Presentation originally given at the American Marketing Association's Marketing Edge Conference 2017. Whether you are a large brand or a local business, everyone is looking to get ahead of the competition, and a well-executed SEO strategy enables your brand to grow organically. This presentation explains what SEO is and the fundamentals of how to execute an SEO strategy. Key Takeaways include: Tracking your website and what metrics to pay attention to. How to conduct keyword research. Onsite SEO best practices. Why the speed of your website matters. Reviews and reputation management. Useful tools to help you succeed

2. Search Strategy
Fundamentals
& Application
Aaron Eaves
Director of Search Marketing,
Marketing Refresh

5. Today’s Topics
• Tracking your website
• Keyword research
• Onsite SEO best practices
• Website speed and why it matters
• Citation and Reputation management

6. Search Engine Result Page (SERP)

7. Organic Results (non-paid)

8. Paid Results (PPC)

9. Organic vs. Paid

10. Tracking Your Website

11. What’s Important to Track?
Some of my favorite metrics:
• Acquisition Review – Search, Direct, Referral, Paid
• Social Overview – which platform brings the most ROI
• Device – mobile vs desktop
• Top Landing Pages
• are they optimized for leads?
• is there a clear CTA?

12. Keyword Research

13. The Key to Keywords
• Get inside the head of your audience…
• …then make a list of search terms
• Sometimes what you are offering is not what people are
searching for. Connect those two things

14. Places to Find Keywords
• Google Analytics & Google Search Console
• Google Adwords & Bing Ads
• Drop-down search suggestions
• Google Keyword Planner (free)
• SEMrush (paid)
• Products and Brand terms

15. Drop-down Suggestions

18. Competitive Research

20. Onsite SEO
• SSL Certificate – http vs https
• Use Speaking URLs – include target keyword
• Optimize your page layout
• Outbound Links – 2 to 4 per page (when appropriate)
• Internal Links – use 2 to 3 per page
• Boost Site Speed
• Image Optimizations
• Clear CTAs

21. Speaking URLs
Make the URL read the way someone would search.
Include your keyword in the URL.
• https://www.marketingrefresh.com/blog/7-ways-to-
increase-your-website-traffic/
• https://www.marketingrefresh.com/blog/3-steps-to-
mastering-your-video-marketing/
• https://www.marketingrefresh.com/blog/keys-effective-
automotive-video-marketing/

22. Take A Peak Under The Hood

24. SEO That Page w/ Keyword(s)
• Page Title
• Content -
• Alt-Tags
• Meta-Description

25. Anatomy of a Blue Link
Page Title
Page URL
Meta Description

26. On-page Search Signals
Headings help search engines and the user grasp the
main topic of a page.
• H1 – usually the page title. Should only be one per page
• H2 – secondary in importance. Can have multiple per page
• ALT Tags – used in naming images
• Meta-Description – make it dynamic. Should not be longer
than 160 characters

27. Speed Kills

28. Site Speed Impacts Everything
• Visibility in search engines
• Cost per lead
• User engagement

29. Speed Literally Kills Your Site
• Slow websites kill conversion
• Amazon tested that they would lose $1.6 Billion every year
if their site slowed by just 1 second
• Website speed affects your ranking
• 40% of people abandon a website that takes longer than 3
seconds to load

30. Slower Than Slow

31. Faster & Better

32. So What Did The Speed Increase Do?
• Fully loaded time went from 28 seconds to 4 seconds
• The website is now useable on mobile
• Old site speed caused CPL of over $600
• New site speed lowered CLP to around $90
• Each lead represents $1k to upwards of $50k+

33. Citation & Reputation Management
If you do not manage your business listings…someone
else will 

34. The Yellow Pages of the Internet

36. NAP Consistency
• Name
• Address
• Phone
• Website
• Hours
• Etc…

37. But Why Though?
Inconsistent business listings will make it difficult for
search engines to know what info is correct.
• It gives you a leg up on the competition
• It puts you in the driver seat
• In todays digital landscape everything can either be an
advantage or a disadvantage

38. Useful Tools
• SEMrush
• Gtmetrix
• Yext
• Mozbar

39. Questions
aaron@marketingrefresh.com
@aaroneaves
www.marketingrefresh.com/free-website-audit