presentation for?
• What was/is SEO?
• How do I optimize my website?
• How do I do that with WordPress?
• Next steps, take-aways and resources
Overview
About Melissa Cahill
I’ve been building websites since 1995.
I run an SEO and Online Marketing agency. We help small businesses get better exposure for their products and services, capture leads and/or drive sales via the Internet.
I am also proud to be a Founding Member of Tadpole Collective.
About Tadpole Collective
We met in 2011 through the WordPress NYC Meetup.
We work on all sorts of WordPress projects, offering Help Desk support and custom development.
Tadpole specializes in CiviCRMintegration with WordPress.
What is SEO?
• Mid- to late-90’s gave us Yahoo and Google.
The Evolution of SEO
• “Black hat” SEO tactics thrived in the wake of early search technology.
• Backlinks (off site) continue to play a role.
• The aughts (that’s the 2000s) sees the rise of Google: maps, news, images, YouTube.
The Evolution of SEO
• Blogging and social media take off.
• Search engine algorithms start to improve to ensure the user (searcher) gets relevant results.
• Content comes back into focus.
• Universal Search: “blended” search results
• Personalization: localized results, search suggestions
• Semantic search: Google now predicts user intent
SEO Today
SEO Today
• Major algorithm changes at Google make connecting users with QUALITY CONTENT the new challenge for marketers.
• Widespread use of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) make WEBSITE USABILITY the top priority for developers and webmasters.
SEO Today
SEO, when done right, is concerned with both.
How to Optimize a Website
The very basic basics:
• Your site must be crawlable.
• Your site must be well-organized.
• Your site must render well on mobile devices.
Onsite SEO
If your website runs on WordPress and uses a mobile responsive theme, you are already ahead of the game!
But there is still a lot of work to do…
Onsite SEO
Onsite SEO
The intermediate basics:1. What keyword phrases to use?
Targeted (to a specific product/service/audience)
Traffic-bearing (Average Search Volume [ASV])
2. Where to put them on your site?
Page Titles & Meta-Description Tags …
Implementation Locations
1. Domain name
2. Page URLs (permalinks):
(http://www.YourDomainName.com/YourPageName)
3. SEO Titles
4. Meta-Description
5. Headers (h1, h2, h3; descending importance)
6. Internal links (anchor text & titles)
7. Website copy & images
8. Bold and italicized text
Headers
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5
Descending importance for SEO
• h1 – usually the page title: try to get a keyword in
• h2, h3 – secondary/topical keywords
• h4, h5 – not crucial to use/embed
Keywords for Images
• File namewhitesalmon-rafting.jpg
• Alt attribute• Shows when image cannot be
loaded
• Tooltip text
alt = “Rafters plunging down HusumFalls on the White Salmon River”
• Title attribute
title = “Husum Falls on the White Salmon River”
<img src=“/images/whitesalmon-rafting.jpg” alt=“Rafters plunging down Husum Falls on the White Salmon River” title=“Husum Falls on the White Salmon River”>
Internal Links
• Can be helpful within the copy, especially at the end of articles
• Should not be overused
• Should have the same anchor text as your main navigation or inbound links
Internal Links
Permalinks (Page URLs)
All in One SEO Plugin
Title & Meta-Description
All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress
Great Help Documentation!
All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress
Hiring an SEO Consultant
What to ask SEO vendors?
Don’t trust anyone who makes guarantees
regarding rankings, especially if they promise
you one of the top spots in Google.
TIP!
What to ask SEO vendors?
• How do they conduct their keyword research?
• What’s included in their price?
• How do they monitor performance and how often will they make any necessary adjustments?
Resources You Can Use to Learn More About SEO
Learning SEO:• Beginner’s Guide to SEO (SEO Moz)
• Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (Google)
Indispensible Tools:• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console / Bing Webmaster Tools
• SEO Book’s Collection of SEO Tools
Learn More About SEO
Semantic Search: • Changes to Google Search Demands Creating Content for People,
Not Bots
• SEO 101: What is Semantic Search and Why Should I Care?
SEO & WordPress:• 10 WordPress SEO Questions That Took Me 10 Years To Answer!
• Top Tips for Good On-Page SEO (All-in-One)
• The Definite Guide to Higher Rankings for WordPress Sites (Yoast)
Learn More About SEO
Thank you!
I hope you’ve found this presentation useful.
Keep Panoptic Online Marketing and Tadpole Collective in mind when shopping for and SEO or WordPress team to help you!
http://panopticmarketing.com
http://tadpole.cc
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