Lecture at Bath Spa Uni
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This document provides an overview of an SEO training held by Noisy Little Monkey in March 2017. It includes an agenda covering on-site SEO topics like technical aspects of websites, content and structure, and off-site factors like backlinks. On-site topics discussed include URLs, page titles, images, meta descriptions and more. Technical SEO topics covered server speed, redirects, error handling and XML sitemaps. The training emphasized optimizing for user intent through keyword research and focusing on long-tail keywords with lower competition. It also stressed the importance of trust signals like reviews and fresh, relevant content.
Lecture at Bath Spa Uni
- 1. ©Noisy Little Monkey | 2017 Bath Spa University SEO Training March 2017
- 3. Natasha Jon Ste Claire Creative Director Technical Director SEO Manager Marketing Josh Natalie Inbound Manager Account Executive Nicola Lucy Managing Director Account Manager Holly Account Executive Mr Dog VP of Shaking Gertie DM Executive James DM Executive Clare Ops Manager
- 4. The company we keep 4
- 5. Trusted by5
- 6. Agenda Training Overview 1 Technical aspects of your site, such as the server stability, server configuration, error handling and redirects. 2 Technical Aspects of your website’s content and structure, such as URLs, Page titles and headers. On-site
- 7. 3 Words, pictures, videos, audio 4 Copy Your website’s footprint on the rest of the internet; citations, linking domains and social signals. Off-site 5 ? Questions
- 8. THE BASICS
- 9. How Does Google View Itself?9 We all hate this video…
- 10. 10 Guiding principles What Google Wants? Google wants to: • Serve the best result for the query • What is the intent behind this search query? • What is the best resource for visitors with this kind of intent? • Of these; which sites do people historically seem to click on? • Of these; which sites are talked about a lot on the rest of the internet? • Does the resource display properly on the visitors device? • Is the resource geographically relevant? • Is the resource trustworthy? • Is the resource compromised with a virus?
- 11. 11 Guiding principles What Google Wants? • Has this resource tried really really hard to optimise their site? • The most informative, best resource on a topic might be written by a wheezy old professor who isn’t a great web developer…
- 12. 12 Understanding the relationships between things Google Wants To Be A Knowledge Engine
- 13. 13 Quick wins. Reporting • Google Analytics installed and set up • Filter office visits • Goals set up • Filter spammers • Search Console verified and set up • Geographic targets set up • Sitemaps submitted • Crawl errors and warnings heeded
- 14. TECHNICAL
- 15. 15 Technical SEO Anything to do with your server, host, databases, etc, that has an implication for Search Engines. Improving your technical configuration won’t add value to your site – but technical issues can and will subtract value. Very often, these are problems that you cannot see or are not immediately obvious. Often pedantic. In general, following web development best practices and Google’s Webmaster Guidelines as far as it is feasible for you to do so is sufficient.
