I explain how small businesses can use SEO (search engine optimization) to help their website get found online. Applying the core principles of SEO to your website can make the difference between attracting new customers to your business -- or not. Don't create a website without applying the best practices in SEO!!

1. INTRODUCTION TO SEO
A Primer for Small Businesses
Maria Verven, Verve P.R.

2. MARIA VERVEN
 Entrepreneur and owner
of Verve P.R. and Vaping
Vamps
 25 year career in
P.R., former V.P. of Piper
Jaffray, Fleishman-
Hillard
 Lecturer at the U of
MN, Teaches New Rules
of Marketing & SEO
classes
 Passionate about
helping small businesses
get found online

3. WHERE WOULD YOU HANG A
PICASSO?
Building a
website that’s
not optimized is
like hanging a
Picasso in your
basement

4. SEO DEMYSTIFIED
SEO = Optimizing websites
so they show up higher in
the organic search engine
results
It is not PPC (pay per click)
SEM (Search Engine
Marketing) includes both
SEO and PPCSEO = Search Engine Optimization

5. U.S. SEARCH ENGINE MARKET
SHARE

6. WHAT HAPPENED?
There’s been a massive shift from
traditional marketing to Internet or
inbound marketing

7. THE BIG PICTURE
634 million websites
51 million websites added last year
42 million blogs, 60% of businesses have a
blog
11 million publish using social networks

8. OLD SCHOOL MARKETING
Yellow Pages
Newspaper Advertising
Direct Mail
Telemarketing
INTERNET (INBOUND) MARKETING
SEO: Search-Optimized Website
PPC & Banner Ads
Social Media
Content Marketing, “New” P.R.

9. Because
it cuts
the sales
cycle in
half –
or less
WHY THE SHIFT?

10. WHAT HAPPENED IN JAN 2012?
Assessment.com Google Analytics

11. SEO: LIKE A BRICK HOUSE
The House = SEO on
every page
The Chimney = Your
content strategy
(blog, social
media, P.R., etc.)
The Smoke = Keyword-
rich content updates

12. ON-PAGE VS. OFF-PAGE SEO
On Page SEO:
1. Pick the best
keywords for each
page
2. Do everything right
so Google “gets” it

13. KEYWORDS
 Words describing the
product or service
you’re selling
 Keywords are a
string of 3 to 5 words
 The goal is for your
site to rank on your
keywords

14. Title Tag Meta DescriptionDomain
TYPICAL GOOGLE SEARCH

15. KEYWORDS MUST MATCH
Your
Keywords

16. HOW TO CHOOSE KEYWORDS
Use Keyword Tools
Analyze the Competition
 Type keywords into search engine while logged out
 Research backlinks to highly ranked sites
Use Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools
 See which pages are driving the most traffic

17. FINDING THE SWEET SPOT
 Keywords that
aren’t overly
competitive
Keywords with
good search
volume

18. USING KEYWORD CLUSTERS

19. THE DEAD GIVE-AWAY Title tag has
no keywords

20. KEYWORD CHART – Welchlin
Keyword Traffic Competition

21. HOW TO BUILD A WEBSITE
Build your website from the outside looking
in
Optimize every page for a different keyword
Content, content, content

22. WHERE TO USE KEYWORDS
Title and meta description (Meta tags)
Headings and content (On page)
Titles and descriptions for images and videos
Anchor text (text with a link to your website)
Internal and external links

23. META DESCRIPTION AND TITLE
Meta Title
 70 characters (about 8-12 words)
 Use keywords, avoid filler words (like your business name)
 Search engines read L to R. Include keywords first!
Meta Description
 160 characters
 Can be more promotional
Create unique meta tags for each page

24. QUALITY (ACCORDING TO GOOGLE)
Original content (250+ words)
Consistency and relevancy
Images and videos
Proper spelling, grammar, formatting
Links and social shares from high quality
sources

25. BEST PRACTICES FOR CONTENT
250 words per page
Limit keywords to1-2 per page
Content should make sense & flow naturally
OK to substitute relevant keywords (lawyer for
attorney) and variations (speaker/speaking)

26. IMAGE OPTIMIZATION
Use keywords in Alt text to describe photos
Good: wedding photographer in
Maple Grove.jpg
Bad: bride photo.jpg, bride with
bouquet.jpg

27. LOCAL SEO
Optimize location-based search results

28. LOCAL SEO
 Fill out all fields with photos &
descriptions (use keywords)
 Eliminate any duplicate listings
 Claim and verify your location
 Incent customers to leave
reviews
 Monitor reviews & respond to
negative comments

29. SEO FOR A LOCAL BUSINESS -
WEBSITE
Pick important location qualifiers
Repeat wherever it’s appropriate:
Page title tags and descriptions
Site content
Address in footer

30. TOOLS: #1 TOP FREE TOOL
Google's own keyword tool
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM30
https://adwords.google.com

31. TOOLS: #2 TOP FREE TOOL
Google Analytics
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM31
http://www.google.com/analytics/

32. TOOLS: #3 TOP FREE TOOL
Google Webmaster Tools
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM32
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools
Bing Webmaster Tools
http://www.bing.com/toolbox.webmaster

33. TOOLS: #4 FREE TOP TOOL
KeywordSpy
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM33
http://www.keywordspy.com/

34. TOOLS: #5 TOP FREE TOOL
SEOBook's FireFox Rank Checker
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM34
http://tools.seobook.com/

35. TOOLS: #6 TOP FREE TOOL
XML-Sitemaps.com Sitemap Generator
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM35
http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

36. TOOLS: #8 FAVORITE PAID TOOL
Market Samurai
 Keyword Research, SEO Intelligence, Rank
Tracking
© 2009, WWW.EG3.COM36

37. OFF-PAGE SEO TIPS
Build links by creating quality content
Update content frequently
Do NOT invest in link-building schemes
Social search (intersection of social media
and SEO) is increasingly important
Usability of your site is also increasingly
important
 High bounce rate and low engagement are red flags

38. SEO FOR PR
Good P.R. is worth tons of link-building
efforts
Optimize the title, lead and 1st 250 words
Free pitch services: PRWeb, Pitch Engine
Use neighborhood media (Patch.com, etc.)
“Deep link” to inside pages

39. SOCIAL MEDIA

40. FINAL TIPS
SEO = part art, part science. Your web developer
may know the science but not the art of content.
SEO = an ongoing strategy. Ranking can take
months, so be patient.
SEO = part analytics. Look at your web stat’s to see
which pages are getting the most traffic.

41. KEEP IN TOUCH!
Maria Verven
VERVE
www.VervePR.com
mverven@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/mariaverven