SEMpdx: SEO 101
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John McPhee, Vice President of Formic Media, presents SEO best practices at the January 2013 SEMpdx event in Portland, OR. McPhee discusses on-site SEO, as well as off-site SEO, tactics to help increase organic rankings.
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SEMpdx: SEO 101
- 1. Internet Marketing 101: SEO John McPhee, Formic Media @jwmcphee johnm@formicmedia.com
- 2. John McPhee • Vice President, Formic Media • In charge of sales & partnership development at Formic Media • Honed digital marketing chops at Anvil Media • Focused on travel, hospitality & B2B • Participate in local community marketing organizations
- 3. Agenda – SEO 101 • SEO Basics • SEO Ranking Factors • Design & Development • Keyword Research • On-Site Optimization • Link Development • Local SEO
- 4. SEO 101
- 6. SEO 101: SEO Ranking Factors
- 8. SEO 101: Design & Development • Do • Use HTML text whenever possible • Use text navigation • Incorporate SEO elements • Use transcripts for audio/video • Don’t • Use too many images • Use too much JavaScript • Use too many Flash files
- 9. SEO 101: Design & Development • Why Flash sites aren’t ideal for SEO This is what we see This is what Google sees
- 10. SEO 101: Design & Development • Build an internal link structure
- 11. SEO 101: Design & Development • Utilize an XML sitemap to help Google
- 12. Keyword Research
- 13. SEO 101: Keyword Research • Keywords are the building blocks of SEO • Google uses keywords to determine relevancy • It’s imperative to identify the right keywords
- 14. SEO 101: Keyword Research • Which keywords do I choose?
- 15. SEO 101: Keyword Research • Perform keyword research
- 16. SEO 101: Keyword Research
- 17. SEO 101: Keyword Research
- 18. SEO 101: Keyword Research • Other keyword research tools… • Google Analytics • Google AdWords • KeywordSpy • Keyword Discovery • Ubersuggest • WordTracker
- 20. SEO 101: Tag Optimization • URLs • Title Tag • Meta Description Tag • H1 Header Tag • ALT Image Tags
- 21. SEO 101: Tag Optimization • URLs • Include keywords in URLs • Static is better (than dynamic) • Use URL rewrites if possible • Use hyphens (instead of underscores) • Avoid duplicate content issues • FormicMedia.com/index.html • FormicMedia.com/home.html • FormicMedia.com • Use 301 redirects if you suffer from this
- 22. SEO 101: Tag Optimization • Title Tags
- 23. SEO 101: Tag Optimization • Meta Description Tag
- 24. SEO 101: Tag Optimization • H1 Header Tag
- 25. SEO 101: Tag Optimization • ALT Image Tag
- 26. Link Development
- 27. SEO 101: Link Development • Google uses link signals for ranking purposes: • Global popularity • Get links from popular/trusted sites • Topic-specific • Get links from websites that focus on the same/similar topics • Anchor text • Obtain links with targeted keywords • Freshness • Links go stale, always be seeking new • Social sharing • Becoming much more important
- 28. SEO 101: Link Development • Where to get links?
- 29. SEO 101: Link Development • Link Development Tools • Open Site Explorer (SEOmoz) • Link Diagnosis • Majestic SEO • Raven Tools
- 30. SEO 101: Link Development • Open Site Explorer
- 31. What About Local SEO?
- 33. SEO 101: Local SEO • Still need to focus on the on-site & off-site tactics you just saw • Additionally…. • Claim & verify local listings • Include NAP (name, address, phone) on site • Submit NAP to major data providers • Submit NAP to online directories • Use GetListed.org
- 34. Thank you! John McPhee @jwmcphee johnm@formicmedia.com 503.517.9059 x122
Editor's Notes
- Heavy focus on link metrics (top 2)Social metrics are becoming more and more important
- Everything starts with your websiteNeeds to have a search friendly content (must beindexable)Stay away from too many images, Flash, java when possible Use textUsing images, Java and Flash is OK, as long as you have enough text content for Google to understand what your site is about
- If you have questions about your current site, use a tool like SEO Browser to see what Google seesWe see a pretty website with some fun functionality to play withGoogle sees no text or links to understand what the site is aboutCheck out SEO-Browser.com to see how your site appears in Google’s eyes
- All links should be text, which means Google can crawl themGoogle will follow these links to find content on your siteIn this example, see how all of the pages are interlinking? This allows Google to crawl and index these pages
- Create an XML sitemap to upload directly to Google via Google Webmaster ToolsThere are a number of free XML generators out there
- So now your site is easily crawlable, what’s next?
- If you identify if the wrong keywords, you will:Attract the wrong audienceMost likely see a negative ROI in your SEO efforts
- Use Google’s Keyword ToolReview competition and monthly search metrics
- Use Google Suggest
- Use Google’s related searches
- There are a number of keyword research tools, paid and free, available
- These are the major page elements for incorporating keywords
- Title tags are considered one of the most important pieces of real estate on a pageTitle tags are generally not seen by non-savvy internet usersThey do appear in the search results, however, which makes them very important for SEO and marketing/messaging purposesEXAMPLE: this is of the Formic Media homepage, where we’re targeting Search Engine MarketingNotice how we use that phrase in our Title Tag, and it is appearing in the Google SERPs
- Meta Description tags don’t carry as much SEO clout as they used, but they are still important from a marketing/messaging perspectiveThe Meta Description tag is what appears underneath the title tag/headline in the SERPsMeta Description tags should include well written, compelling messaging A call to action is usually appropriate as wellEXAMPLE: Again, we are using our main keyword phrase (Search Engine Marketing) in this tag as well
- Each page should have one H1 tag, which is usually the main headline of the pageEXAMPLE: You’ll notice we’ve incorporated our main keyword (Search Engine Marketing) in the H1 tagThis is telling Google that this keyword is important for this page
- Since Google doesn’t read/see images very well, ALT tags are used insteadALT tags provide descriptive text about each image on a pageEXAMPLE: Teva is using the shoe name as the ALT tag for each image of their shoesALT tags, should be unique and be descriptive
- Other ideas:Competitive link analysisAsk customers/partnersSyndicate your content to social channelsUtilize industry-specific directoriesUtilize trusted general directoriesPress release optimizationCommunity involvement
- These tools provide great insight into who is linking to you, or your competitors