Beginners seo gs v3

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101
Georg Seebode
26th
May, 2013

Agenda
 WHAT Is SEO and WHY Is SEO Important?
 How Do Search Engines Work?
 On-Page Factors
 Off-Page Factors
 Myths and Misconceptions
 Best Practices Breakdown
2

What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)…
… is the process of getting free, organic, editorial or
natural listings on search engines.
... means optimizing your content and website to get
more traffic.
… is different from Search Engine Marketing (SEM) –
which focuses on paid search.
… is divided into two sections: On-page and off-page
optimization.
3

What is SEM?
Search Engine Marketing is the process of gaining
traffic by purchasing ads on search engines (aka Paid
Search)
SEM includes, but isn't limited to:
Paid Inclusion
Pay Per Click Adverstising (PPC – Adwords)
Banner Advertising
4

Pros and Cons of SEO and SEM
SEO SEM
+ Free
+ Searchers click on organic
search results more often than
paid PPC links
+ Excellent at creating
awareness quickly
+ Campaigns can be budgeted
to fit a business’s needs
– Time consuming
– Takes longer to see results
– Costs Money
– Must be managed constantly
(daily/weekly)
– ROI can be difficult to manage
– Clickfraud
5

Click-Through Rates
Source: seomoz.com 8

Why Is SEO Important?
 36% of users agree that “seeing a company listed
among the top results on a search engine makes me
think that the company is a top one within its field”*
 90% of users click on a first page result
 42% click on the first result
 “Only” 12% click on the second result
 The #1 result gets 3.5x more clicks than the #2 result
and 14x more clicks than the #10 result
*Source: papic.org 9

Why Is SEO Important?
Why you should optimize your site / content:
Search engines love it! (makes it easier to crawl)
People will find your content
User-friendly (easier navigation, clean content)
Your competitors are doing it
More traffic!
10

Google – The King of Search?
In 2012, Google processed over 3 billion searches per day – That’s over 100
billion queries per month!
65%
8%
5%
3%
3%
16%
Global Market Share
Google
Baidu
Yahoo
Yandex
Microso
Others
Source: comScore, searchengineland.com 11

Germany Russia China
Source: comScore, searchenginewatch.com
Know Your Market – Google Isn‘t The Only One
Out There
12

Agenda
 WHAT is SEO and WHY is SEO Important?
 On-Page Factors
13

A Time Before Google
Believe it or not there used to be a time before Google
even existed!
Anyone remember any of these?
Source: lycos.com, altavista.com, yahoo.com, excite.com, infoseek.com 14

How Do Search Engines Work?
Crawling and Indexing the Web:
Search engines send out spiders/crawlers (e.g. GoogleBot) which
systematically browse the web and index it.
These spiders follow links to find interconnected
websites/pages/documents.
Websites were ranked according to their on-page content – which
made the whole system terribly easy to manipulate.
Keyword stuffing/spamming
That is until Google came around…..
15

Google Introduces the “PageRank”
Google Launched in 1998 and brought with it the infamous
“Page Rank”, a new algorithm which ranked pages based on the
number and PageRank of other web sites and pages that link
there, on the premise that good or desirable pages are linked to
more than others.
Source: wikipedia.com 16

Cheating the System
This new “Page Rank” was immediately exploited by “Link
Farms”.
Source: betadaily.com, lambentseo.com 17

Fighting Spam
But Google never sleeps…
You might have heard of these furry little friends…
Source: internetmarketinginc.com, constant-content.com 18

Filtering Out The Relevant Content
 Google Constantly updates its algorithm, roughly 500-600 times a
year – with most changes going completely unnoticed to the
normal user (aside from the fact that the search results get better)
 These algorithm changes happen to ensure that the user finds the
right content
 Despite all the changes, when a user types in a query, the results
are still based on:
Relevance = Topic/Content
Importance = Links
 So in theory the statement “the more links pointing to a website,
the better it ranks” is still valid?
 Well yes and no... Mostly no.
19

A link isn't just a link – there's more to Ranking than
meets the eye…
Possible Ranking Criteria

Ranking Factors
Source: searchengineland.com 21

Agenda
 On-Page Factors
22

On-Page vs. Off-Page
On-Page Off-Page
On-Page Off-Page
Everything that you edit “on” your
website falls under On-Page
Optimization, such as:
Title Tags
URL
Content
Images
Site Architecture
Everything that you influence
“off” your website falls under Off-
Page Optimization, such as:
Link Building
Social Networking
Search Engine Submissions
Sitemap Submissions
Guest Blogging
23

Where Do I Start?

