SEO in 7 minutesHeidi Harner Morrill

Terms to KnowSEO – search engine optimization (“Organic”

results)SEM – search engine marketingPPC – pay per click (“Paid” results)CPM – cost per thousand (impressions)SERP – search engine results pageSearch Engine – Google, Bing, Yahoo!Bot or Spider – gathers data for search engineIndex – consolidation of data gathered by bot or

spiderAlgorithm – program used by search engine to

rank websites in SERPs

Fundamentals!Type “A(DD)” SEO – sprinting to the latest and greatest tactic, trying to keep up with competitors instead of setting the pace.

Type “B” SEO – learning the basics, practicing, sticking with it and finally leading the pack!

On-Page SEOSite Title – this is the title that is shown as the

clickable link text in search results, make sure it’s descriptive.

Description Meta-tag – this is the short description that is shown in search results, make it count! If you don’t have one, the search engine will make one for you.

Webpage URL – are your URLs “SEO Friendly”? Sometimes with content management systems (CMS) they aren’t – talk to your website designer.

Content – should be well written and pertinent, 150-250 words per page is ideal.

Some On-Page Items

How Searchers See Them

Off-Page SEOLink building (DON’T BUY LINKS!)Social Media: blogging, Facebook business

page, Twitter, YouTube ChannelSubmit to market specific directoriesGoogle Places pageBing Local pageYahoo! Local pageFoursquare, Yelp, Merchant Circle –

coupons if they apply to your business

Some Easy FixesIs your site “(Section 508) compliant” or

“accessible”?Watch “Code to Content Ratio” – move

javascript and styles to linked files rather than inline.

Make sure your site titles are descriptive.If you saw your site’s description in

search, would you click it?Lose the jargon.Concentrate on keywords your clients are

using for search – a great source of ideas is your site’s analytics or search data.