Basics of Search Engine Optimisation
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The document is a presentation on the basics of SEO, particularly for WordPress, by Nadia Kerr, a web developer and SEO specialist with over 20 years of experience. It covers key topics such as the difference between organic and paid search results, keyword research, search intent, common SEO myths, and practical ways to improve search engine rankings. It also provides insights on SEO plugins and resources for further learning.
Basics of Search Engine Optimisation
- 2. Basics of SEO - Search Engine Optimisation for WordPress About me: Nadia Kerr Web Developer @ Suretek Global + freelance Web Developer | SEO Specialist ● Full stack LAMP website developer with 20+ yrs in the technology industry. ● Background using various CMS platforms including WordPress. ● Experertise: theme development, RWD, global project management, SEO + more. ● Proven experience in delivery & maintaining of SEO strategies to improve performance in search engines. ● WordPress trainer to small business owners & colleagues. The presentation will be followed by a general Q&A session.
- 3. Basics of SEO - Search Engine Optimisation for WordPress - Understand search results (organic vs paid) - SEO versus SEM - Understanding search intent - Keyword research - Ways to improve search engine ranking - Using SEO plugin in WordPress Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any search engine provider. All information provided in this presentation is based on own research and knowledge from over 20+ yrs as a web developer and past small business owner. There may be better tools or methods than those provided in these slides. Take from this whatever you find most useful and build upon it yourself. :-)
- 5. Common SEO Myths: - Google is the only search engine worth submitting my site on - My homepage needs more content (the kitchen sink approach) - He/she has guaranteed my site the 1st position in search results - My site changes will show in search engines immediately
- 6. Common SEO Myths: - More links are better than more content - The more pages I have the better - Lots of links on other sites back to my site will increase ranking - I don’t need a mobile optimized site
- 7. Understanding search engine results What is the difference between organic (free) and paid search engine results? Organic search results are the web page listings that most closely match the user’s search query based on relevance. Also called “natural” search results, ranking high in the organic results is what SEO is all about. Paid search results are basically advertisements — the website owners have paid to have their web pages display for certain keywords, so these listings show up when someone runs a search query containing those keywords.
- 8. Understanding search engine results
- 9. Understanding search engine results
- 10. Understanding search engine results Google Bing
- 11. Both processes aim in increasing visibility in search engines. Search Engine Optimisation: SEO is the process of optimizing your website for the purpose of getting free (organic) traffic from search engines to your site. An optimised website is more easily understood by search engine crawlers and this increases the chances of ranking higher in SERPS (search engine result pages). SEO vs SEM
- 12. Search Engine Marketing: SEM goes above and beyond SEO but it’s only a subset of your overall Internet Marketing Strategy. So, SEM is the marketing process with a goal of getting more visibility in search engines either by getting more free traffic (SEO) or paid traffic (paid search advertising). SEM may incorporate SEO but also includes paid listings. SEO vs SEM
- 13. SEM Search engine marketing SEO Search engine optimization Did you know: Ad results are not always the most relevant to what you are searching for online. Example if you search for: ‘red sports car’, an ad for “Porsche” or “Ferrari” may comes up. Not an exact match for ‘red sports car’, but they have targeted anyone searching for ‘sports car’ with paid advertising.
- 14. How to optimize your content for search intent SEO is a way to get more traffic to your website. By ranking higher in search engines, you attract more visitors to your site. Eventually, your goal is probably to sell something, get subscribers or to attract more regular visitors.
- 15. How to optimize your content for search intent A nice tactic to get more traffic to your site is optimising your content for words people “actually” use. However, to really convince people to buy something, subscribe to your newsletter or to come back to your website another time, you should take into account search intent as well.
- 16. Understanding “search intent” Search intent has to do with the reason why people conduct a specific search. Who, What, Where, When, Why & How? - Why are they searching? - Are they searching because they have a question? - Are they searching for a specific product? - Are they searching because they want to buy something?
