Learn to separate the signals from the noise when it comes to search engine marketing in this exciting presentation on SEO basics, brought to you by Website Magazine!

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SEO in 2014
Fact, Fiction and Sensationalism
Kaila Strong, Sr. Director SEO Services
VerticalMeasures.com |

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About Your Speaker
• VerticalMeasures.com
• Phoenix, AZ
• Search, Social & Content
Marketing Agency
• 5+ years at VM
• Clients like Act On, Fortune 500
& SMBs
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Animal Updates
VerticalMeasures.com |
Via techlila.com

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SEO Evolved
VerticalMeasures.com |
Via gShiftlabs.com

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Measurement Changed
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Less About Keywords
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Search in 2014
VerticalMeasures.com |
Old strategies & KPIs
simply aren’t effective
any longer…

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Redefine Search KPIs
VerticalMeasures.com |

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SEO KPIs
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Define SEO KPIs
• Visits & Unique Visitors
• Conversion Rate
• Per visit value
• Time on Site
• % of New Visitors
• Low Bounce Rate
• Just to name a few….

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SEO in 2014
Algorithm Updates
• Promote better content
• Aimed to fight spam of all kind
• Rise of mobile and voice search
spike
VerticalMeasures.com |

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SEO in 2014
Knowledge Graph & Structured Data
Collection of information Google will show within the
search results itself, to enhance usability. Structured data
is a uniform way to share information a search engine may
use, not necessarily for the knowledge graph.
• Google Maps
• Carousel
• Images
• SERPs
VerticalMeasures.com |

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SEO in 2014
Encrypted Search
• Google default encrypted search for logged in users ’11
• Globally in 2014, Chinese users already
• Effort to improve information security in light of
government surveillance last year
• Encourage adoption of stronger security standards
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Search in 2014
VerticalMeasures.com |

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+ Affected
Walmart, JcPenney, AirBnB – steady growth
Why?
• Content, content, content
• On page focus
• Quality > Quantity
VerticalMeasures.com |

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+ Affected
VerticalMeasures.com |
Via semrush.com

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- Affected
CheapOAir.com
• Cheap flights, cheap tickets, airline tickets
• Suspicious backlinks and unnatural profile
• Search visitors reduced est. 500,000 visits/mo
• Recovered in about 90 days
VerticalMeasures.com |

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- Affected
MyBlogGuest.com
• Guest blogging site deindexed
• Google deemed links suspicious
• Not recovered
• Recommends adding nofollow to all guest blog links
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Overreactions
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Abandon Disavow ALL Denial Partial Acceptance
To every action there is always
opposed an equal reaction.
–Isaac Newton

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Common SEO Myths
#1 Online marketing activities aren’t risky.
• Know your risks
• Invest in the right professionals
• Regularly audit
• Measure & test
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Common SEO Myths
#2 You can’t get out of a Google penalty.
• You can do it!
• May take several attempts
• Machete vs. scalpel approach
• Automated vs. Manual
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Common SEO Myths
#3 Guest blogging doesn’t work any more.
• Bad guest blogging is dead
• Valuable content wins every day
• Guest blogging-only sites affected
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Common SEO Myths
#4 SEO is too expensive and time consuming.
• Brand is important
• Being able to buy your way to the top is gone
• Good SEO should be indistinguishable from good
marketing
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Common SEO Myths
#5 Build it and they will come.
• Ineffective content marketing strategy
• Distribution and promotion channels important
• Paid organic social promotion – Marty Weintraub
• Have a plan!
VerticalMeasures.com |

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SEO Moving Forward
VerticalMeasures.com |
1. Strategy Development
2. Ideation
3. Content Creation
4. Optimization
5. Content Promotion
6. Distribution
7. Lead Nurture
8. Measurement

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What You Can Do Today
Start Today
• Invest in Google +
• Clean up your backlinks regularly
• Optimize for voice search
• Develop a well researched content strategy
VerticalMeasures.com |

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What You Can Do Today
• In-depth content publish frequently
• Build a social community
• Integrate Schema
• Earn natural links
• Follow the 8 steps
VerticalMeasures.com |

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Questions?
Contact us!
Kaila Strong
KailaS@VerticalMeasures.com
888.476.1881
VerticalMeasures.com
VerticalMeasures.com |