1. Search Engine Optimization:
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Understanding the Engines & Building Successful Sites
Rand Fishkin – August 2010

2. Content in this Presentation
• The Search Landscape
• How Search Engines Work
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• Building Accessible Sites
• Conducting Keyword Research
• Link Building Strategies
• Social Media & the Web’s Influencers

3. The Search Marketing Landscape
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4. 100 Billion Searches
Each Month!
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7. Organic vs. Paid Search
Paid
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Organic

8. Organic vs. Paid Search
10% of Clicks
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90% of Clicks

9. Click-Through Rates
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10. Vertical Search
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11. Local Results
Completely different ranking
algorithm than standard
search results
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Probably doesn’t get traffic
like most “#1” results

12. Image Results
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13. Video Results
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14. News & Blog Results
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15. Shopping Results
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16. Instant Answers
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17. Instant Answers
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18. Instant Answers
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19. News Results
Instant Answers
Real Time Results
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Local Results
Image Results

20. This Presentation Focuses on:
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21. How Search Engines Work
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22. Crawling & Indexing
Without links, the
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engines might
never find this page

23. Calculating Query-Independent Metrics
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Via www.opensiteexplorer.org

24. Many Domains vs. One Domain
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VS.

25. Domain Authority
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26. PageRank
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27. The Flow of PageRank
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28. PageRank is Split Evenly Between the
Links on a Page
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29. PageRank is an Iterative Algorithm
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30. Technically, Every External Link
“Leaks” PageRank
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31. Nofollowing or Removing Links Can
Alter the Flow of PageRank
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32. Or, at least it used to...
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www.seomoz.org/blog/google-says-yes-you-can-still-sculpt-pagerank-no-you-cant-do-it-with-nofollow

33. Google Says they use PageRank to Crawl
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35. Algorithmic Ranking Factors
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36. Query Deserves Freshness (QDF)
QDF
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Normal Results
QDF

37. Query Deserves Diversity (QDD)
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38. Algorithmic Ranking Factors
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39. Building Accessible Sites
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40. Crawlability / Link Architecture
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41. Duplicate Content & Canonicalization
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42. Duplicate Content & Canonicalization
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43. Canonical URL Tag
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44. 301 Redirects
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302s

45. Duplicate Titles & Meta Descriptions
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46. Search Friendly URLs
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/african-elephants
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Keywords in page name,
Single domain separated by hyphen
Shallow folder structure
with relevant words

47. Search UN-Friendly URLs
Xyz3.nationalgeographic.com/a/?q=31z&mg=vv7z&sd=8
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No keywords in the URL string
Unnecessary
Subdomain Dynamic URLs don’t perform as well
as static and engines recommend
against more than two parameters

48. Fixing Broken Links & 404s
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49. Blocking Robots
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50. Blocking Robots
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51. XML Sitemaps
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www.sitemaps.org/protocol.php

52. Webmaster Tools (Google)
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53. Webmaster Tools (Bing)
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54. Search Engine Guidelines
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www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769

55. Important Tags & Signals
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56. Title Tags
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57. Meta Descriptions
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58. Tag Length Recommendations
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59. Anchor Text
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60. Page Copy
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61. Image Alt Attributes
Good keyword
usage in the alt tag
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62. Not So Important
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63. Meta Keywords Tag
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64. H1, H2, H(x) Tags
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65. Search Engine “Submission”
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66. Keyword Research + Targeting
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67. The Goals of Keyword Research
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68. Determine Relative Volume Levels
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69. Identify High Value Keywords
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70. Predict the Effort Required to Rank Well
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71. Choose the “Best”
Words/Phrases to Target
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72. The Keyword Demand Landscape
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73. The Long Tail of Keyword Demand
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78. Tools & Tactics for Brainstorming
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& Refining Your Seed List

79. Salespeople & Customers
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80. Google AdWords Tool
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Be Wary of
Match Type
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

81. MS AdCenter Excel Plug-In
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www.seomoz.org/blog/using-the-adcenter-excel-plugin-for-keyphrase-research

82. Google Trends
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Sign In for Y-Axis Numbers
Not Very Accurate

83. Internal Site Search Stats
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84. Competitive Keyword Research
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Restrict query
to competitor’s
domain

85. The Keyword Research Process
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86. Start with Your Seed List
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87. Create Spreadsheet w/ these Columns
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88. Get Google Search Demand Numbers
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89. Guesstimate Conversion Rate Numbers
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90. Or Use PPC Campaign Data
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91. Add Keyword Difficulty Data for Top Terms
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We like using a weighted average of
the Page Authority metric

92. Target High Volume, High Value,
Low Difficulty Terms First
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93. Measuring Keyword
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Difficulty & Competition

94. Run Queries for Desired Term + Engine
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Watch for vertical
results, which can skew
CTRs & visibility

95. Conduct a Competitive Analysis of Metrics
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96. Tools Can Help Provide Scores
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97. Tools Can Help Provide Scores
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www.seomoz.org/mozbar

98. Link Building Strategies
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99. What Goals Can Link Building
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Help Us Achieve?

