Sandcamp SEO Presentation 1/24/10
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This document provides an overview of search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. It discusses the importance of tracking key metrics like keyword rankings, site traffic, and conversions. Content and site structure are emphasized as the first "leg" of SEO, including on-page keyword optimization and internal linking. Freshness through new content and inbound links are also covered as important factors for rankings. Tools for tracking and analytics are referenced throughout.
![Google introduced rel=nofollow in 2005 so that NoFollowed links “won’t get any credit when we [Google] rank websites in our search results.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/sandcamp-1-23-10-final-100127205019-phpapp02/85/Sandcamp-SEO-Presentation-1-24-10-39-320.jpg)
Sandcamp SEO Presentation 1/24/10
- 1. Max Thomas max@thunderseo.com @ThunderMax (800) 819-6894SEO Sunday, January 24, 2010
- 3. SEO – Why Ranking Matters?Ranking = TrafficRanking for Target Keywords = SalesRecent Site Example:
- 4. SOM – Strategic Online MarketingThink strategically.Search and Social Media are separate channels, but they do overlap.SEO is not Online Marketing – that’s short sighted.Look at your market – sometimes Search is better than social, sometimes email, etc.Be on lookout for new media, like Mobile.SEO = turtle (steady, slow, wins in the end)Social = hare (fast, fun, unpredictable)
- 5. SEO & GoogleWhite vs Black Hat SEO“A lot of people think Google hates SEO and nothing could be further from the truth. SEO when done well and done in a white hat way, can make your site more crawlable, more accessible and help users find useful content on your site.”Matt CuttsSee State of the Index 2009 on GoogleWebmasterHelpYoutube.com
- 6. Track – Track - Track“We can’t manage what we don’t measure.”Keyword Ranking ReportsSEO Stat’s (key indicators)Webmaster Tools, site performance, etc.Site Traffic (Analytics)Call Tracking (Dynamic Call Tracking)Conversions/Sales (Forms & Purchases)Frequency:Daily: Conversions & Call TrackingWeekly/Bi-Weekly: Keyword Ranking, Site TrafficMonthly: SEO Stat’s, Site Performance
- 7. Max Thomas | max@thunderinternetmarketing.com | (800) 819-6894Track – Keyword Ranking ReportUse Proxy Servers Rotate to prevent Google from serving “personalized” search results, or identifying KW software.Example here fromwww.AdvancedWebRanking.com
- 8. Track – SEO Stat’sGI = Google Indexed ContentYI = Yahoo! Indexed ContentInb = Inbound LinksInt = Internal LinksPR = PageRankAlexa = Site Traffic ComparisonAge = Age Domain RegisteredmR = URL Rank (SEOmoz)mT = URL Trust (SEOmoz)DmR = Domain Rank (SEOmoz)DmT = Domain Trust (SEOmoz)
- 9. Track – Site PerformanceWebmaster Tools – this is how Google “sees” your website. Very important to be aware of this.Reference Webmaster Tools for:Crawl Errors (404 errors)Crawl Stats (how frequently G bots crawl)Site Performance (see Resources regarding PageSpeed)http://code.google.com/speed/page-speed/ webpagetest.org
- 10. Track – Site TrafficUsing Analytics, consider (at minimum):Change in Visitors (month to month)Traffic SourcesOrganic Keywords
- 11. Track – Conversion/Call TrackingConversions:Use Analytics for sales & “form submits”Call Tracking/Leads:Dynamic call tracking enables tracking by sourceSee VoiceStar example
- 12. Track – Conversion/Call Tracking
- 13. What Impacts RankingsSEO’s Three-Legged Stool:
- 14. 1. Content – Site StructureKeyword RelevancyOnpage Keyword Optimization (SEO Elements)PageRank and Navigation
- 15. 1. Content – Site StructureA. Keyword RelevancyStart with “Conversational Terms” – talk with customers to learn what they search for.
- 16. Research Keywords - research keywords and historical searches using Google’s Keyword Tool and Wonder Wheel .
- 17. Create Keyword Map – prioritize terms in order of importance (e.g., “conversions”), group terms by “theme” (or user experience), then merge with site’s navigation.1. Content – Site StructureA. Keyword Relevancy – Keyword Map Example
- 18. 1. Content – Site StructureB. Onpage SEO/Keyword OptimizationOrganize/Optimize page for target keyword(s)
- 19. Don’t try to rank homepage for multiple terms; target keyword-specific pages (the sub-pages)
- 20. Key Elements for Onpage Keyword Optimization:
- 21. URL
- 22. Title Tag
- 23. Description Tag (for user, not for SEO)
- 24. Header
- 25. Keyword placement close to top of page
- 26. Use of terms related to keyword in copy
- 27. Reference: SEOmoz Term Target Tool1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Primer
- 28. Google’s quantitative measure of a site’s “Authority”
- 29. PR’s influence has wavered over time; Cutts now “says” it’s important
- 30. Highly relevant and quality inbound links are primary determinant of PR; links help determine a site’s Authority.
