SEO 101 - How it works and how to do it

1. SEO 101
by Blue Coast Web

2. SEO 101
Part 1: What is SEO
Part 2: Targeting Keywords
Part 3: Implementation
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3. Part 1: What is SEO?
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4. PART 1: WHAT IS SEO
SEO: THREE TERRIFYING LETTERS?
• Not so terrifying! Search Engine Optimization can
be painfully simple.
• With the right content foundation, optimization will
follow.
• With time and knowledge, we can optimize more.
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5. PART 1: WHAT IS SEO
HOW CONTENT IS FOUND Using Google as
the core example
Users searching for
Google’s algorithm something
determines what sites to
crawl, how often, and
how many pages to Googlebots
fetch from each site.
Web Sites
BLUE COAST WEB | SEO 101

6. PART 1: WHAT IS SEO
WHAT GOOGLE WANTS
1. Relevant content
2. Relevant content
3. Relevant content
How does Google present relevant content?
BLUE COAST WEB | SEO 101

7. blue volvo c30 GO
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8. PART 1: WHAT IS SEO
GOOGLE PAGE RESULTS
Natural Search
User’s search term Google AdWords
Results
Result title
(from the Browser Page Title)
Result description
(from the Meta Description)
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9. PART 1: WHAT IS SEO
HOW A GOOD MATCH IS DETERMINED
For any given keyword or key phrase
searched, results are sorted based on
a complex algorithm*, which includes:
INTERNAL ELEMENTS keywords
YOUR
1. Keyword relevance web site
• How well does the keyword match the content
(+ url, browser title, etc.)
• How specific are the keywords “car” vs. “blue volvo c30”
backlinks
EXTERNAL ELEMENTS
2. Backlinks to that page a web site
a web site
(quantity and quality) a web site
a web site
• Quality of backlinks is determined by PageRank; pages are
ranked from 0 - 10, best score being 10
* If we knew the complete answer, we’d be billionaires, so this is the collective industry “best guess”.
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10. PART 1: WHAT IS SEO
MORE ON PAGE RANKING
• PageRank is essentially a “vote” of importance of
a given site by Google. The more important a
page is, the higher the PageRank.
• PageRank significantly
effects one’s position in
natural search results.
• If you are linked to from a
highly-ranked site, your
Page rank diagram (wikipedia)
PageRank will also increase
(the “vote” is more heavily weighted).
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11. Targeting Keywords
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12. PART 2: KEYWORDS
WHAT’S A KEYWORD?
• A keyword is any word someone might type into
a search engine to find a web site
• A keyword phrase is a string of words that
describe what the searcher is looking for
• Search engine spiders look to see how often a
keyword or keyword phrase appears on a site
(and where), as one factor in how relevant the site
is to the user’s search.
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13. PART 2: KEYWORDS
QUALITY KEYWORDS ARE “KEY”
• Keywords need to be specific and grouped
“You can't rank well for just a single word. There are too many billion other
websites out there to compete with. People actually search for multi-word
phrases, because such phrases give them more relevant results. If you
want to rank well for a single word then you need to step back and think
about what people actually search for and what it is your site actually
offers.”
• Focus on a small number of keywords
Targeted keywords need to be few - research and select 20 keywords to
target for bringing in relevant site traffic (see appendix for tools)
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14. PART 2: KEYWORDS
KEYWORD EXAMPLES
• Think like your user. How will they search for your
company, product, other?
• Bad, good, and better keyword search
car GO
blue car GO
blue volvo GO
blue volvo c30 GO more relevant results
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15. PART 2: KEYWORDS
KEYWORDS ARE CORE TO MARKETING
• Identify the keywords
• Update web site Build
AdWords
Campaign
• Promote external links
Update site
with keywords
• Track keyword success
Select targeted keywords
• Build your AdWords ord ke key
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keyword yword ke keywword yworword
campaign on the keyword kord ke
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ywo key k d
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k eordd yword keyword rd rd yword wo word
keyw o ey
keywworkerd eyrdoord yword wore keywordd yword
keywo yk o w rd e key k d
w r
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ord
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k rd e
targeted keywords
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16. PART 2: KEYWORDS
ANATOMY OF A WEB PAGE
Googlebots crawl the web and bring back results
to the Google servers. The primary elements that
are stored and searched on any given page are:
