Learn the fundamentals of SEO as it relates in 2013.

1. SEO 101
The Fundamentals of SEO

2. About Learn SEO Houston
 Moderators with over 25 years combined experience in SEO/SEM
 SEO Software Strategist and Platform Developers
 Guest Speakers at various events such as SMX London, DFWSEM, and other
major expos.
 Prominently fueled by 5 Hour Energy shots and trail mix (true story).

3. What is SEO?
 The purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to produce more traffic to
a website by organically (not paid) improving the visibility of it in search
engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Traffic
Google Bing Yahoo Other
• 80% of search engine queries go
through Google
• 8.5% use Bing
• 9.5% use Yahoo
• 2% use other search engines

4. Why not just use paid advertising?
 87% of search engine users choose organic listings over ads.
 Paid Search Ads are getting more and more expensive.
 The synergistic effect between paid and organic listings can increase CTR by
up to 20%

6. How Search Engines Operate
 Crawling- The process by which Googlebot discovers new and updated pages
to be added to the Google index.
 Indexing- Googlebot processes each of the pages it crawls in order to compile
a massive index of all the words it sees and their location on each page. In
addition, it processes information included in key content tags and
attributes, such as Title tags and ALT attributes.
 Serving Results
 Relevancy is determined by over 200 factors.
 Pulls information from the index.
 Social signals and web mentions are becoming prominent factors in Google’s
ranking algorithm.

7. The Job of an SEOOrganic
SEO
Outreach
PR
SocialFollowing
Social

8. The Process
Great
Content
Social
Sharing
Outreach
Reputation
Management
PR Strategy

9. SEO Pyramid
Social
Link Building
Keyword Research and
Targeting
Quality Content and Accessibility

10. Ranking Factors
 Off Page SEO
 Backlinks
 Link Anchor Text
 Social Signals
 Web Mentions
 Citations*
 Authorship **
 On Page SEO
 Content
 Schema.org
 Interlinks
 Keywords
 User Experience (UX)
 Latent Semantic
Indexing
 Authorship **
Ranking Factors
On Page SEO Off Page SEO
Authorship is a developing concept, but all signs point toward
AuthorRank being implemented which will affect the rankings of
article based on the Author whom it was written by.

11. Keywords
 Keyword Research
 Google Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool (FREE)
 SEMrush (Paid)
 Wordstream (Paid)
 Analytics SEO (Free with paid options)
 Long Tail Keywords- Long Tail keywords are typically easier to rank and are
keyword phrases that contain three or more words.
 Low Hanging Fruit- Usually long tail keywords that produce a moderate to high
amount of traffic, but have low competition.
 Keyword Density- An important factor to consider when optimizing a page. It’s
important not to over optimize, but still include the keywords in the page.
 Latent Semantic Indexing- Latent semantic indexing allows a search engine to
determine what a page is about outside of specifically matching search query text.
A page about Apple computers will likely naturally have terms such as iMac or iPod
on it.

12. Important HTML to Know
 Title Tags- <title>This is the title of my website </title>
 Heading Tags <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6>
 Alt Tags- Within an image tag to provide relevancy to the image.
 Anchor tags (<a href=“http://www.learnseohouston.org” title=“SEO Classes
Houston”>
 Bold <b> ; italics <i> ; <strong> ;
 <meta name=“description” content=“This is a meta description. This will
show up in the search engine below the title.”>
<-Title
<-URL
Author
Meta Description

13. Proper Use of the Heading Hierarchy
 H1 Tags- Should only be used once on a single page to describe the main point
of the page or the article. It will be very similar to the content you place in
the title tag.
 H2 Tags- Each main section of the web page or the article.
 H3 Tags- Good for subcategorizing main sections of the site.
 Heading 4, 5, and 6- Rarely used but if more subcategories need to be
made, can be used to do so.

14. Technical SEO Factors
 XML Sitemap
 HTML Sitemap
 Canonicalization
 301 Redirect (Permanent)
 302 Redirect (Temporary)
 Robot.txt File
 Page Load Time
 Friendly URLS (http://www.learnseohouston.org/blog/live-seo-campaign/)
 Custom 404 Page

15. PageRank- The currency of the web
 Formula invented by Larry Page (CEO of Google)
 PageRank is passed to other pages through links.
 Way of gauging the authority of a page.
Generally speaking, if two pages were
equally optimized except for the PageRank
difference, the page with the higher PR
would rank higher.

16. PageRank- Not as important as it used to
be
Tests and results have been indication that
social factors are beginning to outweigh
backlinks.
Google weighs the virality of content by
taking into account the number of shares
and the velocity of which those shares
occur.

17. 8 Ways to Build a Strong Social Following
 Connect with authorities in your industry.
 Build relationships with bloggers, journalist, and other active social media
users in your industry/niche on Google +, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook.
 Publish quality content.
 Speak at events.
 Publish educational videos.
 Host webinars.
 Use Authorship.
 Be consistent.

18. Panda and Penguin
• Duplicate Content
• Low Quality Content
• Relevancy
• Hiding Text
• Backlink Spamming
• Link Schemes (link wheels)
• Link Relevancy
• Link Diversity

19. Tools
Keyword
Research
Backlink
Analysis
Broken Link
Checker
Page
Optimization
Full Platforms
• Wordstream
• Keyword
Discovery
• SEMrush
• Majestic
SEO
• Ahrefs
• Opensite
Explorer
• Screaming
Frog
• Xenu Link
Sleuth
• Check My
links
• BloomReach
• Lipperhey
• Analytics
SEO
(You really think
we’re going to
give away our
competitors? ;)
Free Competitive Auditing Tool: http://www.howgoodisyourseo.com

20. Shameless Self Promotion
 Integrated with SEMrush for in depth keyword research data.
 Integrated with MajesticSEO for superior backlink data – gain insight on
competitors.
 Completely white labeled solution.
 Automate reports and export them to Excel, Powerpoint, or PDF.
 Project management
 Link Building Tool that helps you save time on research.
 Track all Technical and On-Page SEO Factors
 It’s All in One Place.

21.  Save Time
 Be More Efficient
 Provide Better Service
 Get Better Data
 Infinite Scalability
Link Analysis
On-Page Analysis
Project Management
Competitive
Analysis
Technical
Analysis
Keyword
Research
http://www.analyticsseo.com