Search engine optimization - SEO is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to your web site from search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. via "organic" or un-paid search results.
2. Agenda What is a Search Engine? Examples of popular Search Engines How Do Search Engines Work? Search Engines statistics Why is Search Engine marketing important? What is SEO Industry Research White hat versus black hat What is a SEO Algorithm? SEO Process Technical aspects of SEO Steps to developing a good SEO strategy Ranking factors Social Media - MySpace Optimization PPC vs. Organic Basic tips for optimization Measuring SEO success SEO Tools
3. What is a Search Engine? Definition: An internet-based tool that searches an index of documents for a particular term, phrase or text specified by the user. Commonly used to refer to large web-based search engines that search through billions of pages on the internet. Different than a Directory Common Characteristics: Spider, Indexer, Database, Algorithm Find matching documents and display them according to relevance Frequent updates to documents searched and ranking algorithm Strive to produce “better”, more relevant results than competitors
5. How Do Search Engines Work? Spider “crawls” the web to find new documents (web pages, other documents) typically by following hyperlinks from websites already in their database Search engines indexes the content (text, code) in these documents by adding it to their databases and then periodically updates this content Search engines search their own databases when a user enters in a search to find related documents (not searching web pages in real-time) Search engines rank the resulting documents using an algorithm (mathematical formula) by assigning various weights and ranking factors
7. Why is Search Engine Marketing important? 85% of all traffic on the internet is referred to by search engines 90% of all users don’t look past the first 30 results (most only view top 10) Search engine traffic is low and websites aren’t indexed because they are generally poorly optimized Cost-effective advertising Clear and measurable ROI Operates under this assumption: More (relevant) traffic + Good Conversions Rate = More Sales/Leads
8. What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? Refers to the process of “optimizing” both the on-page and off-page ranking factors in order to achieve high search engine rankings for targeted search terms. Refers to the “industry” that has been created regarding using keyword searching a means of increasing relevant traffic to a website Internal Link Structure Link Popularity / Relevance Key Factors Crawl ability / Optimized Code Content Relevance
9. On-page & Off-page ranking factors Effective On-page SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems, images, videos, shopping carts, and other elements that have been optimized for the purpose of search engine exposure. Off-page optimization are strategies for search engine optimization that are done off the pages of a website to maximize its performance in the search engines for target keywords related to the page content. Examples of off-page optimization include linking, and placing keywords within link anchor text. Methods of obtaining links can also be considered off-page optimization. These include: Press releases Article distribution Social networking via sites like MySpace, Digg, Twitter, Facebook, Orkut, Slashdot etc Link campaigns, such as asking complementary businesses to provide links Directory listings Link exchanges Three-way linking One-way linking Blogging Forum posting Multi way linking Internet Marketing
10. What is Organic & Non-Organic Search? Organic search results are listings on search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms, as opposed to their being advertisements. In contrast, non-organic search results may include pay per click advertising. Non-Organic/Paid Search/Pay Per Click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system.
11. Pay Per Click Pay Per Click Where are the Organic/Non-Organic Results? Organic
12. Industry Research – Who gets the clicks? Organic Clicks vs. Paid Clicks The vast majority of clicks -- roughly 60 percent, go to organic listings.
13. Industry Research: Organic SEO is the most popular form of SEM Organic SEO is the most popular form of SEM, with almost three-quarters of advertisers using this method, with paid placement a very close second at 71%
17. Many people don’t go past the 1st page in the Search results.
18. Users trust the Natural results to be more relevant to their Search query.*Sources: Iprospect Research, eMarketer
19. White hat versus black hat A SEO tactic, technique or method is considered white hat if it conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deception. White hat advice is generally summed up as creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to game the algorithm. White hat SEO is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility, although the two are not identical. Black hat SEO attempts to improve rankings in ways that are disapproved of by the search engines, or involve deception. One black hat technique uses text that is hidden, either as text colored similar to the background, in an invisible div, or positioned off screen. Another method gives a different page depending on whether the page is being requested by a human visitor or a search engine, a technique known as cloaking. Search engines may penalize sites they discover using black hat methods, either by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from their databases altogether. Such penalties can be applied either automatically by the search engines' algorithms, or by a manual site review.