- 31. Site Goal: Maximize the flow of PR throughout site to important pages.1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott SmiglerPageRank sculpting is the application of rules regarding the quantity, prioritization and relevance of links on pages throughout a site to efficiently distribute PageRank. For example, suppose a page on my site has 100 PageRank “points” to pass on to the pages that it links to. I will want to be strategic about how those points are distributed rather than squander them indiscriminately.Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120
- 32. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott Smigler
- 33. This is our made-up page called “Page 0” with links to 35 pages: Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120
- 34. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott Smigler
- 35. “Page 0” has 70 PR points to share. According to Matt Cutts, each of the 35 pages it links to receives two points of PageRank. : Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120
- 36. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott Smigler
- 37. “Page 0” has 70 PR points to share. According to Matt Cutts, each of the 35 pages it links to receives two points of PageRank. : Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120
- 38. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)Rel=nofollow
- 39. Google introduced rel=nofollow in 2005 so that NoFollowed links “won’t get any credit when we [Google] rank websites in our search results.”
- 40. This made it possible to shape (or “optimize”) the flow of PR through a site by using rel=nofollow on internal links that are secondary. Result: PR would be divided only across dofollow links
- 41. What changed: About a year ago, Google started dividing PR across links on a page (regardless of rel=nofollow) thus undoing SEO’s “PR Shaping”.1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott Smigler
- 42. Prioritize pages by User Experience and SEO impact: Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120
- 43. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott Smigler
- 44. Revised “Page 0” with links to 10 primary pages: Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120Previous “Page 0”
- 45. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)PageRank Sculpting – by Scott Smigler
- 46. Revised “Page 0” PageRank points allocation now shared 7 points with each page, versus 2 points previously: Reference: http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-sculpting-leaves-nofollowed-tags-behind-34120
- 47. 1. Content – Site StructureC. PageRank and Navigation (Internal Linking)Techniques to Reduce Number of Pages HP Links to
- 48. Reorganize Links – there may be links from homepage to low-value sub-pages that can be consolidated under a high-value page; link from homepage to primary page, include links to low-value pages on primary page.
- 49. Remove Low SEO Pages – remove pages from primary navigation that have low value for users and SEO; move them to the blog.
- 50. Drupal Modules & Tools –
- 51. -------------
- 52. -------------1. Content – CreatingBlog
- 53. Video
- 54. Feeds (RSS, Twitter, Blog Updates, etc.)
- 55. “Organic Content” What content can be created by organic process of doing business?
- 56. Ecommerce easy example – new products daily
- 57. See if content hosted on 3rd party sites can be brought into the primary domain (not via frames)
- 58. Sign-up Forms – keep them on domain2. Freshness New Content (Frequency)
- 59. The more frequently site is updated, the more frequently Google crawls, updates index and changes rankings.
- 60. How often should I add new content?
- 61. As often as possible; depends on ranking goal; local map listings – weekly okay; regional/national organic listings – daily.
- 62. Blogging
- 63. Easy and effective way to add content
- 64. Blog posts are crawled and indexed quickly by Google
- 65. Fast and easy way to add internal links
- 66. Expensive because of human involvement – original, non-duplicate content3. Inbound LinksPageRank
- 68. Edu/gov myth
- 69. Reciprocal links
- 70. Viral links
- 71. Tools3. Inbound Links – Sample Methods Manual Link Submissions/Requests
- 72. Competitive Link Research/Acquisition
- 73. Links via Embedded Content (Widget, Badges, etc.)
- 75. Content, Technology & API Licensing
- 76. Paid Links (Typically poor quality)3. Inbound Links – SEO ToolsSEOmoz.com
- 83. Wonder Wheel3. Internal LinksGuidelines for Building Internal Links for Ranking:Use target keyword for anchor text
- 85. Target same words as for inbound links
- 86. Setup internal tracking – Internal Linking Map (see Keyword Map example)
- 87. Show Sitbetter example3. Internal LinksInternal Linking Map (ILM)Confirm target keyword correlates with onpage and code optimized terms.
- 88. Use ILM for all internal links (including navigation)
- 89. First link on page to any URL is the only one that Google counts.3. Internal Links – ExampleBlogging Example for Online Retail SiteSite posts blog “product review” – including target keyword in post title (and blog url) and product name
- 90. Here, target keyword = office chair
- 91. Reviewurl = http://www.sitbetter.com/blog/2009/06/22/office-chair-preview-the-ray-leather-office-chair/3. Internal Links – ExampleBlogging Example for Online Retail SiteGoogle SERP after 2-3 days for “ray leather office chair”Blog Review URL
- 92. 3. Internal Links – ExampleBlogging Example for Online Retail SiteGoogle SERP after 3-4 daysProduct URLBlog Review URL
- 93. 4. Site SpeedGo Drupal!
- 94. Caffeine / Google –What is it?
- 95. Update to how Google indexes urls and displays them in search.
- 97. Other Google Webmaster Tools
- 99. Compiler – make javascript compact
- 100. Library – for code
- 101. Google Web ToolKit – easy to write codeCRO – Conversion Rate OptimizationIt’s not only about the traffic – what happens when they get to the site? Sometimes the best strategy is to rethink onpage factors to increase conversions from existing traffic.
- 102. Resources/links:
- 103. Conversion Optimization - http://www.seerinteractive.com/conversion-maximization/
- 104. 11 Conversion Rate Optimization Lessons Learned 2009 http://www.seomoz.org/blog/11-conversion-lessons-learned-2009SEO ResourcesGoogle Webmaster Tools
- 105. GoogleWebmasterHelp’s Channel on YouTube
- 106. Matt Cutts – posts and videos
- 107. SEOmoz – blog and tools
- 108. SearchEngineLand
- 109. Local Search – David Mihm
- 110. Local Search/Technical – Mike Blumenthal
- 111. SEO/Technical – Stephan SpencerThank You!To Contact Max or Ask Questions:max@thunderseo.com