This document provides an overview of SEO and tips for a successful SEO strategy. It discusses that SEO involves optimizing websites for unpaid search results and can be divided into on-site and off-site factors. The goals of SEO are to drive more traffic, increase conversions, improve usability, and provide cost-effective marketing. An effective SEO process involves keyword research, content development, promotion, tracking user experience and site structure. Key ranking factors include site structure, quality content, link building, title and description, and URL structure. The document outlines five tips for SEO success.
3. What is SEO?
➜ Improving visibility of websites in search
engines via natural or unpaid (“organic”)
search results
➜ Can be divided into:
➜ On-site optimization / internal factors
➜ Off-site optimization / external factors
10. 2. Quality Content
➜ Original and adds value
➜ Engaging with a WOW factor
➜ Anticipate tasks and assist in
performing them
➜ Results in higher rankings, higher
conversion, & brand identity
11. 3. Link Building
Do Don’t
Earn links from highly
trusted domains
= =Obtain quantity over links
quality with too many
too fast
Create useful content that
others will want to link to Having similar and
through social media/blogs perfectly optimized anchor
text across many links
Create something viral
(quality links fast!) Links on worthless sites
Get links to pages deep in Focus on only a few pages
site as well as core pages
12. 4. Title &
Description
➜ Compelling and descriptive ➜ Important keywords at beginning
➜ Limit tag to 70 characters ➜ Unique title tag per page
➜ Large impact on click through rate ➜ Limit description to 150 characters
➜ Use convincing call to action
13. 5. URL Structure
➜ Helps search engines index pages
under target keywords
Good ➜ Place main keywords as close to
domain as possible
www.your travelsite.com/
Las-Vegas-Hotels ➜ When changing URL structure, set
up 301 redirects from prior URLs
to new
Not So Good
www.your travelsite.com/App/
PerformMDLPDealsContent?deal_i
=vegasvacation&cnt=PKH&type=em
SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic“) search results.SEO is a group of techniques that affect the on-site optimization (internal factors) and off-site optimization (external factors)
The number of internet users across the globe has now exceeded two billion (source: International Telecommunication Union (ITU))31 million people purchased goods or services online in the 12 months to August 2010 (source: ONS)93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (source: Forrester)The top ranking website has an average click-through rate of 37%, while 60% of the clicks go to the top three results. (source: Optify)
SEO GoalsMore trafficHigher conversionImproved usabilityA cost effective way to market your brand
SEO ProcessKeyword ResearchContent DevelopmentUser Experience & StructurePromotion – getting visitors and links to your website Tracking (then back to keyword research)
Every two years SEOMoz.org releases their Search Engine Factors. This is an estimate of the factors Google uses in their algorithm. It’s not meant to be perfect, but it’s considered to the best guide for what SEOs should be focusing on. Page and Domain Level link Metrics – page and domain authority, # of unique domains linking to it, anchor text of those links, and moreKeyword Usage: Includes the keyword being used first in the title tag, keyword usage on page, and exact .com match, and moreSocial Metrics: Facebook shares, activity, likes and twitter activityPage Level Traffic: CTR from Google to the page for the keyword and bounce rate
Having a proper site structure allows search engines to index your site properly and it will give the highest SEO authority to the most important pages on your site.A proper site structure helps your users as well as the search engine.What are your users looking for? Make those pages easily accessible from your homepage.I highly recommend conducting a test crawl of your site to make sure there are no crawl errors. Crawl errors can result in pages not being indexed properly. Also, submit a sitemap to Google to help your site indexed properly.
Quality content has always been essential when it comes to thinking about the user experience and increasing conversion. Now, after the Panda algorithm updates, if your site doesn’t offer quality content it can actually hurt your rankings and significantly reduce the traffic your site receives from Google.First, quality content needs to be original and it needs to add value.Second, it needs to be engaging with a wow factor. Make someone go “wow, this really helped me, I’m going to share it with everyone I know!”Third, your content needs to anticipate your customers needs and assist in solving them. If your target market are families on a budget, why not creating a landing page for family friendly hotels for your top destinations?If your content is exceptional, it can result in more traffic, increased conversions, and build value in your customers eyes.
Do – When done properly, link building will result in more traffic and higher rankings on the search engines.A quality link will bring you good traffic on it’s own, not simply exist with the expectation of improving your rankingsCreate useful content that others will want to link to and promote it trough social media, blog posts, etcCreate something viral – it’s a great way to get quality links fast! (How about creating an Infographic?)Get links to pages deep in your site as well as your core pagesDon’t - Link building is supposed to be a natural process. If it isn’t and it’s obvious, it could lead to a penalty which could severely impact your rankings.Quantity over quality and too many links too fastHaving similar and perfectly optimized anchor text across many linksLinks on worthless and unrelated sitesFocus on only a few pages
Title tags and descriptionsshould be compelling and colorful. Be sure to put the most important keywords at the beginning of the title tag and limit it to 70 characters. Also, each page should have a unique title and description. Even though the meta description tag has little to no impact on SEO it does have a huge impact on the click through rate on search results, it’s our weapon to convince users to come to our site. Use convincing call to action sentences rather than a list of keywords. Limit it to 150 characters.
URL StructureA proper URL structure helps the search engines index pages under the correct keywords. The main keywords being targeted by a page should be placed as close to the domain as possible within the URL.Good: www.yourtravelsite.com/Las-Vegas-HotelsBad: www.yourtravelsite.com/App/PerformMDLPDealsContent?deal_id=vegasvacation&cnt=PKH&type=em_htIf you change your URL structure, make sure to set up 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new.