• browser titles Volvo C30 | 2 door hatchback
www.volvo.com/cars/c30
• domain name
Volvo C30
• url string Duis autem vel eum iriure
dolor in hendrerit in
• H1 tags (and H2, H3, etc.)
vulputate Volvo C30 esse
molestie consequat, vel
illum dolore eu feugiat
nulla facilisis at vero eros et
• body of content accumsan et iusto odio
dignissim qui blandit
praesent luptatum zzril <title> 2011 Volvo C30
delenit augue duis. Coupe </title>
• cross-linking <meta name="description"
content="Introducing the
2011 Volvo C30 coupe – a
turbocharged classic in a
• metadata
modern, full efficient shell.
The Volvo C30 comes with
premium sound, high-tech
Good page semantics is safety, and stunning design
features inside and out." />
important. If you have good
code, you will be rewarded.
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17. PART 2: KEYWORDS
METADATA GUIDELINES
• Page title
<title> A Title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. Create a
unique title for each page on your site. Don’t use lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users or stuff
unneeded keywords in your title tags. Preface your titles with the most pertinent information, and place
the company name last.
Product Name and/or Keywords | Company name Send Money, Pay Online, Receive Money | PayPal
• Meta description
<description> Descriptions can be defined for each page. A page's description meta data is listed in
search results directly under the result’s Page Title link. Make it descriptive and useful for the users - think
about what words might entice them to click as it relates to the page’s content. Don’t use introductory
phrases like “welcome to our...”, instead, get to the point fast!
These can be 1-2 sentences / a short paragraph. The first 150 characters (approximately) are displayed.
• Meta keywords
<keywords> While some search engines use keywords, to match against the page content for
relevance, in September 2009, Google announced “they are no longer taking keywords into account
whatsoever” 1. If you have extra time, put them in.
1
wikipepedia.org
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18. Implementation
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19. PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION
IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES
One: Keyword prioritization
• Keyword prioritization spreadsheet
• Keyword snapshot (where the site is listed in Google results by keyword)
• Keyword opportunity index (how successful a keyword will be for marketing)
Two: edit site content and metadata
• Implement keyword-rich and content-specific Browser Titles
• Refine content with prioritized keywords
• Add Meta descriptions
• Link up Google Webmaster Tools (already done?)
• Add class links to footer
• Add drop-downs to global navigation
Three: improve page rank with backlinks
• Post to quality industry sites, wikipedia, partner sites, Google Places, etc.
Four: track and adjust every 1-2 months
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20. PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION
MORE ON BACKLINKS
Backlink low hanging fruit
• Look at Wikipedia pages, and other public info sites - submit your site as a
reference link.
• Ask partners to link to you from their sites (reciprocal links)
• Claim your business listing with Google Places, Yelp, etc.
Backlink cultivation: will require a team to
identify and manage
• Post comments to quality industry sites. Be consistent and post brief
comments frequently (note: check the site’s page rank and their robots.txt follow status for comment areas/blogs).
• Submit industry-related articles and thought papers on industry sites
• Be useful contributors / answer questions online
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21. PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION
WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA?
Ah yes. Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Flickr...
Here is a guiding principle:
• If the company using social media benefits not
just the company, but the search engines and
the searchers, then it’s very good thing to do.
• If it feels like something that benefits the
company (marketer), but doesn't do much for
anyone else, think twice.
Which one is your company?
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22. !
Questions
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23. APPENDIX
Research tools:
• Google Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/
KeywordToolExternal
• Google Analytics (requires login) https://www.google.com/analytics/
• Webmaster Tools: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/
• Meta data checker (length of titles etc.)
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-content-
analysis-and-sitemap.html
• BCW keyword ranking spreadsheet
• BCW keyword snapshot spreadsheet
• BCW keyword effectiveness spreadsheet
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