- 16. 16 Technical SEO Anything to do with your server, host, databases, etc, that has an implication for Search Engines. Improving your technical configuration won’t add value to your site – but technical issues can and will subtract value. Very often, these are problems that you cannot see or are not immediately obvious. Often pedantic. In general, following web development best practices and Google’s Webmaster Guidelines as far as it is feasible for you to do so is sufficient.SPEED
- 17. 17 Speed Technical SEO TTFB = Time To First Byte • This is a ‘ranking factor’ • We believe it should be around 0.3s Full Page Load • This is NOT a ranking factor (some developers delight in explaining this) • HOWEVER it is closely linked with user experience and conversion rate. https://moz.com/blog/improving- search-rank-by-optimizing-your-time- to-first-byte
- 18. 18 Speed Technical SEO Tools for measuring speed: • webpagetest.org • pingdom.com • gtmetrix.com • developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
- 20. 20 Mobile Technical SEO • Google doesn’t want to serve mobile unfriendly content to mobile users • Even if your site actually IS mobile friendly, you should check that Google agrees • There are technical issues which can occur which may interfere with this judgement. https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
- 22. 22
- 23. Redirects & Crawl Errors23 404 302 301 Status Codes • Broken links are a sign of a poor user experience • Search Engines won’t bother ranking your new page if you use a temporary redirect
- 26. 26 Error Handling Technical SEO Let’s try to stop your website from breaking, but if it does, make sure we’ve got it configured. Make sure that visiting a non-existent page gives a useful 404 page that salvages the user experience. Make sure that the 404 page actually sends a 404 status code
- 27. 27 Fixing Crawl Errors Technical SEO 302 301 Temporary Permanent
- 28. 28 Search Console Technical SEO • Search console will also report on crawl issues
- 30. XML Sitemaps30
- 31. XML Sitemaps31
- 32. 32 For Tech SEO stuff WIDER READING • Getting your website into “best practice” shape can be complicated. • Google knows that not everyone is a computer whizz. That’s fine. Trying to grapple with this may not be a solid ROI. • However, if you want to learn more, here are some starting points: • https://moz.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015 • https://moz.com/blog/seo-cheat-sheet • https://www.distilled.net/resources/technical-audit-checklist-for-human-beings/ • Worth getting for WordPress • https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/ (the free version is fine, and better than any other SEO plug in)
- 33. ON-SITE SEO
- 34. 34 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO
- 35. 35 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO
- 36. 36 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL
- 37. 37 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain
- 38. 38 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug
- 39. 39 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug • Page Title
- 40. 40 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug • Page Title • H1
- 41. 41 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug • Page Title • H1 • Image alt text
- 42. 42 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug • Page Title • H1 • Image alt text • The actual content
- 43. 43 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug • Page Title • H1 • Image alt text • The actual content • “Meta description”
- 44. 44 How does Google determine relevance? ON PAGE SEO • URL • Domain • Slug • Page Title • H1 • Image alt text • The actual content • “Meta description”
- 45. 45 Relics that no longer matter ON PAGE SEO • “Meta keywords” • “Meta tags” • “Keyword Density”
- 46. 46 More than just a Keyword Match ON PAGE SEO Implicit search signals (context) are also taken into account • Location • Device • Search history
- 47. Content
- 48. 48 Getting the Terminology Right ON PAGE SEO
- 49. 49 Getting the Terminology Right ON PAGE SEO
- 50. 50 Getting the Terminology Right ON PAGE SEO • Use the language your customers will be using • Don’t use the language your office uses internally • The language your customers use will be the language they will be searching with • How can you be sure which terms your customers use the most?
- 51. 51 Google Trends ON PAGE SEO
- 53. 53 Getting in front of Marketing Manager Michael ON PAGE SEO – Identifying Keywords
- 55. 55 More Is Not (Always) Better ON PAGE SEO Volume Intent Competition
- 56. 56 As Queries Become More Specific, Volume Goes Down ON PAGE SEO • Yet these rare searches make up 70% of all searches. *Long tail = highly specific 4-6 word phrases *
- 57. 57 A Time And A Place ON PAGE SEO BOF MOF TOF Awareness Generic searches Experiencing a problem, issue or need. Prospect is trying to define the problem. “Sales/conversions are down, why?” Consideration Problem has been diagnosed. Prospect is learning and researching possible fixes. “Site traffic is down, how do I get more visits? ^ Rankings or social engagement?” Decision Specific searches Solution found, weighing up options and offerings. “Average Social Media Management Costs UK, SEO Agency’s near me”
- 58. 58 Disclaimer ON PAGE SEO • Optimising for search can shore up weaknesses on your site and rectify problems. • Got a strong resource that should be ranking but isn’t – optimising will help. • Optimising pages isn’t a magic bullet that will allow you to ‘beat the system’ • Don’t forget to check the actual search results page for interesting keywords to get an idea of context! You may be surprised!
- 59. 59 Trust Signals ON PAGE SEO • It is important to Search Engines that they serve quality results • They have refined their algorithms to validate against spam and malicious websites • Does the website have a real address? • Real phone number? • Listed elsewhere online? • Reviews? • Entry on Companies House? • Authored by real people with real social profiles?
