SEO is not what it once was, but do you know why. This presentation will dive deeper into the history and current state of SEO, as this will allow us to better predict the future. This slide deck was created for @HubSpot's New Hampshire User Group (@HUGNH) presentation.

1. SEO PREDICTIONS IN 2013.

2. Sarah
Bedrick
@sbedrick
Inbound Marketing Professor,
HubSpot Academy Team
owns a craft beer blog for
girls.

3. #HUGNH

4. AGENDA.
1. Brief history of SEO
2. Why all the changes, Google?
3. Predictions for 2013
4. Key Takeaways
5. Q/A session

5. BRIEF HISTORY OF
1 SEO.

6. WHAT IS SEO,
ANYHOW?

7. SEARCH ENGINE
OPTIMIZATION =
SEO

9. PEOPLE KNEW IT WASN’T THE
LUCKY WHO RANKED.

10. THEY BEGAN TO STUDY THE
ALGORITHMS.

11. Ranking could be achieved
by tweaking a few things..

12. And found out
what worked. These used to
•
•
Meta keywords
Keyword density
improve ranking.
• Exact match domains
• Article directories
• Endless backlinking

13. And found out
what worked. These used to
•
•
Meta keywords
Keyword density
improve ranking.
• Exact match domains
• Article directories
• Endless backlinking
It was straight-up trickery.
We know this doesn’t add value.

14. SEO used to be a quick fix.
But, it was all wrong…

15. TIME TO SHIFT FOCUS:
SEOmoz: How to do SEO in 2013
[image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kattiev/2669503552/sizes/z/in/photostream/]

16. WHY ALL THESE SEO
2 CHANGES, GOOGLE?

17. The Internet is
the largest
source of data
we have ever
seen.

19. $250 billion dollar business

20. *
92 %
• Of online users first use
search engines to look for
services and products.
*HubSpot
#HUGNH

21. Google logs over 3 billion searches a day.
#HUGNH

22. *
75 %
• Of those users never scroll
past the first page of
search results.
* HubSpot
#HUGNH

24. What business will succeed, without delighting customers?

25. GOOGLE WANTS A
WORLD CLASS
EXPERIENCE
Think Disney.
Think Apple.
#HUGNH

26. HOW DO THEY DO THIS?
SHOW AWARD-
WINNING RESULTS

27. Google cannot
go this alone.
Their results are
only as good as the Internet is.

28. Google is helping many to
re-think SEO.

29. SEO is not a quick fix.

30. But, Google has
made it easier to do
correctly.

31. Google
Webmaster
Tools

32. Google’s
Website
Guidelines

33. Google
Webmaster
Central Blog

34. Panda & Penguin
Algorithm Updates

35. SEO PREDICTIONS
3 FOR 2013.

36. SEO PREDICTIONS
3 FOR 2013.
AKA WHAT YOU CAN DO
THIS YEAR TO IMPROVE
RANKINGS.

37. “Skate to
where the puck
is going, not
where it’s
been.”
-Wayne Gretzky

38. SEO will meet an
1 intersection of UX/UI.
#HUGNH

39. SEO will meet an
1 intersection of UI/UX.
(UI = User Interface, UX = User Experience)
#HUGNH

41. BUT-
WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN SOMEBODY
GETS HERE?

42. An SEO optimized site, but non-user
optimized is like getting tons of
people to a party – that has
no food, drinks or games…

43. Matt Cutts.
Head of Google’s
Search Quality Team
“Google is focused
on what’s good for
the user.”

44. SEARCH ENGINES DON’T
BUY YOUR SERVICES,
PEOPLE DO.
#HUGNH

45. If you haven’t thought
through, what you want
people to do, you’re...

46. WHAT’S THE
GOAL?

47. EXAMPLES
IN PRACTICE.

49. Website Page

50. BLOG POSTS

51. BLOG POSTS

52. A BAD EXAMPLE
IN PRACTICE.

53. Content Farm.

54. Content Farm.
• Convoluted page content
• Four ads above the fold
• Tons of intra-site linking
• Thin content

55. WHAT’S THE
GOAL?

56. Website metrics will
2 matter more than it ever
has before.
#HUGNH

57. DON’T MAKE
YOUR VISITORS
THINK.

58. Follow the
lavender principle.
Keep people on your
site longer and
reviewing more content.

59. Use Google
Analytics.
• On-site time
• Pages views per
visits
• Bounce rate

60. Google properties will
3 continue to grow in
importance.
#HUGNH

61. Is growing in importance…

62. AUTHOR RANK =
PAGE RANK
(BUT FOR GOOGLE+
USERS)

63. VERIFIED AUTHOR ACCOUNT:

64. YOUR PERSONAL
BRAND MATTERS.

65. Eric Schmidt.
Google’s Former CEO
“Within search
results, information tied to
verified online profiles will be
ranked higher than content
without such verification, which
will result in most users
naturally clicking on the top
(verified) results. The true cost
of remaining
anonymous, then, might be
irrelevance.”

66. Eric Schmidt.
Google’s Former CEO
“In the future, you can boost
your rankings by using Google
authorship, and as we've
reported before, Google+ has
been designed to be an identity
verification network. ”

67. “Publicly recommend this as Sarah Bedrick”

68. 4 Content is still king.
More helpful and thoughtful content, though.
#HUGNH

69. Site Content.
• Long (600+ words)
• Great formatting
• Good internal and external
linking with great anchor text
• Provide CTA or next logical
step

70. Site Content.
Great content
also satisfies
good UI/UX and
great website
metrics.

71. Page Titles, URLS &
Meta Description.
Make them
descriptive to
your content and
compelling.

72. 4 KEY TAKAWAYS AND
RESOURCES

73. KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Take advantage of Google’s transparency.
• Always do what is right for your end user.
• Create each page with a purpose – and make it clear.
• Make sure your website is fast.
• Invest in Google+ and in your brand for Google’s Author
Rank.

74. SEO SHOULD NOT BE EASY.
Plan & develop a good user
experience on your site, focus
on quality, and build your brand
in your niche.

75. RESOURCES
1. 17 SEO Myths You Should Leave Behind in 2013:
http://offers.hubspot.com/17-seo-myths-leave-behind-in-2013
2. How Google Changes its Search Algorithms for the Better [Video]:
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/23584/How-Google-Constantly-
Changes-its-Search-Algorithms-for-the-Better-Video.aspx
3. Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide:
http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.goog
le.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
4. Beginners Guide to Optimization: http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-
seo

76. THANK YOU!
Q&A TIME
REACH OUT ON TWITTER: