Slides from the London Bloggers Meetup on Search Engine Optimisations. This SEO talk featured speakers: Charlotte Gunnell, SEO Manager for the Metro, Judith Lewis from SEO Chicks and also available at decabbit and Yiannis Pelekanos from marketing and search agency Klaxon. Focusing on the key ways you can improve your blog or website to make it more friendly for search engines in 2014.

1. Ranking in search from the
perspective of the engines.
Yiannis Pelekanos
Marketing Technologist
Klaxon

2. 95% of Google revenue comes from adverts.
Or about $50 billon.

3. 1. Speed
2. User experience
3. Authority and Trust

4. Speed Speed

5. 5
User Experience

6. 6
Authority S&p eTerudst

7. @yiannipelekanos
www.klaxonmarketing.co.uk
yiannispelekanos@klaxonmarketing.co.uk

8. You can also read our blog for more ideas
and advice on seo
www.klaxonmarketing.co.uk/our-blog

9. Charlotte Gunnell
SEO Manager at Metro.co.uk
@cavatica_copy
www.cavatica.co.uk

10. Three things to start with:
● Links for SEO aren’t dead.
● Guest blogging is not dead.
● Social shares do not count towards Google rank.
(We want these for exposure - not for ranking)
There is no magic secret - sorry :(
@cavatica_copy

11. Links do help ranking, but...
● Never do guest posting just to get links.
● Do it for exposure and contacts instead.
● Proportions - the more people you reach, the more
chance you have of getting links.
● Think long-term (and enjoy yourself).
@cavatica_copy

12. ‘The objective is not to “make your links
appear natural”; the objective is that
your links are natural.’
Matt Cutts,
Head of Google’s Webspam team
@cavatica_copy

13. How to ‘do’ SEO in 2014:
Everything comes from your obsession.
1. Always having something to say
(= more content = authority = ranking)
@cavatica_copy

14. How to ‘do’ SEO in 2014:
Everything comes from your obsession.
2. Conversation
(= comments)
@cavatica_copy

15. How to ‘do’ SEO in 2014:
Everything comes from your obsession.
3. Community/engagement
(= shares)
@cavatica_copy

16. How to ‘do’ SEO in 2014:
Everything comes from your obsession.
4. Contacts/following
(= guest posts)
@cavatica_copy

17. How to ‘do’ SEO in 2014:
Everything comes from your obsession.
5. Exposure/brand-building
(= links)
@cavatica_copy

18. How to impress bigger blogs:
● File copy while subject is still newsworthy.
● Write fantastic headlines - attract the editor’s attention.
● Being interesting is only 40% of the work.
● Be polite – don’t forget people are busy.
● Roll with the punches and you’ll be hired again.
● Don’t be afraid to go into detail.
@cavatica_copy

19. Where to get ideas and keywords from:
● Social (questions/conversations)
● Topsy.com
● Keywordtool.io
● Bigger sites - news and other people’s opinions
Never settle - take it one step further.
@cavatica_copy

20. Useful SEO blogs:
● Moz.com
● Search Engine Roundtable
● Search Engine Land
● Kate Toon’s copywriting blog
@cavatica_copy

21. Thanks for listening!
@cavatica_copy

22. Core SEO Element s & Wordpres s Plugins To Use
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate

23. am I WhoObligatory slide !
Judith Lewis
Digital Consultant
➡ Got on the Internet in 1986 at my school lab
➡ Working online with search since 1996
➡ Paid & Natural Search plus social media
➡ Worked in-house within e-Commerce, Publishing & High Tech
➡ Have worked with Google (SEO for product sites), Orange, COI,
NatWest/RBS, National Gallery, CIPD, Fidelity, GalaCoral, NBC Universal,
Readers Digest, Bayer, Virgin.com, Family Search, Amadeus, AMD, AmEx ,
TotalJobs & more
➡ Chosen as a founding Modern Muse, contributed to “Pimp My Site”, judge of
the UK & European Search Awards, one of the SEO Chicks, blog on
Huffington Post & run MostlyAboutChocolate.com
➡ Teach the Econsultancy courses on Paid Search & Advances On-Page SEO
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

24. Natural search – SEO factors
 Around 200 factors contribute to the ranking of a
webpage or a website.
 These 200 factors can be broadly categorised as:
Architecture Content Popularity/Links
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

25. Ranking Factors
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

26. Developments in on-page SEO
Traditional techniques still best
Keyword research & mapping – know who you are writing
for & what they are looking for
Computer-friendly on and off-page assets to help search
engines rank you over spam
Lower importance on title tag but it is why people will
choose to read your blog
Myth of optimal density - as long as you have mentioned
a keyword you could rank for it
Site architecture & load time will helP you beat the
spammers & other bloggers
Fresh & unique content boost
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

27. Developments in off-page SEO
Increasing importance of social footprint – Don’t ignore
Facebook!
Continued importance of links
Link profile changes
Focus on natural
Brand links = brand boost = Getting rid of SPAMMERS!
Bad link penalty so play it safe & don’t sell links
Link schemes, link farms, link networks – just say NO!
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

28. Hummingbird
“Hummingbird — Google says — is a new engine built on both
existing and new parts”
Whole new engine to the search car
Maintains Penguin, Panda, Caffeine, et al
Conversational Search
Semantic relevancy
Even faster results
At same time as (not provided) results
increased but not part of algorithm
http://kathycatworld.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/oh-my-lifehummingbirds.html
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

29. Panda
“designed to reduce rankings for low quality sites”
Originally not algorithmic
Content-based
Original content
Updated regularly
Substantial
No cheating or shortcuts
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs17/f/2007/210/f/8/Dead_Panda_by_Nocty.jpg
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

30. Penguin
“designed to punish pages that have been spamming
Google”
Links devalued
Removed huge numbers of spammy link farms,
article syndication sites and related poor quality
link sites
Algorithmic update
Keyword stuffing - don’t
Link schemes - don’t
Cloaking, “sneaky” redirects
or ‘doorway” pages - don’t
Purposeful duplicate content - also Panda issue
http://www.zastavki.com/pictures/1920x1200/2012/Creative_Wallpaper_Happy_Penguin_035134_.jpg
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

31. Wordpress
Plugins & Tips
Stuff I use & you might want
to as well
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate

32. Yoast.com
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

33. Yoast’s SEO Plugin
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

34. © Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

35. © Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

36. © Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

37. © Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

38. Copy Protection
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

39. The Ultimate Hacker Prevention Guide
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/the-ultimate-hacker-prevention-guide.html
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

40. You Can Stalk Me Online
Twitter: @JudithLewis
@MostlyAboutChoc
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/judithlewis
Google+: https://plus.google.com/117564004595435401158/
Web: http://www.decabbit.com
Blog: http://MostlyAboutChocolate.com
SEO Blog: http://www.SEO-Chicks.com
HuffPost: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/judith-lewis
...and the list goes on

41. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
decabbit@gmail.com 41
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate

42. How PageRank Works... Sort of
(the math is wrong in this example but is used for simplicity)
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis

43. How Links Work
Every link has a value
The bigger the circle, the more
value/authority the page has
The arrows are links
The more links leading out from a
page, the less value they pass on
Blogroll links are not good
© Copyright 2014 Judith Lewis & DeCabbit Consultancy. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate
@MostlyAboutChoc
@JudithLewis