On-Page - The “Perfectly” Optimized Page
An Ideally Optimized Page Should:
Be hyper-relevant to a specific topic (usually a
product or single object)
 Include Keyword in title tag
 Include Keyword in URL
 Include Keyword in the Meta description
 Include Keyword in H1 (Header)
 Include Keyword in image alt text
 Specify Keyword several times throughout
text content
Provide unique content about a given Keyword
Link back to its category page
Link back to its homepage (This is normally
accomplished with an image link showing the
website logo on the top left of a page.)
An Ideally Optimized Page Should:
Be hyper-relevant to a specific topic (usually a
product or single object)
 Include Keyword in title tag
 Include Keyword in URL
 Include Keyword in the Meta description
 Include Keyword in H1 (Header)
 Include Keyword in image alt text
 Specify Keyword several times throughout
text content
Provide unique content about a given Keyword
Link back to its category page
Link back to its homepage (This is normally
accomplished with an image link showing the
website logo on the top left of a page.)

Title Tag
Max Display Length
Meta Description
Max Display Length
URL
Max Display Length
66-69
Characters
156-158
Characters
72-92
Characters
67-72
Characters
176-184
Characters
91-94
Characters
64-65
Characters
164-190
Characters
65-80
Characters
Recommended <65
Characters
<156
Characters
<65
Characters
Tag Length Recommendations

Yoast – Wordpress SEO Plugin
Source: yoast.com 27

Optimizing Images
28
 Filename: tiny-horse-ears.jpg
 Pick a descriptive filename –preferably with a
keyword in it, not the standard DCIM0001.jpg
 Alt Text:
The text that google “reads”
<img src=”tiny-horse-ears.jog" alt=”Tiny Horse
Ears" />
 File Size: 70kb
 Large files take longer to load, google looks at
page load speed. Reduce the image size as
much as possible without sacrificing quality.
 Caption: Those are some tiny horse ears!
 While they have no direct impact on rankings
(yet), they are quite possibly the best read
piece of content you have.
 Filename: tiny-horse-ears.jpg
 Pick a descriptive filename –preferably with a
keyword in it, not the standard DCIM0001.jpg
 Alt Text:
The text that google “reads”
<img src=”tiny-horse-ears.jog" alt=”Tiny Horse
Ears" />
 File Size: 70kb
 Large files take longer to load, google looks at
page load speed. Reduce the image size as
much as possible without sacrificing quality.
 Caption: Those are some tiny horse ears!
 While they have no direct impact on rankings
(yet), they are quite possibly the best read
piece of content you have.

Finding The Right Keywords
 Best starting point is to look in your Analytics
 How are people finding your content, what are people looking for on your site
 What are your competitors ranking for?
 Expand on existing keywords
 Who is your target audience?
 Finding new Keywords and Analyzing Demand
 Google Adwords’ Keyword Tool
 Google Trends
 Google Search Suggest
 Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
 Don’t Forget Mobile Users!
 More prone to short head
 Different type of Search, more action and location based - [keyword + “nearby”] (where, when,
how)
 Understand who or what you are up against
 Understand the demand for a certain phrase or keyword
 Assess the work required to achieve those rankings
29

Diversifying Your Keywords
 Always include variations of keywords
 Plurals (widgets, churches, shoes, recipes)
 Synonyms (cruise, sail, journey, tour)
 Stems (fish, fishing)
 International spelling differences (Harbor /Harbour)
 Typos
 Use keywords
 That are being searched for
 That target your audience
 That have medium to low competition
 That you can build quality content that site visitors will appreciate
30

Agenda
 On-Page Factors
31

What is a Backlink?
 Its “just” another website linking to you
Do You need Backlinks?
 For sure! It can bring you traffic – but more importantly it will help you with your SEO!
Backlinks are what keep the internet going – it’s the currency of the internet. Websites
with lots of Backlinks will rank better. A Backlink from an “authoritive” website will
pass on some of its authority to you.
But wait! – not all links are created equal! A link from your Mom’s Tumblr Blog is not
the same as getting a link from CNN or Wikipedia.
So what is a good link?
 It comes from a website/blog with authority (Does it have lots of followers, likes,
shares, tweets etc?)
 It uses Anchortext, meaning your URL is linked into a keyword  This will let Google
make the connection between the keyword and your website
Links, Links, Links
32

