SEO Basics

SEO Basics:
Keys to Search Engine Success

pam@pamannmarketing.com
Agenda
 What SEO Means
 How Search Engines Work
 The Basics of a Successful SEO
Strategy
 What to Expect
 ThingsYou Can Do Right Now to
IncreaseYour Exposure in Search
Engines
 SEOTrends toWatch

Download Slides
pamannmarketing.com/slides/

What “SEO” Means
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is
the art and science of influencing
search engines to rank your content
high in search results..

What “SEO” Means
…influencing search engines…
1. Apply a set of educated guesses
2. Test and measure results
3. Rinse, repeat.

How Search Engines Work
 Search engines just want to give users the
information they need.
 Therefore, they just want you to provide
good/useful/helpful content.
How Search Engines Work:
The Basics

 Google does data entry with your website
 They extract a copy of your site’s text and
code and put it into their own database
 This is called “indexing”

 Their copy is what gets
searched against when a
user enters a search

 To determine position in results, sites are ranked according to a
set of algorithms (“if this, then that” conditions)

 There are over 200 known ranking factors that Google looks at
 They can all be lumped into 3 categories

 Search engines need to understand your content.
 Things that help them do that:
 A good content management system (CMS) like
WordPress
 A fast–loading site
 A mobile-friendly site
Technical: The Basics

Content: The Basics
 Using the same keywords people are
searching with
 Using those keywords naturally and logically
 Well-organized content
 Fresh (new) content added on a regular
basis
 User-friendly navigation, linking similar
pages to each other

 Getting reputable & relevant websites to link to yours and talk
about your brand.
 Building up social media “signals” that indicate real people are
liking and sharing your content.
 (For local businesses) Creating accurate local listings in sites
like SuperPages,YellowPages, WhitePages,Yelp, etc.
Off Page: The Basics

Without getting into further detail, if you simply:
▪ Have a good CMS, fast-loading, and mobile-friendly site
▪ Use keywords logically and naturally
▪ Organize your content well and add to it often
▪ Get other brands and people to talk about your brand
▪ List accurate information in “online phone book” directories
You will get more search engine traffic.
Summary: The Basics

What to Expect
SEO Takes Time.
• You may see some
immediate
improvement, but
overall SEO takes a
lot of time and
commitment to
really work.

What to Expect
SEO is an ONGOING Strategy.
• There areTHOUSANDS of algorithm updates each
year. Google will always want you to do at least a few new
things to your site each year.
• Adding new/fresh content can never stop. It’s like
putting gas in your car.Without gas, it doesn’t go.Without
new/fresh content, your SEO efforts won’t fully work.
• It’s partially guesswork. You have to test and measure
constantly, and keep doing more of what’s working and
less of what’s not.

What to Expect
You Will Need Resources.
SEO works best when a company has the following resources in place:
• An SEO expert or agency
• A good web developer/designer
• A great copywriter
• A public relations agency and/or a great social media agency
• Funds for all of the above
That being said, you can make great strides on your own if you
have the time to learn and do the work yourself, and at least some
small funds for coaching/training.

Things to do NOW
 Set up Search Console
 Subscribe to email notifications
 Start blogging (on your own site)
 Share (and boost) your great content on social
 Sign up for HARO
 For local businesses…
 Claim/optimize Google My Business listing
 Build/correct other “online phone book” listings

Things to NEVER do
 “Stuff” keywords into your content
 Create lots of similar pages with boilerplate copy
 Create orphaned/doorway pages
 Use hidden text
 Hyperlink tons of keywords
 Buy links (NEVEREVEREVEREVER do this!)

Trends to Watch
 Mobile, Mobile, Mobile!
 Google is getting pickier and pickier about how well sites perform on mobile,
and is moving sites to a “mobile-first index.”
 Test your site frequently with Google’s mobile-friendly tools.
 Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
 At first, this was important only for news sites & large blogs, butAMP pages
are now found throughout all types of search results.
 Speed
 Google cares about this more than ever.We have seen direct correlations
between site load time and rankings, and the “Speed Update” is coming in
July 2018.
2018 SEO Trends to Watch

Trends to Watch
 Better Ads Standards
 NO pop-ups!There is now a specific SEO penalty for this on mobile. Keep an
eye on https://www.betterads.org/standards/ for new developments.
 Security (https)
 As of July 2018, Google will show warnings on forms that appear on non-https
sites.
2018 SEO Trends to Watch

Recap
 What SEO Means
 Art & science of *influencing* position
in search engines
 How Search Engines Work
 Sites ranked based upon 200+ factors
in 3 categories: Technical, Content, Off
Page
 Successful SEO Strategy
 Good CMS, fast-loading, mobile-
friendly site
 Use keywords logically and naturally
 Organize your content well and add to
it often
 Get other brands and people to talk
about your brand
 List accurate information in “online
phone book” directories
 Things to do NOW
 Set up Search Console
 Start blogging & promote on social!
 Things to NEVER do
 Buy links!
 Try too hard (stuff keywords, etc.)
 SEOTrends to Watch
 Mobile, AMP, Speed, Ads Standards,
HTTPS
 Go Beyond the Basics
 Work with an SEO expert or agency
 Hire good web developer, copywriter,
PR, and social experts
 Get coaching if going at it on your own

Download this slide deck at
pamannmarketing.com/slides/

SEO Basics

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