8. SEO Present Context
• “Is the art and the science of getting a website
to appear prominently in organic search
results when a search submits a query
relevant to that website.” (Lieb, 2009)
• How to get your site ranked at the top in
and others
9. SEO Present Context
• How to optimize / rank higher for keywords
like
– Web hosting services
– Computer backpacks
– Best hotels in Cebu
• Higher rankings = higher number of visitors =
higher chance for conversions = higher income
10. SEO Present Context
• SEO can be performed by web designers, web
developers, marketers, salespeople, writers
and even spammers
• The world of SEO is competitive but rewarding
– People either find your site or your competitors’
– Anyone can do SEO but the best one gets the top
– SEOs wear white hats, black hats or in between
11. • A score from 0 to 10 assigned by
on every webpage it has indexed that
establishes the credibility of that page
SEO Search Engine Algorithms
12. • Can you guess how it works?
SEO Search Engine Algorithms
13. SEO Search Engine Algorithms
• Google describes PageRank (PR) as
– It reflects the importance of web pages by considering
more than 500 million variables
– Important pages receive higher PR and more likely to
appear at the top of search results
– Each page casts a vote on another page by providing a
link to it
• Therefore, use links to pass on credibility and
establish PR and in turn influence rankings
14. SEO Search Engine Algorithms
Adobe
.com
10
UPV
.edu.ph
7
Multiply
.com
7
BabyDesertWolf.
blogspot.com
3
Wikipedia
.com
9
15. SEO Search Engine Algorithms
• If we put a link to
– http://babydesertwolf.blogspot.com/
• In this Wikipedia article with PR 7:
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloggers
• Is all the PR passed on? NO
16. SEO Search Engine Algorithms
• Think of PageRank as energy in the food chain:
• There’s a diminishing effect on each new level
17. SEO Search Engine Algorithms
• Some websites (like Wikipedia and Multiply)
don’t want to forward PR and adds this attribute:
– <a href=“http://babydesertwolf.blogspot.com/” rel=“nofollow”>
James Nogra’s Blog</a>
• They can’t vouch for your credibility or don’t
want to pass on the “link love” or “link juice”
• Link still counted by Google but with lesser value
than “rel=dofollow” links.
18. SEO Search Engine Algorithms
• A page with all these text:
James Nogra, James Arnold Nogra, Arnold Nogra, Kring2x Nogra, Kring
Nogra, Nogra Bloggers, Baby Desert Wolf, Baby Wolf, Baby Desert,
Desert Wolf Blog … and similar pages STUFFED with keywords
• Hundreds of dubious web pages linking to or
redirecting to one site:
ABlog.com – <a href=“BabyDesertWolf.blogspot.com”>Cebu Blogger</a>
Cebu-Log.com – <a href=“BabyDesertWolf.blogspot.com”>Nice Blog</a>
• Won’t be counted and may even cause your site
to be removed from search engines
19. SEO On-Site/Off-Site
• So what does it mean for your site (and your
SEO efforts)?
• You have to improve your code to standards
and optimized for the keywords you want
• You have to build links from reputable sites
20. SEO On-Site/Off-Site
• It’s that easy (or not…)
• This section discusses techniques provided in
– Google’s SEO Starter Guide
– The Truth About SEO by Rebecca Lieb
– Professional SEO with PHP by Sirovich & Darie
• And some things I’ve learned along the way
21. SEO On-Site Optimization
1. The title: The first line of any search result.
2. The snippet: A description or an excerpt from the webpage.
3. The URL: The webpage's address.
4. Cached link: A link to an earlier version of this page.
22. SEO On-Site Optimization
• The TITLE tag
– Create unique and accurate page titles
– Homepage title should be different from others
• Compare:
– <title>Luggage, Travel Accessories, Business Cases &
More - DiscountLuggage </title>
– <title>Luggage, Luggages, Suitcase, Suitcases, Bag, Bags,
Baggage, Baggages</title>
24. SEO On-Site Optimization
• The META tag
– Summarize the content of every page
– Provide a unique description for every page
• Compare:
– MacBook: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
• <meta name="Description" content="Meet the new MacBook Pro
family. Now precision engineering, advanced technology, and
innovation comes in three sizes: 13-, 15- and 17-inches.">
– MacBook Air: http://www.apple.com/macbookair/
• <meta name="Description" content=“Still the thinnest and lightest
Mac notebook, the new MacBook Air has a bigger hard drive, better
graphics, and even more power.">
26. SEO On-Site Optimization
• The A (Anchor) tag
– Write understandable text for links
– Format links to be human and bot-friendly
• Compare:
– <a href=“http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu”>Click here</a>
– <a href=“http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu”>Sunstar Cebu</a>
– <a href=“http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu”>Best Cebu Newspaper</a>
28. SEO On-Site Optimization
• The IMG (Image) tag
– Provide descriptive filenames for your pictures
– Use alt and title attributes to specify alternative
text to your images
• Compare:
– <img src=“IMG_4202.jpg”>
– <img src=“ComSci-Class-2010.jpg” alt=“UPVCC BSCS Class 2010”
title=“UPVCC Computer Science students having fun while waiting for
yearbook picture-taking”>
29. SEO On-Site Optimization
• Suggested Placement:
– <a href=“large/ComSci-Class-2010.jpg”><img
src=“thumb/ComSci-Class-2010-th.jpg” alt=“…”
title=“…”></a><p>Insert description here</p>
– Imagine how four years of college life just fly by. If destined
to be, we shall all be graduating in April 2010. Click on the
thumbnail to fully see how we long for that day.