33
Backlink Factors and How They Impact SEO
Backlink Factors Impact on SEO
Popularity If a site has a large number of other sites linking to it, it is more likely to be a relevant
and important site. However, the overall number of links is not the only thing that
matters.
Link Neighbourhood
The types of sites that link to a website is a good indicator on that website itself. If a
website is linked to by trusted and reputable sites, then there is a good chance that it
will be seen as a trusted source as well by search engines. On the contrary, if it is
only receiving links from sites that are categorized as “spammy” or of low value, the
website might be categorized as low value as well.
Anchortext Links to a site with specific keywords in their anchor text will give it a higher chance
of appearing in searches for those keywords.
Freshness Search engines analyze link changes and tend to place more importance on newer
links.
Relevance
Links coming to a site from related and authoritative sites carry more weight. For
example, a cycling equipment company would get more value from links coming
from an 'Adventure Cycling' website than they would from a 'Drag Car Racing'
website.

 Create good content
 Create sharable content
 Make it easy to share your content
 Guest blogging
 Sharing through social networks
 Blog commenting
 Networking
How to Get Backlinks
34

 Obtain links only from quality, authoritative sources related or relevant to
your site
• Strive for top sites (example: CNN, Wikipedia)
• Top sites have good:
Page rank
Content
Social networks
 Links to any page on your site; not just homepage
• Deep linking good
 Do not obtain links from “shady” sources
• Link farms, rings
• Link exchanges from sources of little/no page rank
 Do not purchase links from others
 Content is king – People will always link to good content
Inbound Link Best Practices
35

 Social Media plays an ever growing role in SEO
 Google takes “social signals” into account
 Tweets, Likes, Shares and +1s are only getting more
important
 Pick your battles – Focus on the networks which
bring you the most traffic and explore new
possibilities
 Better to excel in three networks than to neglect and
fail in five of them
Social Media and SEO
36

 Despite the negative rumors G+ is steadily growing
 Authorship: G+ offers that you link your site with
your G+ Profile
 Author rank: Another way to determine how good
your content is
Google+ - More Than Just A Facebook
Alternative
37

Higher click through rates
 More people click on your link
Higher visibility
 Your Content Stands out
Higher page views
 More of your content will come
up
Establish authority
 Create a visible public reputation
Build trust
 Readers know you provide quality
content
Higher click through rates
 More people click on your link
Higher visibility
 Your Content Stands out
Higher page views
 More of your content will come
up
Establish authority
 Create a visible public reputation
Build trust
 Readers know you provide quality
content
The Benefits of G+ Authorship
38

Agenda
 On-Page Factors
39

SEO Myths and Missconceptions
 Google doesn't’t like SEO
 SEO is a one time job
 The more times you repeat the keyword within the page, the
higher it will rank
 The more links you have coming to your website, the better
 A high Google PageRank = high ranking
 Meta tag keywords matter
 Spending money on Google AdWords boosts your rankings
 Great Content = Great Rankings
40

Agenda
 On-Page Factors
41

Best Practices and Quick Fixes
On-page Off-page
Optimize:
Title and Meta Description
URL
H1
Content
Images
Create:
Sitemap
Research Keywords
Google Analytics
Google Trends
Google Adwords
Synonyms, Plurals, Typos
Build Quality Links and Connections
Blog Comments
Guest Posts
Blogroll
Create Shareable content
Make sure Anchortexts are used
Find the Networks which work best with your
audience
Submit your sitemap to Google and Bing
Google Authorship
Link your G+ Account with your blog
Be an active member and get shared
into circles
42

Wordpress SEO by Yoast
 The best SEO Plugin for wordpress. (Free)
Opensiteexplorer.com
 Online Tool, checks the Authority and Quality of a Website (Free)
Google's Keyword Tool - Google Adwords
 Ideal for Keyword Research (Free)
Google Analytics
 Analytical Web Monitoring (Free)
Google Webmastertools
 check indexing status and optimize visibility of your website (Free)
Tools and Plugins
44

Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide - Google
 Google's SEO Guidelines
Searche Engine Land
 The Periodic Table Of SEO Ranking Factors
LocalVox
 Video SEO Guideline
 Ninja-Creative
 What is AuthorRank?
 MajesticBlog
 SEO Backlink Best Practices White Paper
Recommended Reading
45

THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
46

Beginners seo gs v3

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