100. Bolster Individual Rankings
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101. Improve a Domain’s Ability to Rank Pages
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102. Achieve More Complete Indexation
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103. Drive Traffic & Branding Awareness
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104. Send Converting Traffic
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Image Credit: websiteoptimization.com

105. The 8 Basic Kinds of Link Building
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106. #1 - Manual Link Submissions/Requests
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107. #2 - Competitive Link Research/Acquisition
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108. #3 - Links via Embedded Content
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109. #4 - Linkbait & Viral Campaigns
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110. #5 - Content, Technology & API Licensing
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111. #6 - Partnerships, Exchanges & Trades
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112. #7 - Paid Links
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113. #8 - Link Reclamation
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114. Matching the Right Link Building Strategies
to Your Organization’s SEO Goals
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115. Links for Individual Rankings
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116. Links for Domain “Authority”
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117. Links for Indexation
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118. Links for Traffic & Branding
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119. Links for Conversion
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120. Using Tools & Processes to Ease the
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Challenges of Link Building

121. Tools for Competitive Link Research
• Yahoo! Site Explorer & Link Commands
• Open Site Explorer
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• Top Pages
• Google Blog Search

122. Yahoo! Site Explorer
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Directionally indicative
within ~50%
Not necessarily followed & in
a somewhat random order

123. Yahoo! Link Commands
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Less “accurate” than
Site Explorer
Lots of cool, useful modifiers
available

124. Yahoo! Link Commands
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Full list available in PRO Guide to Advanced Search Operators:
www.seomoz.org/article/the-professionals-guide-to-advanced-search-operators

125. Open Site Explorer
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126. Open Site Explorer
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Highly Correlation w/ Rankings
Data updates monthly from the
Linkscape web index (approx. 60% the
size of Yahoo!/Google/Bing)

127. Open Site Explorer
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Poor Anchor Text Spells Opportunity

128. Link Intersect
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Link Intersect uses the same principle – sites
w/ links in common that don’t point to you.

129. Top Pages
Find which pages are
earning links (your
own & competitors)
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404s? Reclaim them!

130. Metrics for Evaluating a Link’s Value
• Numeric (Objective) Metrics
• Subjective Metrics
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• Attainability and Effort

131. Numeric Metrics for Link Valuation
• # of Linking Root Domains to URL
• # of Linking Root Domains to Domain
• Homepage PageRank vs. Domain mozRank
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• URL PageRank vs. URL mozRank
• # of Links to the Page (Yahoo!, GG Blogsearch, Linkscape)
• Twitter mentions (Backtweets.com)

132. Numeric Metrics (Backtweets)
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(in a weird location)

133. Subjective Metrics for Link Valuation
• Brand name reach/recognition
• Quality of other links on page/site (Bing - Linkfromdomain)
• Attainability and Effort
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Jumping through Hoops (via WKA on Flickr)

134. Scalable Link Acquisition Processes
• Written Process + Checklist
• Tools + Metrics for Quick Analysis
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• Training & Incenting Link Builders
• Building & Refining a Link Acquisition Funnel

135. Written Process/Checklist
• Run through the link building process yourself
• Document every step thoroughly
• Pass it on to others (w/ some training time)
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Checklist (via adesigna on Flickr)

136. Tools for Quick Analysis
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Get usable metrics
quickly as you surf

137. Tools for Quick Analysis
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138. Training & Incenting Link Builders
• Do link building together
• Create consistent metrics
• Reward like a sales team
• Record reasons why links
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didn’t happen (like objections
to sales) and work on these
(things like design quality,
affiliations, language, etc. will
come up)
Training Camp (via Gil Searcy on Flickr)

139. Building a Link Acquisition Funnel
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Grab Link Code
Link to the Site

140. Social Media & the Web’s Influencers
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141. Influencers on the Web
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142. The Power of the “Linkerati”
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143. Content that Appeals to Influencers
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144. Making Content Easy to Share
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145. Making Content Easy to Share
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146. Incenting/Rewarding Link Behaviors
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147. Cannibalization of the Link Graph
MMM… LINK
GRAPHS ARE
DELICIOUS!
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148. The Rise of the Social Graph
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149. You have to do these
right, before you can
Algorithmic Ranking Factors
do these right
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150. Learn More w/ the Free Beginner’s Guide:
http://guides.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-search-engine-optimization
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For more information, visit us at www.seomoz.org
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