30. SEO On-Site Optimization
• The H tags (H1, …, H6)
– Outline the content of your site based on importance
– <H1> makes text bigger than <H2> and so on.
• Compare:
– <font size=“24”><p>Advanced SEO</p></font>
<font size=“18”><p>Web Analytics</p></font>
<font size=“18”><p>Usability Testing</p></font>
– <h1>Advanced SEO</h1>
<h2>Analytics</h2>
<h2>Usability Testing</h2>
34. SEO On-Site Optimization
• Use words in URLs instead of having generic names
– Optimizing for cebu hotels:
• http://www.hotelclub.net/hotel.reservations/
Cebu.htm
– Definitely better than:
• http://www.hotelclub.net/folder1/folder2/page53.htm
35. SEO On-Site Optimization
• Create a SITEMAP or a
simple directory structure
• Avoid using
“…/dir1/dir2/dir3/dir4/…”
• Dir1
– Dir2
» Dir3
• Dir4
• Chances are bots &
spiders would ignore
pages buried too deep
in too many folders.
36. SEO On-Site Optimization
• A sitemap is a page
on the site listing all
the relevant web
pages (think: index)
• A Sitemap is an XML
file which provides
search engines with
standard URL listing
37. SEO On-Site Optimization
• Watch out for these:
– Flash (SWF) files – can’t be “parsed” by spiders
– Google wouldn’t know what they’re talking about
38. SEO On-Site Optimization
• Watch out for these:
– JavaScript output is read by not the code
– Spiders can’t also be asked to fill in forms or login
– Same holds true for AJAX
39. SEO On-Site Optimization
• Is there a shortcut? Yes and No.
• Try Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal or any other
Content Management System (CMS) out there
• The Shortcuts: Wordpress has plug-ins for SEO
• The Blockade: Takes time to learn CMS
40. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• First things first: Have a domain and a host!
• Submit your site to search engines
• Submit your site to directories, notably
– The Open Directory Project – http://www.dmoz.org/
– And hundreds more using DigiXmas software
41. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• Have the following ready:
– Mozilla Firefox
– Add-ons:
• Search Status
• SEOQuake
• Lazarus Form Recovery
• Xmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
• LastPass Password Manager
–Proxies & Anonymizers
43. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• Find BLOGS to comment on by
– Typing keywords site:domain in Google
• canon cameras site:blogspot.com
– Looking at Google Blog Search
• http://blogsearch.google.com/
– Using G-Lock Fast Blog Finder software
44. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• Ask or offer to exchange links between
related sites
• Submit URL to review sites such as
RateItAll.com and Ratings.Net
• Submit new content to social bookmarking
sites such as Digg.com, Faves.com, etc.
45. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• Submit unique content to article directories
and latest news to Press Release sites
• Try to leave URLs in
– Relevant Wikipedia articles
– Related Digg submissions
– Up-to-date Twitter posts
– Forum accounts and signatures
– Profile and resume sites
46. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• “Don’t be evil!”
– Don’t automate/clone blog comments
– Don’t spam blogs – leaving absurd comments
– Don’t create thousands of dummy sites linking to
yours in an instant
– Don’t buy links for the sake of having hundreds
of them
– Don’t try to fool Google with keyword stuffing,
whitespace spam and cloaking redirects
47. SEO Off-Site Optimization
• SEO is not the end-all-be-all of your web life
– Newer domains give way to older ones
– Rankings fluctuate - the Google Dance
– If you can’t beat competition, try paid advertising
– Rankings say something on SEO performance but
Web Analytics tell everything about conversions
48. SEO To Be Continued…
• Coming Up:
– Laboratory: On-Site Optimization
– Laboratory: Off-Site Optimization
– Best Practices and Worst Abuses
– Introduction to Web Analytics
49. SEO To Be Continued…
• Web References:
– Google Ranking Factors
• http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-ranking-
factors.htm
– SEO Autopsy: See Your Site Like Google Does
• http://www.rsspieces.com/seo-autopsy-see-your-site-like-a-search-
– Presentation Zen: Learning from Bill Gates & Steve Jobs
• http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/09/steve-bill-
redu.html
– Dante Lee Blog: Only 1.6 Billion People Use the Internet
• http://www.dantelee.com/2009/10/only-16-billion-people-use-
internet.html
50. SEO To Be Continued…
• Presenter: Rommel Paras
– SEO Specialist, RankPay.com
– Internet Services Assistant, Digital Pipelines
– The Computer Guy, John’s Fifth Avenue
• Web Engineering class of Mr. Alan Espritu