20. What is a SEO Algorithm? Top Secret! Only select employees of a search engines company know for certain Reverse engineering, research and experiments gives SEOs (search engine optimization professionals) a “pretty good” idea of the major factors and approximate weight assignments The SEO algorithm is constantly changed, tweaked & updated Websites and documents being searched are also constantly changing Varies by Search Engine – some give more weight to on-page factors, some to link popularity
21. SEO Process Step 1: Discuss Business objectives. Step 2: Conduct initial keyword analysis. Step 3: Identify the keyword/landing page combinations. Step 4: Interim Client Approval for Keyword/Landing Pages. Step 5: Baseline Ranking & Traffic reports. Step 6: On-site & Off-site optimization. Step 7: Detailed Recommendation documents. Step 8: Implementation. Step 9: Monitoring and Optimizing: We provide monthly reporting and optimization recommendations. The reporting is compared to the baseline (or previous month’s results) to identify trends and help guide additional adjustments.
22. Technical SEO Comprehensive Website Analysis Keyword Research and Analysis. Baseline Ranking report. Competitive analysis in Search Engines. Content Analysis & SEO Copywriting. Analysis of URL structure & information architecture. Analysis of internal linking. Analysis of source code and page layout. Code validation. Search Engine Saturation. Link Popularity Analysis. Link Relevancy & Co-Citation Analysis (Topical Relevancy).
23. Steps to developing a good SEO strategy: Research desirable keywords and search phrases (Word Tracker, Overture, Google AdWords) Identify search phrases to target (should be relevant to business/market, obtainable and profitable) “Clean” and optimize a website’s HTML code for appropriate keyword density, title tag optimization, internal linking structure, headings and subheadings, etc. Help in writing copy to appeal to both search engines and actual website visitors Study competitors (competing websites) and search engines Implement a quality link building campaign Add Quality content Constant monitoring of rankings for targeted search terms
24. Ranking factors On-Page Factors (Code & Content) Title tags <title> #3 Header tags <h1> #5 ALT image tags #4 Content is KING (Body text) <body> #1 Hyperlink text #6 Keyword frequency & density #2 Off-Page Factors Link Popularity (“votes” for your site) – adds credibility #2 Anchor text #1
25. Technical SEO - Example of Page Elements On-Site Optimization Page Title Alt-Tags Anchor Text Navigation ryzeup.cominternet marketing
26. Technical SEO - Source Code Title Tag Meta data Javascript ryzeup.cominternet marketing
28. Social Media Marketing and Optimization Getting more targeted friends (sort by demographic criteria). Leaving “friends” comments. Profile Customization. Sending Bulletins. Sending mass private messages (with banner ad). Writing keyword-rich content with outbound links containing keyword-rich anchor text. Getting inbound links from websites not on the MySpace domain.
35. Basic Tips & Optimization Techniques Research keywords related to your business Identify competitors, utilize benchmarking techniques and identify level of competition Utilize descriptive title tags for each page Ensure that your text is HTML-text and not image text Use text links when ever possible Use appropriate keywords in your content and internal hyperlinks (don’t overdo!) Obtain inbound links from related websites Monitor your search engine rankings and more importantly your website traffic statistics and sales/leads produced Educate yourself about search engine marketing
36. Measuring SEO success Keyword Ranking. Website Traffic. Increase in "Share of Traffic" per keyword. Increased Revenue/keyword. Increase in Impressions ( good for Publishers to show advertisers). Lower dependence on Paid Search. Lowering the cost per acquisition.
37. SEO Toolbox “The tool is only as good as the people that use it.”