seo then & now - strategies to thrive in 2013

SEMPO – SEM Meetup March 2013

SEO Then and Now - How to Thrive in 2013

Who Am I?13 years of online marketing and product merchandizing experience in e-commerce and affiliate marketingWorked in all facets of online marketing with a focus on SEO, Social, and Content (builddirect.com)2 years with Reinvent an in-house incubator for one of the largest domainers in the world (blackfriday.com)Run my own Marketing / SEO consulting business

What Was SEO? It’s always been about 3 pillars: Technical, Content, and PromotionIt still is, sort of, but what has changed is how we do the above things

What Was Technical SEO? Heavily Optimized On-page CopyKeyword DensitiesTitle tags, Meta Descriptions, Meta KeywordsKeyword Stuffed URLs / EMDsNumber of Words on Page

What Was Content? More, More, MoreBlog Posting DailySpinning Variations of ContentContent Optimized for Every Long Tail KeywordBuying in Bulk (TextBroker, Odesk, Interns)Even Markov Chains!

What Was Promotion? Paying Link BuildersDirectoriesReciprocal Link Exchanges3 Way Link ExchangesBuying LinksOnline Press ReleasesAsking Webmasters for Links

What Was Promotion? Blog CommentingArticle MarketingGuest PostingWidgetsExact Keyword Anchor Text

What Is SEO Now?

What Is SEO Now? - The Animals

What Is SEO Now?

SEO isn’t an activity, or a tactic, or a strategy. Good SEO is the outcome of a disciplined, coherent marketing & technology strategy.

- Ian Lurie

http://www.portent.com/blog/seo/wtf-is-seo.htm

Don’t Suck In order to thrive at SEO you have to actually be great at “something” FIRSTProduct, prices, selection, service, UX, location, contentBefore you start SEO take a long hard honest look at the companyYou must have a deep understanding of the company, products or services, customers, etc.

What Is Technical SEO Now? Still some on-page stuff like title tags and good contentMuch less about on page / on site factorsSite SpeedMobile CompatibilitySemantic MarkupAuthorshipEffective UX/UICrawlability and IA

What Is Content Now? Quality over QuantityResearch, DepthAuthority and ReputationVirality (Humor, Controversy)Engagement (Time on page, Social Sharing)Publish as often as you can be GreatAsk Yourself if you would read it and share it. No? Start over.

Know Your AudienceWho are they?What’s important to them?Where do you talk to them / find them?What works for your competition? Don’t be afraid to be a fast follower for a while.Ask aroundPhone Calls

Where Do I Get Ideas?Spy on competitors*

Brainstorm

Keyword research

Ask customers and employees

Monitor social sites*

Look at magazines*

Mine your site search

Google Trends

Google analytics

What Is Promotion Now? Some older techniques still workJoin associationsContribute to charitiesDonate to or volunteer at schools Plain old link requestsPress releases (only genuine and only to get press attention)Guest posts (themed, relevant, and few)

What Is Promotion Now? Social, Social, SocialPublish stuff people care about, then tell them about itSocial signals matter (and will matter more)Social can lead to links or leads

What Is Promotion Now? PressYou have to deserve itDo something newsworthyBe able to help with a current eventEase their painContact them with real insight/dataProve that you are an expert

What Is Promotion Now? Google web searches, find author and research how to contact

HARO (http://www.helpareporter.com/)

FollowerWonk (part of SEOmoz.org)

http://www.abyznewslinks.com/unite.htm (national, state, city, regional, local newspapers)

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/news-websites (top news websites)

http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/digital-news-gains-audience-but-loses-more-ground-in-chase-for-revenue/digital-by-the-numbers/

(top news websites)

What Is Promotion Now? List of all local NBC stations http://www.nbc.com/local-stations/

List of all CBS affiliates http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18565_162-517034/cbs-tv-news-stations-and-affiliates/

List of all ABC affiliates http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/networks/ABC_affiliatelookup.asp

List of all Fox affiliates http://www.fox.com/affiliates.php

Get media / interview training if you have to

What is the Goal of SEO?Is it higher rankings? Is it more organic search traffic?

What is the Goal of SEO?Is it higher rankings? Is it more organic search traffic?

How Do You Sell It?It’s a team effort, holistic, organization wideUnless there is an acute problem you can’t just “SEO” a siteAs SEOs we need to start communicating this to clients or the C-suiteThere are no quick fixesTo rank first you have to deserve to rank firstTakes a long time and lots of effort (on the site owners part)As an SEO/Marketer I can help, but most of it is up to you

What Will SEO Be? As an SEO you have to get good at all this stuffGoogle in more verticalsEverything going mobileLocal will continue to growDomain reputation and trust matter more than the exact contentReputation and authority of the person over the site… and be great!

Resources SEO Ranking Factors:

http://searchengineland.com/seotable

http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

Article Title Writing

http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/

My Content Creation Preso

http://www.slideshare.net/robdwoods/sem-meetup

My Understanding Your Audience Preso

http://www.slideshare.net/robdwoods/blueglassx-2012-how-to-build-a-large-passionate-audience-from-scratch-with-no-connections-rob-woods

Thank You!

Rob Woods

rob@robwoods.org

Twitter: @robdwoods

Skype: rob.d.woods

604.374.5312