SEO can seem time-consuming, expensive or spammy. But your choices aren't "do it all," "spend a lot" or "do nothing." In this presentation, you will learn: --Why SEO is important for you to do --The difference between spam and SEO --What makes a website a great place for customers and search engines to go --Why keywords are important, how to find them and how to use them --Why links are important and how to attract them Originally presented at the Confluence Conference 2014 - www.confluenceconference.org. Edited for increased SlideShare clarity.

1. SEO Musts for the Non-
SEO
Ruth Burr Reedy
Confluence 2014
@ruthburr

2. Vegetables by Rick Ligthelm on Flickr
@ruthburr
Do I Have To?

3. 11,944,000,000 Google searches
per month
93% of online experiences begin
with a search engine
64% of web traffic comes
from organic search
Source: Digital Marketing Ramblings
@ruthburr

4. 33%
18%
11%
8%
6%
Source: Search Engine Watch
@ruthburr

5. Do You:
@ruthburr

6. Have a website?
@ruthburr

7. …that you want people to
come to?
@ruthburr

8. ..and give you money,
share/comment/follow
your content, or view and
click on ads?
@ruthburr

9. This is Not What We’re
Doing Here.
Baseball Field, Sprague, Washington by Curtis Cronn on Flickr
@ruthburr

10. You Need SEO.
@ruthburr

11. But Isn’t SEO…
SPAM by AJ Cann on Flickr @ruthburr

12. It’s Called Marketing.
Look it Up.
“Marketing is the process of
communicating the value of a product
or service to customers, for the
purpose of selling that product or
service.”
That’s from Wikipedia, y’all.
@ruthburr

13. It’s Called Marketing.
SEO is about figuring out how people
are searching for what you have, so
you can show them – and Google –
that you have what they want and
you’re the best place to get it.
That’s from me.
@ruthburr

14. Busy by Stefan on Flickr
@ruthburr
But I’m So Busy!

15. …and I Don’t Have Much
Jar Full o’Pennies by Jeffrey on Flickr
@ruthburr
Budget

16. If You’re Not Confused by Brian Talbot on Flickr
@ruthburr
…and SEO Seems
Confusing!

17. @ruthburr

18. Let’s Get Started.
@ruthburr

19. If You Do Nothing Else…
Please, Please Implement Tracking.
@ruthburr

20. How People Search
$
@ruthburr

21. Let’s Have a Party!
Having a Website is Like Inviting Everyone to a Party
…party animals @ruthburr by James Vaughan on Flickr

22. …Not Here.
No One Will Come, Including Google.
Condemned @ruthburr Houses by LHOON on Flickr

23. Clean Up Your House!
@ruthburr

24. A Website Should Be:
@ruthburr

25. Fast
http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt
@ruthburr

26. Responsive
Mobile Searches
with Local Intent
50%
Result in a
Purchase
61%
Source: Zero Gravity Marketing
@ruthburr

27. Well-Built
http://bit.ly/1fjdAVD
@ruthburr

28. Easy to Navigate
What Does This Site Do? How Do You Give Them Money?
@ruthburr

29. @ruthburr
Time to Decorate!

30. @ruthburr

31. @ruthburr
What Google Sees

32. “CashmereSweaters.com: Your
cashmere sweaters source for
online.” NO.
cashmere sweaters, cashmere sweater
accessories, buy cashmere sweaters
@ruthburr

33. “Chocolate cupcakes”
9900 monthly searches
“Mini cocoa cakes”
<10 monthly searches
@ruthburr

34. Keywords Are Important.
It doesn’t matter how you talk about
what you do. It matters how your
customers look for what you have, so
you can show them that you have it.
@ruthburr

35. Google Keyword Planner
https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
@ruthburr

36. Title tag: ~60
characters including
spaces
Description tag: ~150
characters including
spaces
@ruthburr

37. Description tag!
@ruthburr

38. Use Your Keywords
online.” NO.
“Chocolatecupcakes.com: Your
chocolate cupcakes source for
chocolate cupcakes, chocolate
cupcake, chocolate cupcake recipes
@ruthburr

39. Use Your Keywords
Just say what you were going to say,
using your keywords.
AND:
Let keyword research drive your
content strategy.
@ruthburr

40. Build Rich Content
Avoid Penalties and Connect with Users at Top of Funnel
@ruthburr Panda by George Yu on Flickr

41. Robot Spaceman Party Invitation by Nancy Dorsmer on Flickr
@ruthburr
Invite People Over

42. Why Links Are Important
@ruthburr

43. Quantity
20 People Saying I’m Good > Me Saying it
@ruthburr

44. Diversity
Unrelated People Saying I’m Good > My Friends and Family
@ruthburr

45. Authority
Barack Obama Saying I’m Good > Crazy Man Yelling Into a Bag
@ruthburr

46. DON’T BE SHADY.
@ruthburr

47. Who Are Your Friends?
By Which I Mean, Who Are Your Website’s Friends?
@ruthburr

48. The 15-Minute Social
Strategy
Replying Sharing
Talking
@ruthburr

49. Track Backlinks
@ruthburr majesticseo.com

50. Track Everything
@ruthburr

51. Some More Useful Tools
• http://www.google.com/analytics
• http://moz.com/products/pro
• http://raventools.com
• http://majesticseo.com
• http://semrush.com
• http://simplymeasured.com
@ruthburr

52. Questions?
@ruthburr