- 60. 60 Reviews ON PAGE SEO • Having reviews is a fantastic signal to search engines, if appropriate. • There are many providers such as: • reviews.co.uk • trustpilot.com • Google My Business • Inviting customers or visitors to review as part of your after-sales process is a great way to ensure that this signal is not neglected
- 61. 61 Schema ON PAGE SEO • Schema is a type of markup that can be incorporated into your website’s html code. • It is also known as “structured data” because it allows you to specify what different pieces of text represent on the page – saving the search engines from having to guess. • This is a phone number • This is our address • This is our opening times • This is a product name
- 62. 62 Schema ON PAGE SEO • Schema isn’t something that is ‘standard’ at the moment • It can sometimes be tricky to implement • We highly encourage you to use it if you can, as search engines are actively embracing this kind of technology.
- 63. 63 Freshness ON PAGE SEO • Google values “freshness” for certain queries that are time sensitive. • This is called QDF – Query Deserves Freshness • Timely coverage of notable events and developments is more likely to enjoy visibility.
- 64. 64 Content Strategy ON PAGE SEO • When you have optimised your static content to your satisfaction, it is important to continue to reinforce your status as a web resource. • Identifying common questions and problems and producing content targeted at resolving these issues. • Have Personas and write with them in mind. • Be respectful of where the problem sits in the ‘funnel’ • If people are just trying to learn more about a problem, educate them, don’t push a product. • Becoming “the Wikipedia” of your field is a good direction to aim in, even if you ultimately full short.
- 65. OFF-SITE SEO
- 66. 66 Links & Citations OFF-SITE SEO www.site1.com bbc.co.uk www.site2.com auntmaviscookeryblog.co.uk • Suppose you have two website identical in every way. How do you rank one above the other?
- 67. 67 Why Have I Heard So Much Bad Stuff About Links? OFF-SITE SEO Google measures signal Businesses spoof signal for profit Google evolves
- 68. 68 Links & Citations OFF-SITE SEO www.site1.com bbc.co.uk www.site2.com auntmaviscookeryblog.co.uk • Quality > Quantity
- 69. 69 Links & Citations OFF-SITE SEO www.recipes.com/best-roasts bbc.co.uk/news/politics/e www.recipes.com/best-roasts auntmaviscookeryblog.co.uk • Relevance
- 70. 70 mysite.co.uk Links & Citations OFF-SITE SEO • A diverse, relevant and growing set of linking websites is best BBC Local blog Business partner Local press Trade magazine Local Chamber of Commerce Business partner
- 71. 71 Links & Citations OFF-SITE SEO #WTF?? Is this reflected on news sites, social media, search volumes?
- 72. 72 It’s all relative… OFF-SITE SEO Two explorers are walking through the jungle. Suddenly they hear a tiger roar. One explorer sits down and takes a pair of running shoes out of his backpack. ‘You’re crazy, you’ll never out-run a tiger,’ says the other explorer. ‘I don’t have to out-run the tiger,’ he replies. ‘I just have to out-run you.’ - Dave Trott
- 73. 73 Competitor Analysis Tools OFF-SITE SEO • Majestic.com • Look at your own inbound linking metrics • Look at your competitors and get an idea of the scales we’re dealing with • SEMRush.com • Get some indication of what terms you and/or your competitors rank well for and who the competition is based on those terms.
- 74. 74 How Do I Acquire Links? OFF-SITE SEO This is the big question. • We have enviable link acquisition, which we achieve through: • Attending lots of industry events • We run our own events – trying to do all of the things we like about other events and none of the things we hate. • Speaking engagements at industry events • Training sessions (sometimes for free) for colleges and government schemes. • Writing lots of blog posts about topics we find people struggling with • Sharing those blogs around the social networks we maintain
- 75. 75 How Do I Acquire Links? OFF-SITE SEO • Links are not the explicit goal of these activities – that would leave us often frustrated and disappointed • Links are the natural consequence of being a pro-active and visible presence in your industry. • Good marketing combined with knowledge about search allows you to avoid missing opportunities.
- 76. Any Questıons?