- 17. Keyword Research Doing keyword research is a vital part of your content SEO strategy, but can be a long and difficult process. Keyword strategy is about the decisions you make on the basis of that keyword research. - Think about what words and phrases your website audience may use to find your website? - What is their intention when searching? - Check whether it’s realistic to rank for a certain keyword, especially if there’s heavy competition. - Remember: you don’t have to add all of them!
- 18. Why is keyword research important? Proper keyword research is important because it will make clear which search terms your audience uses. It doesn’t make any sense to optimize for words that people don’t use. Often business owners use one set of words when describing their products, while their target audience use a completely different set of words. These sites aren’t found by their potential customers because of a mismatch in word use.
- 19. Keyword Research Tools - Google AdWords Keyword Planner: is like a workshop for building new Search Network campaigns or expanding existing ones. https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner - Free Keyword Research Tool https://serps.com/tools/keyword-research/ - Keyword Planner Alternative For SEO: Find Great Keywords Using Google Autocomplete https://keywordtool.io/
- 20. Keyword Research Tools - KWFinder: is an easy-to-use keyword research tool bringing perfect keyword ideas. https://kwfinder.com/ - Google Trends: compare the traffic for sets of keywords. Useful for seasonal trends. http://www.google.com/trends/ - Search on popular search engines and see what keywords and phrases competitors are using.
- 21. Why are my changes not showing on the search results? Whenever you make changes to your website, you’re probably eager for these changes to show instantly in the search results. Unfortunately, it can take a while for search engines to crawl your site again and until then, it will show the indexed version of your site in the results, without the changes. Of course, when people click a link through to your site they will see the changes, but you want them to be visible in the results pages and update your ranking too.
- 22. Why are my changes not showing on the search results? - Force google to recrawl your website sooner https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url - Submit an updated sitemap file to Google Webmaster Tools https://www.google.com/webmasters/
- 23. Ways to improve search engine ranking - Eliminate duplicate content (meta descriptions, meta titles, or meta keywords, body copy). - Eliminate broken links - Increase page (and site) load speed - Update Sitemap xml - Improve mobile-friendliness - make it user friendly to keep visitors returning
- 24. Ways to improve search engine ranking Useful tools: - Google Webmaster Tools: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview - Google Page Speed Test: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
- 25. Using an SEO plugin to further optimise your site Two of the most popular and easiest to use SEO plugins for WordPress are ‘Yoast SEO’ and ‘AIO SEO’. Both offer valuable features in their free version. - Yoast SEO Plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ - All In One SEO Plugin: https://en-au.wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
- 26. Post title vs SEO title It is important to realise that your SEO title doesn’t necessarily have the same purpose as the title of your post or page. Your post title is usually meant for people that are already on your site. It provides a title for what the page (or blog post) is about. Search engine also find this useful!
- 27. Post title vs SEO title It is important to realise that your SEO title doesn’t necessarily have the same purpose as the title of your post or page. Your SEO title, on the other hand, is meant for people who are not yet on your website. It will be shown to people in search engines. The purpose of your SEO title is to make people click the link, come to your website and read your post or buy your product, etc.
- 28. Further reading: - SEO Basics: What does google do? https://yoast.com/seo-basics-what-does-google-do/ - Beginners Guide to SEO from Moz https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo - The Ultimate Guide to On-Page SEO (on-page vs off-page SEO) https://www.thehoth.com/on-page-seo/
- 29. Further reading: - Keyword research for SEO - The Ultimate Guide (by Yoast): https://yoast.com/keyword-research-ultimate-guide/ - How to choose keywords that’ll attract traffic https://yoast.com/how-to-choose-keywords-thatll-attract-traffic/ - 7 Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid: https://yoast.com/7-keyword-research-mistakes-avoid/
- 30. Basics of SEO - Search Engine Optimisation for WordPress Thank you for attending. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions! If your question doesn’t get answered today, feel free to connect with me at WordCamp or online.